Technology+in+the+Classroom

Thankfully, I have grown up with technology as a normal and helpful part of my everyday life. I was first introduced to computers in my kindergarten class where once a week we would venture over to the computer lab to play Oregon Trail and KidPix for 45 minutes on a set of black and white Macintosh computers. Thankfully throughout my school career, I always had access to at least one computer lab and we often had computers in the classroom as well.

In fifth grade, my family purchased their first PC and my siblings and I not-so-patiently waited for my dad to set everything up (he read every single word of the users agreements on each piece of software he installed - which drove us crazy!). Over the years, we wire that Compaq into the ground playing games, writing papers and researching school projects. In high school, especially in our science labs, I used several different engaging technologies including digital sensors, digital imaging equipment and publishing software. When I graduated high school, I bought my first laptop - a Gateway tablet computer - to take with me into the Speed School of Engineering at the University of Louisville.

During college I was introduced to many different forms of technology including smart phones, super computers, high-tech microscopes and various computers with a wide range of capabilities. I also learned some basic programming that I used to write some HTML and create and manage my own databases for my current job at the University of Louisville Micro/Nano Technology Center.

When looking at my educational experience with technology (and really, I didn't have an educational experience that didn't include technology), never is it the case that lessons and projects that include technology are less engaging than lessons that don't. Technology has a way of making everything hands on or interesting for all students in the classroom. As a student teacher now, technology has also helped me make accommodations for many of the diverse students that I have in my classes.

Computers not only help the teacher teach better (the smart board, for example, is a wonderful tool), but they also allow for more differentiated instruction. Reading and math programs, such as success maker, are an engaging game that gives the students math and reading material at the student's precise level of ability. This kind of customization could not be possible with teacher worksheets. Including computers in the K-12 classroom makes for more engaged students, better differentiated instruction and also more technologically savvy students and citizens. All of these reasons really push the teacher to include and adapt technology to fit all of their students.