The experience thus far in EDUC 573 has been enlightening for me. As a physical education teacher, I started my career at the middle school level in a school that was enriched with technology. All teachers had I Pads and in the gym we had things such as our own HD camera, TVs, computers, and Dartfish software. I felt there we were up to date on all the latest technology. I then moved to the high school level 3 years ago and the school has a good amount of technology integrated into it but the PE department does not. Currently, we have an out of date laptop to share between 5 teachers and a stereo. We do have a Smartboard in our wellness room but not a computer to run it. All other technology used in the PE department is the personal property of the teachers. With that said, over the last 3 years I have became "out of touch" as a teacher with some of the current practices involving technology in PE. This class has already shown me how far behind we are and spurred ideas our department can present to the school level administration to gain funding for these ideas. Technology is essential the vast amount of data collection and sharing available in the PE setting as well as the enhancement and enrichment possibilities for students.
I agree that this class has opened my eyes to the different possibilities of technology use in the classroom. Unfortunately, not all teachers or students have the same technological opportunities. We have one set of rotating IPads for each grade at my middle school, and it is hard to get hands on them. We have several computer labs, but with Carnegie and Study Island programs constantly going on it is also tough to access those at times. We do have smartboards in every classroom, and I use mine constantly. The kids are always doing interactive things with the smartboard, and it is a feature that would be hard to teach without now that I have become use to it. I don't feel that all of the ideas presented within the book are feasible right now for my current student population, but there are a few that I am going to try and incorporate more into my classroom. Technology is definitely essential in this ever-changing world.
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