• by elizabeth , September 17, 2009

Last week in one of my education classes, we discussed the importance of technology in our personal lives and in the classroom. As a class, we agreed that, on a scale of 1 to 10, our need for technology is a 10. We use it for communication, entertainment, research, etc. It’s hard to go one day without using some form of technology.

From an educational standpoint, the children that I’m going to have in a classroom have been at a 10 for their entire lives. Our generation lived through the experience of the days before the internet, dial-up, wireless, and now mobile internet. The generation in grade school, however, only knows a world dependent on technology.

So how will that affect my teaching when I enter the classroom? Although we do rely on technology a little too much, in my opinion, it doesn’t mean that I have to use it constantly in my classroom. Technology is a tool, and any tool used too much or without knowledge will lose its value in the classroom. I shouldn’t have to incorporate a Youtube video or a PowerPoint because I feel obligated to use technology since my students are around it all day. I can be just as effective if not more with merely a chalkboard and a piece of chalk. Technology is wonderful, and I can’t imagine my life without it, but I need to remember that it is a tool used to enhance not to overdose.