Hi everyone, I was wondering how many of you use technology in your classroom? Is it mandatory? Are you required to use certain programs? Are certain subject areas more likely to use computers? I have never taught in a school system before, so I'm not sure what is expected. Previously my experience has been teaching in summer/winter programs and tutoring. Now I am developing a online platform to easily read, write, program, and share visual interactive stories (stories with professional illustrations, animations, different endings, audio, etc). I would love to hear about your experiences! It would really help a lot to better understand how teachers currently use technology in the classroom. Also let me know if you are interested in collaborating together to create interactive stories or having your students create stories in your classrooms. Nicole
I teach middle school language arts and social studies, and utilize technology every single day. I present new material via wireless projection and iPad (so I can walk around the room while teaching). I use Google Apps and Google Classroom to distribute and manage class assignments and discussions, as well as to share files with the students. My classroom is 1:1, so we use laptops daily to complete research and various different assignments. Within that, we use loads of different websites and apps for projects, like Prezi, Quizlet, Kahoot, and many others.
Hi Nicole, I am a kindergarten teacher and I can't imagine a typical school day without applying technology to some aspect of my teaching. I believe technology can give students a voice and help them engage more easily especially when they're this little Students tend to forget memorized concepts easily unless they’re using different sensory elements in the learning process. That's why I always use technology to make sure they are focused and engaged. Also I believe the excitement in the classroom helps kids connect with other students, as well as the teachers. I know switching from the traditional methods to modern education can be tacky, the educational technology guide from jotform was super helpful for me when I first started teaching.
I use some. I like technology quite a bit. But I actually intentionally avoid some of the technology in the 1st grade precisely because of the aforementioned sensory engagement. In the first grade, I find kids are less engaged with technology. It just doesn't impress them. Most of them already have technology at home. To be sure, some technology is very good and I use it daily, but if it's making kids watch a Smartboard vs getting them interacting, I'll pick the latter every time. I've actually had kids cry at the boredom of having to stare at a screen. But if they can engage with the material and uses their senses, the lessons play out much better.
I teach independent study and ELD in a class setting. We are sort of required to use Google Classroom but we weren't given much support. I actually figured out most of it, how we can use it effectively with our students. I am using it with at least half of my independent study courses, a couple of courses that I'm making completely on Google classroom and this year my ELD class is is 75 % on Google Classroom. I love it because our students weren't too computer and technology educated and now they're learning some very important skills. On top of it, most of the standardized testing is done online, and if that's the first time students ever get online in an educational setting, they won't do too well. I actually did a PD a couple of weeks ago showing all the teachers what we can do.
Almost all of our content area requires computers or Smartboards. I taught before the internet was, so it was so funny to hear someone say, " I can't teach math today because the system is down." I have heard different versions of it several times.
Its one of my districts LCAP goals to increase integration with technology. I use technology everyday. We have district purchased programs for interventions and independent work in language arts and math and Science (Lexia and Dreambox and Mystery Science) and I have the programs that my kids love to use that I can pull a lot of useful data on and can use to show growth and target specific skills and standards and set the programs to align with IEP goals (Prodigy, Readworks, Google forms-which I have used to make all my multiple choice quizzes self grading) and programs that are better at cover hole in the curriculum while engaging my 3rd graders (generation genius science, scholastic news) and then there are those like kahoot and prodigy which increase student participation for skills review and test prep. Our curriculum also has online pieces-but they suck and they are hard to use so I dont use them much. I use a lot but everyone in my school uses some combination of those things I mentioned at least weekly.
I’m old-school. I hardly use technology in my math classes. I believe math is best learned when notes are taken, examples are followed, and problems are practiced. And all by writing things down. That’s how things gets wired into the brain. The other math teacher here is the same way. That’s why we get along... I’ll be afraid when the word comes to use technology more.
So......when a system goes down, you can still teach math! Yay! I am the same way. I like parts of tech though, but really believe in practice it too.
