• Technology is our Future!

Technology throughout my years in school has gradually increased. I started noticing a huge use with technology when I was in sixth grade. When I was in fifth grade we did not use computers very much there was always a class set that four other classrooms also shared with use. So, we only used the technology for games. Once sixth grade hit we started using technology for research and presentations, ect. If technology keeps on growing in schools it will become our future we will live and breath technology in the teaching setting. So it is a great reason to start implementing technology in the classroom because it will because like a second hand toll for students and they will know how to use it for the better in a classroom.

• It can cover all students needs

Technology is a great way of helping a teaching differentiate his/her teaching. When using technology students will be engaged through whatever technology you as a teacher are using. If it be you are writing notes on a tablet that are projected on a screen or showing an example through a video that you have made up. It covers a wide variety of learning. for example, I always like examples and visual learning in math classes. Technology can cover that.

• Students have access to current information and research

When doing research project information from an internet source or book source is very useful. With technology students are able to look up current information and also clip-pets of books that they can use for their research. Having technology on hand in the classroom is very resourceful for projects and other research projects so you as a student has current and up to date information.

• Prepare for future careers

Students will not always be in a classroom not using technology. Some might want to to up professions that use computers or technology on a daily basis. Which out the use of technology in schools then the students wont be prepared for the future. When my mom was in school she hardly ever use a computer till she got to college and was on a computer science track. She has told me many of times that she wish you would have had the opportunity to work on computers from day to day in high school because she would have had better typing skills and better skills to be able to use the technology today.

• Making students more responsible

Having your own technology devices makes you a more responsible student and person. I never owned my own laptop until I got into high school. When I got into high school having my own laptop made me a more responsible person. I protected my laptop and I made decisions revolving around my laptop. As well as being given laptops in school I always had to think before I did something on the laptop or with it since it was not my property it was the school property. If the students are given a laptop from their school they will also be responsible for bringing it every class everyday. Therefore they will learn responsibility skills.

I decided to participate in a math twitter chat. I never tried a twitter chat before, so I was not sure what it was all about. I tried several different math chats to just try and see what the chats were about, and if it was something that interested me. I never really tried to talk about mathematics before it was always computing problems in class not really taking about interesting things to do with math in the classroom or different ways to solve problems.

When in the chats I came across a blog that someone had shared. It was about teaching math in the classroom. It introduced different ways that mathematics can be taught in different topics being covered. When you open the blog you will see different topics and ways of teaching that topic. This could be very helpful in my teaching career because it can introduce different ways to cover a topic so everyone can understand it. After looking through the blog I realized that Problem-based learning in a key aspect to teaching mathematics in the classroom.

Even though a twitter chat is not the first thing I would gravitate towards I actually ended up enjoying it. I learned some new facts and ideas about teaching math. I came across a great blog that I probably would have never found if I was not apart of the twitter chat in the first place. I think I might join some more interesting twitter chats in the future, especially when I am a future educator.

The following talk is called “Do schools kill creativity?” Spoken by Sirken Robison. This ted talk goes into great detail about our education systems and how they are focused on strict policies instead of creativity. Every school that you will ever visit is focused around learning the main courses, such as Mathematics and really only going to art class once or twice a week if that. Students need to be prepared and we are only preparing them for a straight path, not one that might fall apart after five years. One main point of the TED talk was “We are meant to educate people for something that we don’t know where or what is going to happen to the job in five years” So why are we teaching so strictly? Why not use more creativity? If this is the case that most jobs are going to change in five or so years, then in my eyes teaching with no creativity is not the way to go. In Sirken’s belief as well as mine, creativity is very important in education. If we are day after day learning how to do things without creativity; then when those ideas or jobs change in the future. The students will not know how to think outside of the box and use their creativity to change and grow with that job title. Students are growing up in the belief that being wrong is frowned upon. They avoid being wrong with all costs, which does not let them bring out their creativity. We should have more art classes and dance class so that as a student we learn more creativity and can imply it in the future. When I was in middle school and high school, I never spoke up I never answered questions all because I was afraid to use my creativity and end up being wrong. This is not right we as teachers are educating students out of their creativity. As said by Sirken Robison, “We don’t grow into education we grow out of it.” So why is this? Why do people look at the arts/creativity as a way of “how not to teach”? Why not form our lessons around creativity?

https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity?referrer=playlist-re_imagining_school#t-679384

I use to think 21st century education was improving education not by getting rid of teachers or making school all online. I always thought 21st century education was a way of improving on the way teachers taught and how teaching in certain ways would benefit students. I thought that education in the 21st century may include more technology, like online classes but that being said I never thought that it would involve getting rid of teachers all together and using robots in their place.

Now, I think 21st century education is the use of technology in a new way. For instance, in the article jobs are for machines. It states that most jobs are going to be overcome by machines. So in the case of education I believe that in the 21st century teaching jobs are going to be no more. It is going to be robots doing all of the work. By teaching the class, discipling the class as well and making students rely on a robot.

One question I still have about 21st century education is if we implement robots into the job force how will face to face communication be helpful to students. As stated in the article The Jobs of the Future, ” A study predicts that 5 million jobs will be lost before 2020 as artificial intelligence, robotics, nanotechnology and other socio-economic factors replace the need for human workers.” This will also deny the jobs of teachers. So how will education benefit from having teachers that are robots, will it affect the way students learn. Will students even learn or just goof off in the classroom? Many question come to mind when thinking about robots as teacher and actually concerns me because I am studying to be a future educator.

I am curious about a lot in the classroom pertaining to technology. Technology can be used for many different tasks. The thing I am most curious about is how much and how little a teacher should use technology in the classroom. I wonder if teachers should teach off of technology or if they should write notes/ideas on the board. Should students be on laptops or even be provided their own laptop. Is that too much for the student to be glued to a screen on a daily bases? I have witnessed hands on students using computers in a bad way and students using computers in a positive way. That being said I never knew what was the happy medium. I want to learn how to implement technology but it not be too much. Knowing these things can help me become the best teacher I can be and help me work with other teachers to help students do their best in the classroom. I believe that students that use technology all the time are not learning anything from it. Especially in a mathematics classroom, in which I hope to be teaching one day. Having that connection with the students by standing in front of the classroom and giving examples on the board I feel is the best way to teach math, while also using computers for some side work or games to help them better their math skills. Knowing how to implement technology in the classroom is one step closer to becoming a great future teacher.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton