Technology in Education

Technology in Education



     I feel as though I am relatively "green" when it comes to the majority of technology.  This is my first time ever posting a blog!  I have participated in class discussion boards, but I had never set up a blog user account prior to this.  I am a fan of technology though, and I truly enjoy the many benefits that it has afforded us.   While I appreciate many of the benefits of today's technological advances, I sometimes wish I could have lived in a different era of history when things were more simple.  Those wishes fade pretty quickly though, as I realize that these technological advances afford me certain opportunities and luxuries that were not possible to those who grew up in a different era.  I do feel, however, that we can become to attached to and reliant on today's technology.  One example is the use of calculators to find answers to math problems without understanding the process it takes to come to the answer.  Another example is the television.  I enjoy watching televion as much as anyone to view my sports and movies, but I feel as though some people have come to use tv as a "babysitter" with their children rather than spend quality time interacting with them.  I also feel like we have become more of an inpatient society with all the new technology.  This is evident with the creation of such things as the microwave, and texting, as well as the craving for faster response times with computer hardware and software to name a few. 
     All of these luxuries we now have from technological advances derived from education, so we must embrace the opportunity to use technology to further advance our society.  Education allows learners to understand how technology works.  This new technology is used to help our students learn in various ways.  Just as technology is everchanging and evergrowing, we as educators must be just the same as we continually change and grow in our efforts to help our students learn.  As a physical educator and coach, I may not use as much of the new gadgets as a classroom teacher, but I have incorporated the use of projectors and computers in the gym.  I show my students informational clips using the projector at the beginning of a new unit of instruction to help them better understand what they are about to learn.  We also use technology in the form of hand-held GPS compass and tracking devices to learn about map reading and navigation with my older students.  I have also used the computer and projector to help my athletes and students understand how to compute averages - such as batting avg, avg number of steps/mile, and free throw shooting percentage/average.  We also use pedometers to help monitor and track physical effort and expenditure by looking at the number of steps they took during gym class, and then comparing it with the varying types of activities we participate in.  We also have heart rate monitors available for use, though it rarely makes it to our school as it is one unit of 40 monitors that is shared amongst all of the county schools.  So, yes I absolutely am a fan of technology and look forward to learning about new things and oppurtunities that can help our students learn.  I still have a lot to learn about technology though, especially in the realm of social networking.  I am not really a big fan of social networking as I would rather talk to someone in person, and I really don't like sharing all details of my life with everyone on the world wide web.  I never jumped on the bandwagon of all these new social networking crazes like my space and facebook.  I look forward to learning about technology as it pertains to education in this class, I just hope I don't have to create a facebook acount.