BK Autobiography

Growing up, I never was known as a person who should be called a computer "wizard." In fact, I did not even get a computer until my senior year in High School. I was always skeptical about computers. Today, even though I'm on the computer a lot, I still see them as this piece of technology that is way over my head. I can do basic things on the computer, but ask me to do any thing that is even remotely difficult and it becomes like a foreign language to me. I would like to be able to use the computer for more than just e-mail and browsing the Internet. But I have realized that I'm behind the eight ball when it comes to my peers and their knowledge with computers and other technology as well.

In school, I'd never had to worry about the use of much technology. In elementary school, we had a computer lab; which I used to sneak into in the mornings and play Organ Trail. That game was awesome. But besides once a week, I never really had to use them that much. And even then it was for nothing big. Athough, in High School I took a Computer Aided Design course. We used the computers a lot in that class. That helped when it came to computer designs, but nothing else. When I finally got to college, I felt so dated when it came to technology and computer use. Everyone was using these fancy terms, I felt like I was born in the Fifties, and I was Twenty-two.

As I go through the MAT program and various field placements that I have done, I've come to realize just how important technology is in the classroom these days. I did a three month substitute job in an Elementary School last year. In that school, the students went to the computer lab three times a week, and not just to play games like I did when I was their age. They did some pretty hands on stuff. They learned about various resources they could use off the Internet for classroom related functions and activities. Also, some classrooms even had computers within the room. This helped the students a lot. One day I was observing a teacher that was doing a Science lesson. One of her students asked her a question that was related to the topic, but not entirely. In stead of not answering the question and stunting the child's curiosity, she told him to look it up on the Internet using the resource sites they learned about the day before. The child was able to answer his own question, and present his findings to the class.

I believe computers should play an important role in the classroom. Children are growing up in a time and age where they have at least one computer in the home; some homes have more than one. It is imperative for the children to understand that the Internet has a lot of things on it that can be helpful to their education. It is the job of the parent and teachers to provide them with that information and show them how to access it. All kids, from all ages can benefit from the computer in the classroom. In Elementary School, they could have fun activities that helps the child's stimulation and learning techniques improve all the while they think its just a fun game. In Middle School, the teacher can start to teach the children how to use the computer for research purposes, if they had a paper to do. If they were being taught Math and had to learn about finances, the teacher could set them up to learn about spreadsheets and useful things in that field. In High School, the students could improve on their computers skills. Also, the teachers should start to point out the pitfalls of the Internet. I think it is important to introduce the negative aspects of the Internet as it's relation to education.

Technology is everywhere. The computer age is in full swing. I believe that education should embrace these qualities of our society. Most jobs now and day require some sort of technology background. If the student starts early in school, they will be that much more prepared when it comes to starting their careers.

Reflection at the End of the Class

This class has really opened up my eyes as far the use of technology within the classroom. Before I was fairly apprehensive with using any type of technology that was not power point. But after this ten week course, I have found several avenues of technology that i can use to teach my class. I will still be a little apprehensive though.

In this course, I have picked some pointers on blogs and wikis. Coming into the class I knew what wiki's and blogs were but I did not how to use them. Now I can confidently say that I can use them in my future teachings. I also I'm super excited to use the digital storytelling in my class. I really feel that this is an assignment that will really get the students attention; and let them be creative and have fun. All in all this course has helped me with my confidence and knowledge of technology use within the classroom. I will try and implement as much technology as possible in the future.