TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM

H O W M Y P H I L O S O P H Y O N E D U C AT I O N A L T E C H N O L O G Y H A S G R O W N

OVERVIEWI think if you asked any new teacher or

education student about technology in the classroom, you’d be hard-pressed to find one who didn’t think it had a place today. The problem seems to always be about how to effectively implement technology into the classroom to enhance both the learning and the engagement of students.

WHERE I STARTEDAt the beginning of the year, I had a very

superficial understanding of how to incorporate technology into studies, mostly from some, not so good, teacher modeling. I believed that putting something on a computer was better than a book, a SMART board better than a white board, and an iPad better than a board game. Things were better purely because of new technology.

KEY CONCEPTS FROM OUR CLASS• SAMR Model• Technology and UDL

SAMRLearning about the SAMR model made me

really think about how technology should be used. It is a great tool for evaluating what a technology is being used for in your classroom. There are times when simple substitution may be effective for increasing student engagement, and other times when a modification or redefinition will completely change the way we learn. Whatever the outcome is, this knowledge of SAMR has given me a greater understanding of when technology should be used, and for what purpose.

UDLUniversal Design for Learning has been a

key concept since I started university. Almost every class talked about how to design lessons to meet the various needs of students. Learning about technology and how it relates to UDL finally gave me concrete tools to help implement the UDL principals into my classroom. An example of this is Blendspace. It is an extremely easy-to-use interface that helps with multiple means of representation. Incorporation this tool into the classroom will help bring audio, visual and written sources together, helping to meet many students in their comfort level.

CONCLUSIONAs my knowledge of technology in education has

grown, I have been able to understand the integration of this technology better. The two examples I gave were only a snapshot of what technology can and should be used for. The greatest thing technology gives us is the access to our students; whether it be for UDL purposes, mlearning environments, or student engagement, it allows us to connect with them and provide a situation for their learning to flourish.