This blog will be about Educational Technology. It will be a learning experience for me and, hopefully, for you. I have typically been of the opinion that newfangled technology is of little use in the classroom and I have been critical of over-emphasis on the use of new technology in the classroom. I believe the shortcomings in our classroom to be primarily related to two issues:
- Excessive focus on memorization
- Lack of focus on actual thinking and problem solving
Those two shortcomings result in boring the students and decimating their innate ability to solve problems. While most students will need technology skills in our increasingly digital world, I believe they will learn most of these skills in their recreational time--as I learned HTML and lightweight programming in mine.
However, I consider myself a lifetime learner and that means I have to be open to the idea that my preconceptions were incorrect. So this summer and next school year, I'm going to give some educational technologies a chance. The class I am currently enrolled in has a focus on Internet tools an integration--strictly software based. However, there are also many hardware bound considerations such as projectors, Elmos, smartboards, smartphones, laptop carts, digital cameras, digital camcorders, and more.
From what I can gather, these tools are primarily useful for engaging students. If that means they'll learn more, then I should use them.
No comments:
Post a Comment