Week+1

= = =Week 1:  = Why should you integrate technology in your teaching? = = This week covered a number of topics but the most important I believe is what this course is trying to speak to overall. Why should we as teachers integrate technology in our teaching and in our classes? To begin with, we should look at the medium that we are using to present the information we discover. Wikispaces is an interesting website that allows each students to effectively have their own personal website to document and present the information that they have uncovered. I have no prior experience with Wikispaces but I have used Google Sites to a moderate degree of effectiveness in organizing my soccer team’s stats, schedule and other information. Wikispaces is similar in design and layout to Google  Sites but I find it more difficult to use because Google Sites is remarkably easy to work with. Wikispaces shortcomings are found in their more complicated menu that does not allow as many functions as Google Sites. However, that does not mean the site does not have its upside. Wikispaces could be an incredible educational tool in today’s modern classroom. As we learned in the readings for this week todays students are DFL (Digital First Language) and they are able to comprehend technological rather quickly and they are well versed in their use. Today’s learners are not those of 20 years ago, they are accustomed to having a screen in front of them and grew up interacting with a digital environment just as much as the physical one that we are all used to. I think that I personally am on the cusp between DFL and DSL (Digital Second Language) because I grew up in a time of technological innovation. I have used the internet since a young age but am still capable of remembering a time where technology in the house was not common outside of a television. The advent of mp3 players, Blackberrys and Iphones has changed the world significantly and what the readings for this week stress are that we as teachers must also change so that we can better help our students. Technology is not something to be feared, it is to be embraced because it will not leave our world and we could use it to improve the classroom. For example, most classrooms will have Smartboards in them soon, we would be foolish to not use this resource though it does have its shortcomings. Technology is not the answer for all students but it helps bridge the gap and bring more students into the fold of succeeding in their future endeavours. We as educators must be aware of this and try to make as many of our students as we can succeed. To think that cell phones and Ipodes could become a part of the lesson and classroom is an exciting idea because it opens more possibilities for the future. The future of technological achievement is wide open and we must do our best to make sure that the future of education can adapt for a new world, with new learners. The opening photo is a perfect example of how the classroom has changed. Notice the prominence of the Smartboard and the Cell Phone poster on the side of the room. While this is not an example of what the room will look like in future it shows the changes that have taken place. One thing that is clearly not visible is a blackboard which bridges the question of what else will change? What other staple of education in our minds will cease to be relevant to today's learner?