Miranda Elliott

I am Miranda Elliott. I was born near San Francisco, California, but I spent most of my time growing up in the Seattle area . I completed my undergraduate degree at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington and I am currently in the process of completing my Master's in Teaching at Washington State University, Vancouver. I love planning, organizing, and reading, but I also love doing what I can to make myself seem a little bit punk (including, but not limited to, getting my nose pierced and dying my hair blue for a year).

Technology has been central to my college education, as well as becoming increasingly present in my home life. In high school, the use of technology was not central to our learning, but frequently incorporated into the classroom. I think that as technology is used more and more in society, it is important to keep up with that pace in the classroom. During my college career, much of my work was based on research done on a computer or found through a library database. Some classes were completely technology-dependent because they were held entirely online. At home, I use technology to watch television shows and movies, play games, browse social media, and keep up with friends who do not live nearby. In my house, technology seems like a tool for relaxing and having fun.

For much of my life, school was the only job I had, but now that I have had other jobs I can see how technology helps in the workplace as well. I am currently a cashier, and thanks to technology I can scan every item instead of keeping track of them by hand. The same computer that keeps track of the items also calculates the cost of the items, does the math when change is needed, and keeps track of the people who have membership cards for the store. I could not adequately do my job without technology.

For the most part, I have very positive feelings towards technology. As a society that is growing and changing at an alarming rate, technology helps us keep track of that growth and change as well as making our lives simpler. I think that this is important to incorporate into the 21st century classroom because this is the world that surrounds the students. By incorporating technology and its various uses into the classroom, students will be able to transfer what is happening in their lives outside of the classroom to their schoolwork. This transfer goes the other way as well, as students will be able to use the technology and communication skills learned in the classroom in the outside world.

Below are a picture of me with blue hair and a video made by my boyfriend, as an example of another way technology has made itself present in my life in which my boyfriend likes to film parts of his life, and as such, our life together.