My Views on Technology

I never really thought of myself as a tech-savvy person, but my family seems to think otherwise. I am familiar with basic technology and networking sights that many people my age are. My mother who started teaching in 1970 when technology was not used had a very hard time when technology was introduced and required for everyday tasks.  This was something she had no experience with.  I saw the struggles my mother went through to learn everything from creating a webpage, sending emails, as well as doing grades and lesson plans online.  Something that came very easy to me, but was such a challenge for her. I found myself helping my mother a lot as she struggled to move along with the idea of technology being used in the classroom, which was like learning a second language to her. The idea mentioned in the article Students Teaching Teachers by Hsueh-Hua Chuang and Ann Thompson was “students share their skills with teachers who might not have time to infuse technology into a class unit or who might be reluctant to use technology in their teaching because of lack of knowledge or assistance.” My mother had lack of knowledge and assistance, so I spent time with her going over the basics. I feel I grew up in an age where technology was always being used and constantly evolving. As far back as I can remember I always was eager to get the newest product out. I currently have an Iphone which has all my networking sights on it.  Just with a click of a button I am able to access my email, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest.  Although I use these sights regularly (and way to often), my feelings are mixed on them.  I miss the days of face to face communication which I feel is not appreciated as much anymore.  Communicating is now done through Facebook chat, text messaging, or emailing.  Instead of sending a handwritten letter, everything is done through Facebook or email.  I also think without face to face communication things being written can be misconstrued.  Although I have mixed feelings about these networking sights, I also feel they can be useful.  On Twitter you can connect with people who share the same interests.  As a future physical education teacher I can connect with other teachers as a way to share ideas.  Twitter is also commonly used as a way to connect with celebrities.  Just the other day when I saw a celebrity, the first thing I did was tweeted to him!  Communicating with celebrities became possible through twitter. Technology integration is using technology in your classroom as a tool to further the students learning experience.  An example of integrating technology in a health and physical education class could be bringing in a Wii system and incorporating DDR into the lesson.  DDR is a game that encourages children to move around by dancing.  By bringing this into the classroom, it will encourage students to move around and stay active by participating in a fun game that many of them are probably familiar with and would be excited to participate in.  

Funny Comic Strips 

Pictures above from:

http://tsvirtualassistant.com/2010/01/12/hilarious-social-media-comic-strips/