Tech in the Classroom

This week, in our Literacy and Learning III class, we discussed the importance of technology in the classroom. Personally, I don't know any young teachers who are against using technology in their classroom nowadays. Many individuals are aware that this generation of children been exposed to a lot of technology, so incorporating it into one's lessons makes it more interesting and hands-on. This week I led a discussion as a group D leader and these were some of the questions I asked:

1)    What is your view when it comes to using technology in the classroom? Do you have any concerns? In what ways do you see your classroom teachers use technology in their lessons? Do you believe that they use enough technology in their room?

2)    How do you feel about using smartphones in your classroom? In what way will you incorporate them into your lessons if you do plan on using them?

3)    Who do you think should provide the devices children or schools? If there is not enough technology for every student how would you solve that problem?

4)    According to the article by Bridget Dalton, “A recent survey shows that many teachers feel unprepared to integrate literacy and technology into their classrooms.” What can the school districts and community do in order to fix that problem in their area? What do we think about the teachers who do not like technology in their classroom?

Many of these questions led to a very interesting discussion in our small group. As a whole, we agreed that we would definitely use tools such as SMART Boards, computers, Ipads, etc. in our classroom. The only item that we were a little skeptical on was the idea of smart phones in school. Many students may become distracted if cell phones are permitted in the class and may even use them for negative things such as cheating. Many schools even ban cell phone use due to these concerns. If there was a way to prevent students from such behavior in school, then maybe it would be an idea to consider, but until then, it does not seem like the best idea.