Video+Reflections

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Please have a look at my blog [|Tech with Tuck]to see my response to these videos. Thanks! Aaron

As I viewed the video clips questions began to collide with one another: Do we need to change our way of thinking? Why should we change? Who is benefiting? Where do we start? What materials do I need?

As my questions collided I became thoughtful of students in the era of technology and recognized that they have an amazing learning tool. It was interesting reading/hearing the students' point of view and many of the facts regarding technology was enlightening.

My thoughts concluded with..."How do I support staff in the use of technology?"

Jacqui Holmes

Technology in the classroom is great. Computers, twitter, facebook, Smartboards, digital learning is wonderful for non-verbal students however we cannot forget the importance of social interaction. - eye contact, tone of voice, body language, personal space.

How do we get all parties involved and accountable - students, teachers, admin, and parents? Who will cover the cost? L.Canning

If we want to engage our students and keep up with our students need for a rich tech education, we need to be on board. I keep thinking back to when french language was added to what we had to teach, and the sudden need for french teachers We need tech people on staff that can move ahead with this initiative, and teach specialized tech classes. I know I need to learn the basics to use in my classroom, but the basics change daily. It can be a little overwhelming. We have lost our teacher librarians, our resource room teachers. How can we find funding for this? S. Cameron

I really enjoyed the videos (for the most part)....lots of food for thought. Erin

The videos definitely presented some food for thought as Erin said, however, I think some of the videos didn't give teachers enough credit. I know that technology has come a long way since I was in public school, which wasn't that long ago. I know that there are teachers at our school who are trying to implement ways to use technology and trying to make sure that we teach our students in a meaningful way. Teachers also do receive pressure from some parents to teach the way that the parents were taught. Some parents question why we don't focus more on spelling units, handwriting and basic memorization of math facts. While I do agree that we need to push ourselves to learn and teach our students new and interesting things about technology, I still believe that students need to learn how to read a book, not just listen to it on an iPod. One thing I did find frustrating was the video with the university students. Being a recent university graduate and having a spouse who is still in university, I know the challenges of a university classroom. However, it is not a lack of technology-based learning that encourages and student to not do their reading. It's not the fault of technology or lack thereof that makes a student not come to class or sit in class and watch vidoes on YouTube instead of listening to the prof. I do realize that we need to incorporate technology into the classroom and that we need to reach students where they are at with tools that they understand and use on a regular basis. But there are two sides to every story and we need to make sure that we are helping to create students who are balanced individuals who can read a real book, write, communicate face to face as well as blog and Twitter and Facebook. Kim