Jennifer Atkinson, Week 1, Chapter 2 Reflection

Three ideas or learnings from Chapter Two

The three ideas or learnings I took from chapter two include: The Information Age, Web Wall, and the Technology Standards. The book discusses how the Information Age affects what teachers need to know to be successful. Teachers need to know more than just their content area, they need to be able to teach and use technology in their classrooms (Niess, Lee, Kajder, 2007, p. 15). All teachers need to be comfortable and knowledgeable about technology. We need to be exposing our students to the wide variety of new technology available. Another idea is creating a Web Wall. This is a great tool for students and teachers to share resources. It would be helpful for students in the same content area or grade level to be able to share useful web resources with each other. Often, students spend so much time searching for information because they do not know where to start looking. Finally, technology standards are a big factor for all of us. Teachers need to be thinking about how to incorporate technology into their teaching regularly.

Two new ideas for integrating technology

The two ideas for integrating technology in my classroom from chapter two include: research teams and websites. The idea of research teams will work well with my third graders on certain projects. They are learning how to research and use different resources, so teams would be helpful to focus their search. Having teams would be a good way to introduce some new technology and skills, but not have them get overwhelmed by having to find too much information. Secondly, only a few teachers at my school have a class website. I would like to set one up and encourage other teachers to do so as well. Class websites are a great communication tool for students, parents, and teachers.

One concern about integrating technology

One concern I have for integrating technology after reading chapter two is how to keep up with all the technology, since it changes so fast. It is challenging to meet all the core subject requirements and try to incorporate technology. Without classes, professional development, or training, I think it is difficult to stay current with all the technology out there.