Entry #3

I think that teaching in a digital-age classroom means that the use of technology should be organically integrated into the learning. Similar to technology use outside of school, in the classroom students should use different forms of technology, including pens and paper, for different projects and assignments. As educators, we are preparing students for their futures, and it is undeniable that technology will be present somewhere in their future. In using technology in the classroom, we as educators are helping students become "citizens of the world" in more ways than we can currently imagine (Morphew, 2012). Not only will we teach the students how to type up a document or make a video, we will also teach them how to interact with people in these new, technological spaces, and help them develop and build communication skills that can be taken offline. The students will be prepared to connect and work with the people around them, as well as people around the world, because of the skills they put into practice in the classroom.

I think that, for the most part, I will not have to show students how to use the hardware with which they come in contact. My main role as a teacher will be to show the students how to effectively, respectfully, and ethically interact with the information and opportunities provided by technology. As discussed this week, sometimes that will be modeling how to use a specific tool like flipgrid (linked below) that is new to the students, whereas other times it will be not using technology for personal reasons during class. Just as one of our jobs as teachers is to prepare students to live and work in the "real world" once they are done with school, we now also have to prepare them for the online world. They are entering this online world before they are done with school and it is becoming increasingly present in the "real world", so building the skills and preparing the students to work and interact with other in an online environment is exceptionally important.

I do not feel as though the core of my personal beliefs about technology have evolved since my first post, but as I have learned more about technology in education, my views on the ways in which I can incorporate technology in the classroom have evolved. For example, I previously knew about Google Classroom and some of the things it could do, but in going through the Google Educator training, I have been thinking about new and different ways that I would use the Google apps in the classroom. I still think that technology allows for a curriculum that is student-led and student-focused, and the things that I have learned about educational technology have only increased my belief in the fact that the use of technology in the classroom can lead to greater differentiation for the students. My increased knowledge of educational technology has also sparked my thought about how using different formats for similar assignments, such as written, in-person, and asynchronous video discussions, make it so that the assignments reach different types of learners and help the students build a wide variety of skills.