EDTC 614 Activity 1.2 Discussion: Reflection

Educational technology is very useful for enhancing lessons and increasing efficiency. Technology is such an integral part of todays young peoples' lives that it seems only natural that it should be used in our student's educational practices. I like to use technology to both engage students and as a tool for them to explore new possibilities. I use videos, which I make, with pictures and words to teach new songs and computer software for composition. I also conduct a collaborative project with my art teacher colleague in which our 5th grade students make stop motion films.

I feel that the two main barriers to the use of technology in the classroom are cost and teacher comfort level. Right now, with so many cutbacks in k-12 education funding, many schools don't have the resources to update technology tools and software. There are grants available, but they are highly competitive. A school district needs a competent and energetic grant writer to win grants. There is also the issue of socioeconomic status. A school in a high ses area has a parent group with more resources, whereas the opposite is true for a school in a low ses area. This gap becomes even more pronounced during a time of economic recession.

Comfort level of the teacher to use the technology available is an issue that we have some control over. I generally find that teachers who are uncomfortable with technology find it intimidating. He or she is afraid of "messing it up" or feeling stupid. The simple answer to this is to have a dedicated instructional technologist on hand at the school, or several teachers who are knowledgable and trained in this area to be point people. Time should be set aside to address specific issues and questions with individual teachers or grade level teams.

There really isn't anything I avoid in terms of technology usage in my classroom. I am willing and excited to try just about anything. For my subject area I do feel that there are tools or software that is better suited for the regular classroom. I don't have too much time with my students, so there are some things, like research projects that I don't do because of time restraints. Maybe through this course I can devise a way to work these into the curriculum.