Are You Paying Attention

Technology is important to the classroom. Children use technology and are interested in technology. Advanced technology can help keep the attention of students. Most importantly however, teachers can use technology to assist them in teaching students. This is when technology is important. There are things that can be done with technology that cannot be done any other way. However technology should not be used for the sake of using it. Also it should be used very carefully.

In the video Are You Paying Attention many ideas for how technology can be used are given. This is very helpful for teachers. I feel, however, that teachers need to be very careful in the way that they use technology and not use every idea that they are given. For example one idea given in this short clip was to have students text message someone outside of the class. They would receive extra credit if they used a foreign language or text messaged someone in another country. At first this sounded like a great idea to me. It sounded so wonderful to encourage children to get to know people in other countries and about their culture and language. Then I started thinking about those children who don't have a cell phone. For those children it could become a discrimination to their socio economic status. Then I started thinking about other forms of technology that, if the school didn't provide for all of it, could make the economic level of students very obvious to others in the class because those students could not afford the technology. Another caution that came to mind was the lack of control the teacher would actually have over who the children communicate with. Any child could be in communication with someone outside of the class that would have a negative impact on them.

Although I feel some cautions to this situation I also feel that there are a lot of benefits to using technology. Technology can help students and teachers interact more and communicate when they otherwise wouldn't. Communication between students and teachers is a very important aspect to teaching. The teacher needs to be able to understand the teacher and likewise the teacher needs to understand the students. Technology can assist in this area as teachers and students learn more about technology and how to use it to better communicate with one another. Teachers and students can text message, email, update and comment on blogs, communicate things that are happening over face book, or call each other on the phone if need be. Also teachers and use LCD projectors to show more of what they want to teach or interactive boards for demonstrating more to an entire class than they would be able to with a regular white board.

Technology is a tool that teachers can use if they are willing. As suggested in Are You Paying Attention is issue is how willing are teachers to use the technology that is already at their fingertips.