Blog Post

Technology in the Classroom

BeckyStrause

Technology has changed the world in so many ways, mostly by making it smaller. Thanks to the Internet, we can experience things that seemed unlikely in the past and share those experiences with our friends.

Technology has also changed the way we learn. We are now able to learn anything at anytime, and yet we don’t have to retain info because we can always “google it.” Books are much less used in schools now than they were in the past, and mobile devices are used more. I have little comprehension for what it must be like in elementary school nowadays. My assumption is that there are endless amounts of videos, presentations and interactive whiteboards, and not as much singing as we had. More and more teachers are also using video conferencing in their classrooms.

In this article , Steve Sherman shared his insight one why Google+ and Skype should be used in classrooms. The breakdown of his reasons, in his own words, is this:

Here are a few reasons that Google Hangouts/Skype should be used in a classroom.

I can teach my classes and others without travelling
I can combine 3 or 4 classes into one session with a regular Google Hangout
I can invite guest speakers into my classroom without them having to travel. This month I will have an engineer from the Curiosity team hanging out with students at the local Science centre as well as classes around the world.
You can play mystery Skype — where students need to guess where in the world you are — they are only allowed to ask yes or no questions
I recently ran a session with parents, teachers and students in Canada — This is something that was well received by the parents.
During national maths week I ran a two-hour workshop with a local school. They were overwhelmed with the idea to begin with but afterwards they indicated that the potential for future events was unlimited.
You can do joint projects — two classes can discuss and share ideas — collaborate on Google documents that are open for sharing, Presentations can be made to each other
If you want to learn French — is it not better to practise with French students while they practise their English with you?
I recently ran an activity with students and teachers from different countries. They were all part of a hangout and I presented a topic on my menu for them to sample. This was like food for thought. Topics like euthanasia were introduced and four strong points for as well as four strong points against were presented. The students had to pick either for or against. Due to different cultures, a Dutch teacher would have said that in his country it is legal, but some of the religious teachers from the Deep South in the USA and one from Honduras were opposed to it.
This allowed for robust debate and interesting discussion, allowing us to learn about other viewpoints that we don’t often get to hear.
The time-saving, the cost savings and the ability to accomplish more in a day is yet another strong reason for making use of this technology.

Skype seems to embrace being a part of education with their Skype in the Classroom initiative. This offers lessons in a variety of subjects that are geared towards students in certain age ranges. The lessons are started by individuals looking to connect their students with others, and participants get involved with the lessons by connecting and sharing resources.

And the wide-world is starts to look a bit smaller when a class in the United States invite students from Hong Kong into their classroom to talk about math, food, language and the world around them.

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