Technology has been altering education for years now. Why should we trust our students/children to learn from technical programs rather than a classroom teacher? Lots of people are skeptical on what children may be learning from these platforms in school but the other side is what have they been missing in their learning that can be gained from these sites as well. Technology has benefits to teachers and students as well as maybe some negatives that can hinder their learning if depended on too much. There needs to be a balance between virtual and in-person as learned from covid. “Teachers who may not use technology might want to start with just one tool, while those who are more familiar with some technologies are encouraged to try a new tool that suits their classroom purposes” (2019). As a teacher in today’s classroom, we use multiple technology programs to boost motivation and creation in our students learning. It can be hands-on while be educational in the sense of their motivation in achieving success with the rewarding outcomes of doing so. Students are more aware of their weaknesses in these programs and can create achievable goals with the addition of seeing their strengths and their accomplishments along the way. With anything else you were to purchase or use in your everyday life, you also must ask yourself questions as to why we should implement certain programs and if they will be worth it such like these questions:
- Will using this tool add to student learning and engagement or hinder it?
- Is this tool reliable, practical, and relatively easy to use?
- Will this tool help students achieve the learning outcomes of the curriculum?
- Do or will all students have access to this tool?
Technology for parents is huge nowadays in being able to keep an eye on what their child is learning and how they can do to help alongside their teacher in committing to achieving their child’s goals at home as well. We as teachers can have the resources at hand to help them utilize them at home and continue to build upon their skills with the same programs they use in the classroom. That way they aren’t spending money on an outside resource that may not be as trusted and vetted as the schools. This also allows access for parents that may not have that advantage at there expense at home. This helps accommodates those that may not have those compensations.
“Social learning tools allow students to interact with each other, the teacher, and the curriculum. A teacher might choose to pose questions to students via a social learning tool outside of class hours so that students can be encouraged to think about the material outside of class. Additionally, students can interact with their teacher by asking questions. For example, teachers could use the website or app Flipgrid to have students respond to their classmates’ video discussion posts. Students could use Padlet to share resources for a topic or answer an opening hook question. Students could also collaborate through any of the tools in the Google Drive for Education” (2019).
Technology may have its fault but with this day and age and everything changing along with it we must as well in order to keep up to date with the societal demands and be able to provide the best effective education and the most effective teaching methods in order to give these students a quality education.
References
APA Working Group on Technology. (2019, August). Integrating Technology in the classroom. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/topss/integrating-technology-tools