Technology in the classroom

Entry written by: Shellby Jones Topic:Technological Advances
         Technology is a tool that is being incorporated more and more into the classroom. To be honest, it scares me a little. When I was little I always thought I would teach the way I was taught; I had never thought that so many new developments would come out. I considered transparencies and overhead projectors the best invention ever; I must admit I somewhat still really like them. That being said, I like technology and the doors it opens, but with the kids knowing so much, there is a little added pressure. I need to always be on my toes about the latest and greatest teachnological advances.
         So far, most of the tools we have discussed in class are not new to me, but some of them are overwhelming for me. The one that still rattles my brain is the classroom that is completely online. I have taken online courses and participated in assignments from this class online, but I would have no idea where to begin when it comes to creating a class online. I am an elementary education majos so the opportunity to use some of the tools we have been talking about may not be possible. However, my favorite idea that we have talked about so far has been dipity.com. It was a tool that was presented in class and I really liked what it offered. When I was young, I always had to do timelines for anything from bookreports to history projects. Being the perfectionist that I am, it always bothered me that my timeline was not perfectly neat. By having a website like dipity, I can create a place for my student to complete their projects. Not only is is neater, it is also easier for me to grade them anywhere I go. Students could either create an individual project, work on a group project, or we can create one as an entire class. This may be difficult to do if I am in a lower income school district, but ideally it could be used in the home as well as the schools computer lab. I really enjoy this website because it opens up so many new posibilities.
     The other program I love is everything in Miscorsoft Office. There is Microsoft Word for word documents, Excel for tables and spreadsheets,and Powerpoint for presentations.While I really like prezi.com, it is somehwat difficult to navigate and frankly it makes me a bit dizzy. Powerpoint is just so much more simple and basic for the elementary level. I know that having students had write their assignments is a skill they need to know, but mixing in typed papers can prepare my students for the future. In my future classroom, I would like to have my students do a couple of projects on the computer for each subject. I could have them turn in a book report typed out or have a final draft of an essay completed on Word. I think that technology is moving more and more into the classrooms and I am excited to see how many different doors it opens. While I am a little hesistant to incorporate technology into every part of my classroom, I definitely look forward to using it in ways that will help my students reach their full potential.