Technology is a tool that has made our lives easier in many ways. Our entertainment, our communication, our work and personal lives all include an element of technology. It is time that we include that technology in the classroom. Students today are not learning the way that we learned in school. They are used to using the technology in their every day lives. It is time that we allow them to use that technology to help them learn. With technology students can discover the world, and learn from it.
Technology in the classroom allows teachers to teach concepts that were once extremely abstract. Math and science concepts can now be taught using technology in a way that makes it much more concrete. For example, when I was in school we learned about cells by looking at pictures; now there are websites that allow students to manipulate cells in a way that makes them much more concrete (check out the link on the instructional resources page).
A word of caution when it comes to technology, technology should be used as a tool not a crutch. Any student can punch numbers into a calculator, without an understanding of math they will not know if the solution the calculator pops out is correct. We still need to make sure that our students have an understanding of the basics, and know that the tools are there for them if they need them. Also, not every website is a good website. There is content on the web that we do not want students to see, and there is content on the web that is not accurate. As teachers we need to make sure that we are using quality material with students. We also need to make sure that we are teaching students to assess the quality of websites for themselves.
Used properly, technology can make a difference in the learning of students. Technology is the future and part of our jobs as educators is to make sure that our students are prepared for the future. We do this by utilizing technology in our classrooms and teaching our students to use technology effectively.