Rethinking Education (ch 2) Reflection

The second chapter in Rethinking Education talks about the reasons that using technology in the classroom is a good thing.  The technology enthusiasts make two arguments: the world is changing and we need to prepare students for that changing world and that technology can enhance education.  I agree with both of these statements.  I feel as teachers it is part of our job to prepare students for the world that they will enter after high school.  I see technology as a tool that will make my job easier because it gives me a variety of ways to present information to my class.  The chapter also talks about some of the advantages of the different types of technology that are available to teachers.  I’m going to school to become a secondary level science teacher so one of the advantages they talked about was using games and simulations in the classroom.  I thought this was a good idea because it allows students to experience things in life-like scenarios without the possibility of causing harm to anyone.  An example would be a program that simulated the dissection of an animal.  Although not as exciting as the real thing, it would still help students learn the parts of the body without the nervousness of having to cut up an animal.  This could help students who may really want to take a science class that includes the dissection of an animal, but are afraid to actually do the dissection.  Technologies such as games also allow students to work at their own pace and control what they are learning.  Not all students learn at the same pace or in the same way, so a computer based game or program would allow all students to learn the information in a way that is best for them.  As a future teacher, I think technology in the classroom is a great advantage for us and our students.  When I went through school we didn’t have access to the technology that kids going through school now have access to.  I would have loved to be able to use games, podcasts, and other technology to learn what we were taught.  I want to give my future students the best possible environment in which to learn the information I am presenting to them.  In some instances, that environment is going to be better achieved using a computer program instead of lecturing for an hour on a subject.  I want to be able to keep my students engaged and focused on the task at hand, I don’t want them daydreaming or thinking about what they are going to be doing after school.  As a future teacher, I will begin now to look for technology I can integrate into my classroom.  I want to be ready to be the most effective teacher I can when I start, I don’t want to have to waste my students time trying to find things when I first become a teacher.  Technology is a new necessity in teaching and I look forward to using it and learning how to use it.