Blog Assignment Week Fourteen

Last night while I watching TV with my mother a commercial for the Samsung Galaxy Note came on, this commercial had the product in the classroom and the students were each writing one sentence of a story on them and then passing them around. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78-s1HNgUAQ The commercial also includes an actual teacher who used the Note in the classroom and saw the excitement and fun that the use of the technology created for that lesson. After the commercial my asked "And when are we going to get those for all of our students?" She is a teacher in the Northshore School District at an middle to upper middle class junior high. Though she loves the idea of more technological integration in education she suffers with the amount of money or the time it will take to get the educational system "up to date".

It seems the future of education is limitless if money was of no concern. Teachers want to change in a way that will create better connections with their students, but the want to change may not necessarily translate into the means to enact this change or make this future goal a reality. Another interesting article I read about the future of technology in education is http://www.wiu.edu/thecenter/articles/teched.html by Patricia Huntinger who pinpoints the idea that education can create ability from disability. This quote also stood out to me "Teachers often comment, "My children don't need computers. They need the basics." In reality, computers and their accompanying applications, as well as other technologies, are the basics for children whether they are disabled or not. Schools are not just "getting children ready" for technology use at some later date. Children, even preschoolers with disabilities, can and are using technology now and they are connecting." Commonly I find myself believing that same "basic" point of view but forget to acknowledge that technology is a new basic for student learning in the classroom.

Overall, I am excited to enter the teaching workforce as the advancement and integration of technology is increasing, I just hope that I can continue to learn how to utilize the tools to the best of my ability to ensure my students the best learning experience possible.