Rethinking Education (ch 8) Reflection

Schools will have to adjust to this change in technology if they want to keep their doors open.  In class a few weeks ago, we talked about preparing kids for the future and how many kids starting school at age four or five already know how to use a computer.  If schools and teachers are not willing to make changes and embrace the technology that is available to them I think there will be many teachers without jobs and schools without students.  This technology can actually be used to help students who live in poorer communities to excel in school and then be able to go on to college.  The book talked about students who live in thriving cities, but rarely leave their neighborhoods because of a lack of education.  The technology that is available is not a fix for the economic problem that these children face, but it can bring in a higher quality of education for them.  Distance education is one example of a resource that could be made available to students in poor and urban schools.  This type of teaching is done over video conferencing and doesn’t require another teacher to be hired.  The students conference in and learn from a teacher who is teaching at another school.  Students could partake in AP classes and further their education, better preparing themselves for college.  Schools could also use technology to have virtual tutors for their students.  This would allow students who need extra help with certain subjects to get the help they need.  It would help them get better grades and hopefully give them the confidence they need to realize they too can go to college or tech school and get the job they want.  Bringing this technology into the poorer schools is a way to make education more equal among children from different socioeconomic backgrounds.  Technology also gives teachers a new way to teach.  Instead of always lecturing, writing on the board, and making your students take notes teachers can use technology to engage their students in other ways.  One of the most common ways would be to use simulations in whatever you are teaching.  In a history class for example, you could use a video game that has to do with war to show your students the different strategies that go into planning an attack.  There are many other games and simulations available for any subject that get students thinking in a different way, but still helping them learn the information.  I will use technology in my classroom because I want my students to think outside the box and actually learn what I am teaching.  Not just for the test they may have in two weeks, but to really learn it so that two years down the road they can apply it to a situation they may come across.  Introducing my students to technology not only helps me teach them and keep them engaged, but it is preparing them for the future.