Friday, September 25, 2009

Journal: Favorite Ed Tech Tool

"What Is Your Favorite Ed Tech Tool?" written by Paul Wurster

I originally picked this article so that, as a future teacher, I could see what would be the most beneificial peice of technology was to own. After reading this article, it seems as though the most important item varys from person to person. It turns out that many of the educators who participated int the poll had a hard time picking one single item. The poll was split up into the following catagories: Internet tools/resources, general productivity tool (word, excel, etc.), interactive whiteboards/projectors, Web 2.0 tools, and portable devices. The results fell in the same order. The Internet tools/resources came in the lead due to the basic uses of email and search engines. Secondly, general productivity tools came next becuase of the use of programs like word, excel, and powerpoint; which educators typically use on a daily basis. Interactive whiteboards/projectors, Web 2.0 tools and portable devices all came in generally close to one another. Participants in the poll mentioned how interactive whiteboards and smart board revolutionize and transfor the learning envioronment. They also mentioned how it helps students who are visual learners as well as helping ELL, becuase it engages and gets students involved in their own learning. For web 2.0 tools people mentione things like Google Docs and Moodle which can help with collaberation. For portable digital devices people mentioned things like PDA's, cell phones, laptops, and one person mentioned a Kurzweil. (Anyone know what a Kurzweil is? I'm interested to find out... the person commented "If my classroom was on fire, I would grab the Kurzweil first" - let me knoe if you find out what it is...) All in all, it seems as though the preference for Ed tech tools is wide ranged and open for interpretation, although all the tools help make a more effective learning enviornmen. I still feel that the old "outdated" tools will still be used to make learning fun, angaging and effective in class.

As a future teacher I believe that the roles in technology will be more and more prominate and that everything will be a good use. I feel that when Im teaching technology will be a large role in my classroom. Currently I work with computrs on a daily basis, and I have no idea what I would do without my PDA, IPod or Kindle. I cant wait to find out how else I can encorporate technology into my curriculum.

3 comments:

  1. I wasn't surprised to read that you said tools such as word, excel, and powerpoint came first because I can see how readily they can be used in the classroom. I also think that search engines are next important because they can connect your classroom to anything in the world. The other day in my 3rd grade class, the students read about the Great Wall of China in a magazine article and Ms. Alva asked me if I could answer 3 quick questions that the students had (when was it built, how long did it take to build, and how long it was) and I was able to tell the students in 1 minute! it was great!

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  2. I don't think you could find a classroom in the millenium that doesn't have some aspect of technology incorporate dinto their classroom or curriculum. First off, a teacher is mandated to use computers to print out worksheets and informational sheets. I don't think we realize how much technology we rely on. I agree that search engines are important in the classroom as it does connect to the entire world and can retrieve data and answers in a matter of seconds.This article really makes me think of how I would incorporate all of these technology tools into my classroom!

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  3. i think this is so true, i would also put the order of use the things that you listed in that order. it made me think, what it was like before we had technology. like you said you can't live with out your PDA, iPod and Kindle. it is amazing to what point we have gotten to, that we need these things to feel complete. but just like you said, i hope that it wont come to the point of only technology. that we use the "old fashion techniques"

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