Technology in My Practicum

I am doing my practicum in a kindergarten class. I have not seen very much technology incorporated in the classroom I am in or any of the other classrooms I have visited. In my class, attendance is taken electronically, the students often listen to songs using the computer or record player (yes, an actual record player), and from time to time, when work is completed, I will see a few of the students working on computer games that reinforce what has been taught and or introduced in a previous lesson.

My technology inventory showed that my placement school has quite a few different resources available that could potentially be brought into the classroom. However, I do see bring such technology into the classroom as I get the feeling that my school is more traditional and perhaps has not embraced all that technology has to offer. I could be wrong though; perhaps I have just not observed the right classrooms and teachers.

I would like to see more technology in the classroom. From what I am learning in my Technology methods course, I seeing potential for incorporating technology into the classroom that I never thought was there. However, because I am just beginning my teaching career and I have very little experience as a classroom teacher, I am little cautious about bringing technology into my teaching (at least initially) because I am not sure how much value it would add to the lesson (at least the way I would incorporate the particular resource into my teaching). It would be helpful to see actual classroom teachers using more technology in their instruction, because it would give me a better idea of how I could use it and it would also put all the "theory" I am learning into practice.

I do not see where training (at least for the students) and access would be a problem in relation to bringing more technology into my placement classroom. As it has been said many times before, the students are digital natives, so the technology is inherent for them. I think the problem lies with many educators who are resistant to using technology due to their own fears and bias. I am not too sure about the technology orientation of my cooperating teacher. While I do not see her use a lot of technology in her instruction, I do not take that to mean that she does not know how to use the technology. I just take it to mean that perhaps her style of teaching does not choose to incorporate much technology. However, perhaps on the other hand, if she was introduced to more technology and the ways in which it could be used in the classroom, she would be more likely to use it in her instruction. On the flip side, I do think logistics could be an issue, especially since there is no computer lab; my classroom only has seven computers which are shared between 17 students, the teacher, and the paraprofessional. The media center has even less computers for students, so that is not an option. In this case, using technology that necessitated students having their own computers or less than three students per computer would not be feasible.

Nonetheless and despite the logistical and preferential challenges in my placement, based on the knowledge I have of how children learn, best practices for classroom teachers, and other guidelines, I think technology would engage the students, making instruction and learning easier on both the students and the teacher. Having opportunities to learn that appeal to the students (and often, technology is the avenue on which that can be done), could serve as way to kind of "trick" the students into learning. If they are having fun with what they are doing, they are not going to think about the instructional or school context behind it, but rather they will be so engrossed in having fun, that the learning will come even easier. This makes me think of the Oregon Trail game that so many of us played as elementary students. I can remember that when I was playing this game, I was not thinking about learning the social studies material involved in the game; I do not even think I realized that the game was more educational than entertaining. I just know that I became so engrossed in trying to successfully complete the cross-country trip that nothing else seemed to matter. I can also remember the disappointment I felt when something tragic happened and the game was over or when it was simply time to stop the game and move to some other classroom obligation.

With that said, I believe if educators could find ways to engage children in learning in the same ways that many games and other "fun" activities engage children, then technology can and will find a productive and necessary place in classroom instruction.

I can only hope that one day all the current talk of the possibilities of technology for the classroom will be realized and more educators will embrace technology.