When is it the Right Time to Start?

When is the time right to start introducing technology into a child's life? The younger, the better would be the answer to that question. We buy children toys that are voice-activated and exhibit human-like characteristics, so we should do the same when introducing technology to students. We need to approach it as showing them that they can do so much with technological advances. Toys can be fun and entertaining, but using technology is a way to move forward with the rest of the world in a strong way. One part that must go into that is teaching students how to properly use technology right from the beginning. They are young and have absorbant minds, so we need to show them how to make the most out of the technology in front of them. This will require creating a balance in elementary school between reading a book and typing away on the computer. This balance will make for a well-rounded student and citizen of the technological world.

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Connecting Through Technology

Technology in the classroom is more and more prevalent. It is a way for us to make our lives and our students lives easier. It is more convenient for us to type something up on the computer than to write it down. One big advantage of technology is connecting with other people around the nation and the world. In some classrooms, we have used ICN systems to communicate with people in other countries. In the fourth grade, we had a teacher go to Japan, and we were able to talk to her through the advanced technology at that time. This greatly aids teachers in expanding their students minds on a cultural level. When we can connect with those far away from us, it brings us all closer together.

To read more more about the Iowa Communication Network click here.



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Old School, New School

Out of my 13 years in school this year was the first where I began seeing technology used in the classroom by the students rather than the teacher. It was always that the teacher demonstrated everything and the students just watched. The few times when technology was used was when we were doing research and writing papers. Did that teach me anything? No, it didn’t! I observed a classroom last semester and I was so impressed with what the teacher was doing. She started every morning by using the promethean board and having a few students come up. They knew what they were to do and they taught their classmates. I believe it was so good not only because they were learning how to use technology, but also building their self-esteem. It was an opportunity to show what they knew and for those that were shy, they got a chance to express themselves.

To read more on the changes made within the years click here.


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Natural Progression of Technology

Technology is ingrained in the natural progression of our society. We, as educators, still need to enstill the same foundations in our students. Instead of teaching them addition using a pen and paper, we can now teach them on the computer. Technology is all around us and it is a fact that we cannot deny or ignore. We need to start moving with the rest of the world, especially China. We need to teach our students how to utalize technology for more than Facebook. The digital developments these days are very exciting and we need to teach our students how to use those developments to their best advangtage. Many careers are enhanced by technology, and teaching is a field that can be taken to a level never imagined. When I was in the second grade, all we had were desktops with green backgrounds on them, now we have some of the newest computers on the UNI campus. I can just imagine how much better it is going to get from here on out.

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Image of my brother, Amel Saric.

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