Technology should be used to support instruction, enhance professional growth and productivity, and to communicate and collaborate with parents, colleagues, and community. Computers can be used in several ways to support instruction: word processing, creation of data bases and spreadsheets, access email and internet, create presentations such as power point or web pages. Other technology is available that allows for interactive instruction, video conferencing, distance learning. Use of technology must be planned to meet needs of diverse learners, and adaptive devices for students w/ special needs. Moreover, instruction must emphasize ethical and legal use of technology.

Even though any technology will have annoying problems from time to time, technology in education has changed over the recent decades making communication, collaboration, and planning instruction much easier. I am retired from teaching and can remember that questions had to be written on the dusty chalk board. Later,copies of papers had to be duplicated by manually turning a handle and the copies came out purple and messy. (Recently reported on the news that some laser printers give off as much polution as second hand smoke, the point is there are disadvantages both then and now) Next, overheads and then dry marker boards became available. Computers were on the way in when I was on the way out! And now, of course, there is the internet with e-mail using laptops and numerous other wireless blue things of which I am probably not aware. Communication for educational purposes is faster and wide reaching now.

Technology has changed my teaching a lot. I have been teaching for 17 years. I now communicate with parents by email during the day if they have jobs where phone calls are frowned upon. Also, this gives parents an opportunity to reach me before and after school. I have a website where parents can find out what we are doing in class or get an extra copy of homework if their child didn’t bring one home.

In the classroom, I use the internet to get ideas of new ways to teach my subject matter. There are lots of teachers with lots of ideas to help me better reach my students.

Also, in the classroom, I have students work on the internet in a center, and at times we do webquests so the students can learn on the computer. Also, we use computers and cameras to write books to read in class or to create powerpoint projects to show what we have learned in class.

I hope this helps!