home

media type="youtube" key="PwQpgAlYwFQ" height="344" width="425"

So you think techology is a waste of time in our education? You think technology is overated? You think technology doesn't enhance learning?....

Are you ready to be beat by THOSE GUYS????? Well...read on and be prepared to learn how you are totally wrong.

**__Is this why you are against it?__** **Students are too distracted to take notes in class with a laptop open..."The more students used their laptop in class, the lower their grades."** Well if this is true, than the class is probably a __**BORING lecture class**__ anyway. Either a student is going to draw pictures, text message, or look up stuff on the laplop if they are bored. If the teacher is not USING the technology to teach (other than just note taking) than it will never succeed...the teacher needs to change!

"We should be teaching students how to use their laptops in the classroom, not just expect that they will use them to the greatest effect because they grew up with them." ~Ben Wilkof

Yes they are...but they are soooooo boring to the students. This comment is what i hear from veteran teachers who basically don't want to change/ or are just checked out and waiting for retirement. How does "easy teaching" help our students?
 * "Direct instruction methods are //easier to align// with content standards, and they are easier to manage in the classroom."~Willingham **

This is true! The biggest problem with technology in the classroom is that most teachers have no idea how to use it "correctly." There needs to be a push for teacher training for all of this to actually work.
 * "...support has been inadequate. For example, support personnel tend not to be specialized, although the technology needs of the English teacher are different than those of the Science teacher..."~Willingham **

With that caveat as a frame, let me tell you why I focus on social media. First, it’s such an important part of life today. Like it or not, life online is a part of life. Considering how much Facebook, blogs, Wikipedia, instant messaging, virtual communities, smart mobs are a part of the landscape that students need to live in, I think it’s important to do some reading, thinking, discussing, and arguing about the issues that arise from these media practices.
 * __ Technology makes sense! __**

"...students ages 11 - 16 were surveyed. 74% reported that they had at least one social networking site account and 78% reported having uploaded pictures, video, or music to the web–with 50% having done so in the previous week of being asked." ~Hargadon


 * Fact is, our students live in a technological world. Why not teach in one **

I know there are great lecturers, and many subjects in which knowledge has to be “delivered,” but I came to suspect that the old model of lecture, notes, and tests was not going to work for the classes I taught — specifically about the issues around the use of social media."~Rheingold **Some classes require lecture, and I think lecture is good...but lecturing all day every day is not reaching the students of today.**

What we currently have are computers purchased and maintained largely by school business offices, relatively divorced from teaching methodologies, and either not in a quantity or in a condition to allow overworked teachers to change their teaching methods.~Hargadon **What we really lack is proper teacher training. Because using technology is so new, a lot of teachers really have no example of quality technological teaching. We need teacher training!**

"When I wrote essays in school (back in the day…), only my parents and my teachers saw what I wrote. I was, in effect, writing for “practice” with relatively little feedback. Students today are creating on the Web for very real audiences, and their writing or production has to pass a very real test: are they communicating well?"~Hargadon **Students will write better if they know they have an audience. One teacher is not an audience.**

"A regular student can write, film, and edit a video which then can be uploaded to YouTube and potentially seen by more of an audience than some commercial films actually garner."~Hargadon **If students can do this in Jr. High and High School, then why are we just lecturing at them? Why aren't we using their capabilities to enhance learning?**

"The abilty to contribute to discussions after class, or from home, provides a much broader opportunity for participation that the traditional class discussion. Students with different contribution styles, or who process information over time, are now more participative."~Hargadon ** We can reach all of our students who learn at different speeds with technology!!! **

"The vast amount of data on the Web requires more critical thinking than was needed when I was growing up."~Hargadon **The internet provides supplemental material that we can use to enhance learning in the classroom. We can incorporate technology in our lectures to keep students engaged. We can use the internet as a means of communication outside of class to continue discussions.**

**Bottom line is that with proper teacher training we can use technology to: Enhance learning in the classroom Create unique virtual discussions Engage our students Teach to every learning style possible Empower our students!**