Online Exercise 5: Technology in the Classroom

Think about your classroom. In your mind, where do you see the technology in that room? (Think of all the possible technologies—computers, LCD projectors, handhelds, laptop carts, and more.) How will you set up the classroom to support students in working both with technology and with each other? Ask yourself the following questions:

Will the kinds of technologies you have envisioned support all of your students regardless of their learning strengths and weaknesses?
I believe the kinds of technologies I have envisioned will definitely support all of my students regardless of their learning strengths and weaknesses. I feel technology is a great equalizer when it comes to the classroom. It allows students who may not be comfortable in a typical classroom to be involved. A perfect example is my clicker system--students can anonymously ask questions so the other students don't know who is asking but the teacher does.

Will these technologies support your students in working together?
I think the technologies that I envision also support student collaboration. Students are already collaborating via text messaging on a daily basis so they enjoy it and are comfortable with it.

Will students have enough access to technologies to meet their learning needs?
In my classroom, they would have enough access to technologies to meet their learning needs. Unfortunately, my classroom doesn't exist in the real world...:(
It would be great if we had the kind of access in our classrooms that the business world has in their offices and places of business.

Now think about teaching in that classroom:

How will you know students are learning what you intend them to learn?
I will know students are learning by their products and by assessments. Another way of identifying learning is when you can see students peer-teaching. You know they have grasped the concepts when they are comfortable teaching their peers.

How will you identify their preferred learning style and differentiate instruction in the classroom for them?
I will identify preferred learning styles by using online learning style surveys like the one used in ED 529 and/or written inventories students have completed previously in advisory class or other grades. Informal surveys can be helpful too in finding out what the students are enjoying. Instruction can then be varied to meet the needs of the various types of students.


If they are not learning what you intend, how will you address that?
If students are not learning what is intended, then different strategies can be introduced and the lesson retaught using the new strategies and different types of technology.