"Lessons Learned"

While reading the articles and watching videos I was struck by the overwhelming amount of information and technology we have at our fingertips. I hardly remember a time we didn't have a computer at our home. I do however remember having to use an actual encyclopedia to work on assignments we had for class. Students in this day and age rarely have that experience. They know that they can find the answer to just about any question they have in seconds. I loved the article about the New WWW whenever, whatever and wherever. It really painted an accurate picture of students these days. We really have unlimited access to anything and everything, even in the most remote places. If one wants to get away from technology it will be more difficult then not.

I loved watching the videos and reading about how teachers are currently integrating technology into their classrooms. The possibilities are endless. Although funding is tight for many schools across the country there are free resources online that can be used just as effectively as the tools that cost hundreds of dollars. It was obvious to me as I was doing this research that students are very connected to the world through technology. If we do not utilize this as teachers we are missing out on huge opportunities. Field trips are expensive, and because of that they are often cut from the budget. This does not mean though that the students can't experience the outside world. Just look at GoogleEarth. You can pull up a satellite picture of anywhere in the world anytime. The possibilities of technology are endless.

It is imperative that we as teachers are able to speak the language of the students. We need to understand how they use technology and what they use it for. We need to utilize the time they spend on the web and show them how to learn using it. We need to take into account social media. We need to teach them the difference between personal and professional writing.  In my opinion our students deserve to have teachers who understand technology and enjoy it like they do. They should be able to use technology to learn and to show what they know, because it will help them in their future. After reading these articles and watching the movies I understand on a deeper level just how important it is for us as future teachers to realize that technology isn't going to go away. We can either fight it and lose or join forces with it and in turn benefit the lives of our students.