If you are anything like me, you have been frustrated with
your workload in class and thought to yourself “when am I ever going to use
this?”. In high school, regardless of
their passions or interests, students
are required to take specific courses in math, arts, physical education, etc.
The problem with this is ever since elementary school I knew I wanted to be a
physical education teacher. When I was forced to paint a picture of a frog or
complete trigemitroy equations I would get frustrated knowing I had to dedicate
so much time to a subject and skill that had no purpose to me later in life.
Also, in high school I was required to take all notes by paper and pen but
outside of school I would rarely touch papers and pens because I would use a
computer. when I got to university and I could finally take my notes by typing
them on a computer but when it comes to writing exams I was forced to use paper
and pen again. Overall, as the uses of technologies are increasing I believe it
is important to incorporate those new technologies into the classroom. One
video shown on September 4th called Fieldcrest Elementary School- ABC's and ICT's emphasized
this point that technologies should be used in a classroom setting.
In sum, the
students in the video go through the letters of the alphabet, relating each
letter to a technology they incorporate into their classroom. For example, "I"
is for Ipads and IPhones or "O" is for online classes. These students
are receiving the opportunity to incorporate technologies into their every day
routines. This is beneficial because they are learning how to use technologies
they need to use on an every day basis and they are learning how to optimize
the usage of the technologies that are available to them. These students seemed
excited and personally connected to the things they were doing in the
classroom. This made me start thinking, “What is it that makes students enjoy
learning?” the students in the Fieldcrest Elementary School were not simply playing games all
day yet they were engaged and excited to learn.
Although I do not believe I have the
tell all answer to this question I came to the conclusion that learners need to
understand purpose in activities to become engaged and excited about learning.
I do not believe this is the answer for everyone because some learners need a
lot more than purpose incorporated into their activities for commitment to the
activity but when an activity has obvious meaning I believe it influences
learners to participate more. With higher participation I believe studnts feel
a stronger connection to their work and are more likely to enjoy the task.
Technology is meaningful to learners
of today. We are aware how much we use technology on a daily basis and we know
that the technology is only going to progress and from this point onwards. I
believe teachers need to realize this and start incorporating it into the
classroom. This summer I volunteered with an old favorite high school teacher,
in his grade 12 kinesiology class. Although he had been teaching this course
for many years, he was excited to incorporate new technologies available to him
into the classroom. He used smart boards and ipads when teaching the muscles
and bones of the body. He also created a web page where students could access
at home if they wanted to review class material or get work they missed that
day. On the web page, students could post articles or videos related to class
material to further their understating of the topics mentioned in class. I saw
the greatest success with the ipad use, the students enjoyed playing on the
ipads while testing themselves with the class material. This app was availible
for all students to download at home and I noticed they came in bragging how
much of an improvement they made the night before while playing on the
application at home. This teacher also incorporated the ipads into tests and
quizzes. For bell ringer tests he would set up the ipads at different stations
and the students had to figure out the name of the muscle, the origin and
insertion of the muscle and movements the muscle is responsible for. This experience
really opened my eyes to how technology is changing the way the classroom is run.
Not too long ago I was in that same class but we did not have any of the
technology listed before and I will admit, I was not always a fan of the class
due to the dry methods of learning the material. I noticed a complete switch in
this class though, students were excited to be there, they wanted to show up on
time and start playing on the ipads and they wanted their friends to be in
attendance so they could study together and work together. When they did miss a
day, they almost always were already caught up by the next time they arrived
because they took initiative and got the work from home.
I
understand some argue technology is only harming us. At this point in time I
have not come across any information confirming or denying this claim and if
any readers of this blog do know of any good evidence, please let me know
because I would love to read up about it. However, for the time being, I am
sitting in my living room with my computer on my lap, my iPhone to my left and
my ipad to my right and I think that if this is the way other students work as
well then it only makes sense to incorporate these technologies into the
schools seeing as it is such a major part of our every day lives.
See you next week!
ajosinblog
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