Tech+Integration

Tech Integration

=== //This artifact is a reflection of a video that I watched on www.edutopia.org/video. It also shows my opinion of the importance of technology in education and how I'm going to integrate technology within my lesson plans. I think this piece shows how much technology has evolved in education since I was a student. When I'm a teacher, I'll use this essay to show my students how the technology in education of the past is quite different than what it is today.// ===

The video “Technology Provides Parents a Window on the Classroom by Linking Home to School” was very interesting to me. It made me reflect on how much has changed since I was in elementary school. I liked the video because it showed how technology is being used by both students and parents.

For example, when I was a child, I would write in my journal using a pencil and a notebook. Then if my mother wanted to see what I wrote, she would physically get my notebook and read it. The video showed that nowadays, students can make a journal entry onto the computer and the parents can view his/her writing from anyplace with an internet connection. I also liked the video because it shows that parents nowadays have more opportunities to interact with their child’s teacher. The parent and teacher can communicate with each other at their convenience. The parent doesn’t have to physically go to the school to discuss their child’s grade with the teacher.

One thing that I learned from the video was that teachers, students and parents can save time by using technology. An example of this is if a parent or student has a question, they can go to the teacher’s website and search for the answer instead of having to meet or email each other and wait for a response. Technology also helps the teacher with differentiation. If the student needs more practice or extra credit, he/she can just go to the teacher’s site to find what activities there are to do this.

I believe that technology integration is almost a necessity in education. A teacher could teach without it but I think it would be harder for that teacher to relate to the students and catch their interest. Young people today are surrounded by technology so much that without it they say they are “bored” and “don’t know what to do.”

Once I become a certified Spanish teacher, I will use technology a lot. The following are some examples of what I’d like to do: Have students use websites to practice new vocabulary; Assess a student’s pronunciation of the language by listening to their voice recordings; Use online games when reviewing a theme; and students can join a social networking site just for their specific Spanish class. Technology is amazing and I look forward to using it in my classroom.