Accepting the tide of technology

For a while I was very hesitant to accept the tide changing and this world of technology moving into the classroom. I have always done lots of computer activities in my classroom as the subjects that I teach are vey new science disciplines with a lot of online resources. But I was (and partly still am) hesitant to accept the use of lots of technology like iPads and cell phones during class and, to a lesser degree, hesitant to move towards online assignments and discussions. One of the main points that opened my eyes (that Jim Adams said to me as we debated this in a happy, friendly way) was that one of our goals is to prepare our kids for education and life after high school and technology will exist in a big way in the post-high school education world. We would be doing our kids a disservice if we don't expose them to some of these technology tools that they will need to use and understand in college and beyond. I don't think anyone can really argue against this point and I do very much agree with it.

One of the biggest arguments I've had about using lots of technology in the classroom is that the kids grow up using it all, so they have a lot of technology in the other parts of their life. Why do they need more? Shouldn't we be exposing them to other things as we teach them? But, over the last year or more, I've begun to see that most students' uses of technology are so different from the ways that we can use technology in the classroom. Therefore, we are teaching them about it - we're teaching them how technology can be a real educational tool, not just one for social pleasure. For example my husband, Bill Graham, an English teacher at AHS, has used Twitter for the last four years for reminding kids about their homework. Each day he tweets from MrG'sHomework with each class' nightly homework. I think most/all of the English department is now doing the same thing. This was a way to show kids that even Twitter can be used in parts of their life outside of their social world. I know others at AHS have Facebook pages for their departments, classes, the library, etc. and I know there are countless more great examples in this same light.

One of the other great reasons for increasing technology in the classroom, which I've definitely realized much more since I've taken this class, is the ability to carry conversations on about class material outside the classroom in a way that doesn't easily happen in the classroom. Online discussions can provide a place for students to participate who might not participate much in the classroom setting. It then also allows other students hear the thoughts of these peers who do not participate much in the classroom. Lastly, it can create discussions about topics that you just don't have time to discuss in the limited class time. Sure, it might be something that not all students embrace in the way we would want them to, but I think the majority of the students will actually get more out of online discussions than in-class ones... not that I will stop those valuable in person discussions either!