As a kid, I grew up with technology, but not to the extent that my students have now.

We

didn’t have Ipods until I was in middle school. I got my first Iphone when I was a freshman in

high school, and I didn’t get my first laptop until my senior year in high school. Kids nowadays

have every different type of technology available to them at all times. This can open so many

new doors for education using technology.

My personal view of technology has changed throughout my educational career. At first,

I really didn’t like the heavy use of technology within classrooms. In my sophomore year, I

observed a classroom where I found a heavy trend within the students. Most couldn’t hold or use

a pencil. I was very curious about why, and one day I asked the teacher why. She said that most

kids use technology like phones, computers, and controller games, so most students find it

difficult to grip small pencils and write correctly. In this classroom, they barely used technology,

and they did mostly handwriting assignments. At this point, I was apprehensive about using

technology. Could this really be the downfall of student’s progress?

I then thought back on myself as a student. My ADHD made it difficult to sit through

long lectures, text-filled powerpoints, and boring media presentations. I was longing to do more

hands-on, real-life application work, and that type of learning was hard to come by. I enjoyed

doing webquests and review games on the computer when they were available. I couldn’t learn

in the traditional teaching method, and it was difficult to feel motivated when every day was the

same routine. I believe I have heavily benefitted from the technology that has been developed

since I was in school.

After learning about different types of technology, games, and resources in Mrs. Smith’s
class, I have been able to see how beneficial using technology can be. Technology can be used

for a variety of reasons, and it can be used throughout lessons to review, introduce new concepts,

and introduce novelty in the classroom. Students in this generation are so well-versed in

technology, so it wouldn’t make sense to not incorporate it in some way into the lesson. If

technology is used right, it can be beneficial to the student’s learning.