Exploring Technology in the Classroom

The student technology showcase videos provided a breadth of insight into the ways in which technology is currently being used in the classroom to deepen and enhance student learning. The majority of the projects students were engaging in involved iPads and the variety of apps offered through these devices that allowed them to create projects such as books, movies, posters, essays, etc. Other projects were a bit more intricate and required computers, cameras, and special software to create. As a whole, the majority of these projects seemed feasible to replicate given the ease of the technology platforms involved and the prevalence of iPads in most schools today. However, it is clear that a drawback to replicating these projects would be if a school lacks sufficient resources to provides students with access to these technological devices. A common theme that seemed to extend across all of the projects was the ways in which integrating technology into the classroom increased students' engagement in the task at hand and made the learning process as a whole "more fun." However, what stood out to me was the ways in which technology provided an almost limitless mode through which students could demonstrate their learning. For instance, I particularly loved the weather game project that required students to choose a topic related to weather and create a game building on this knowledge to teach others about their topic. The game allowed students to tap into modes of expression that were not necessarily "realistic" but that engaged their creativity and provided alternative ways of demonstrating their learning. The "cherry on top" was them gaining insight into some of the basics of programming games.

A salient point that arose in one of the videos was the importance of having students publish and edit their writing on computers, mobile devices, or iPads given the new online format of the Common Core Assessment. At first, the teachers' discussion of the project he was having students complete in class (i.e. transfer their writing assignments into Pages and complete their editing on the computer) did not seem like a revolutionary use of technology in the classroom. However, when he made the point about students needing to practice writing and manipulating things on the computer given the new testing format, I realized just how imperative it is that classrooms begin making the shift in using technology as the primary medium through which students complete work. Ultimately, while not all of the projects discussed in these videos were particularly novel or inspiring uses of technology, the wide range of content areas covered and the types of projects discussed emphasize the multiplicity of ways in which technology can be used in the classroom.