Assignment #1

Technology in the classroom:
In the last decade technology has changed the course of teaching tremendously; as a result, classroom setting has become very different to what previous generations or even my generation has been accustomed to. The use of technology in the classroom or even in students’ personal life has become a daily routine. Currently the students are equipped with various kinds of technology that they use daily; it can be something as simple and necessary as a calculator or cell phone to something used for entertainment such as an iPod, TV or computer. The point is that students are immersed into technology and for us to better understand our students and to meet their needs it has become essential to incorporate technology in the classroom at least on a basic level. My goal is to become a middle school Social Studies teacher and for my lessons to be interesting, beneficial and engaging I would like to incorporate technology. Some of the basic things I can do is use television to show educational films concerning the subject we are studying. Other ideas would be to have students use internet to do research on a specific country, event, or person from history; researching a specific subject is always interesting and very educational. These are just two very practical and simple ideas; however, if possible I would like to use a Smart Board in my classroom. I think it is ideal for many class activities and it would be as though the whole class is playing on one big computer and everyone has a turn to go. I think Smart Boards are always interesting and give the students a chance to participate in learning.
Article:
Also, when reading an article I found online, concerning technology in a classroom setting, I learned about another feature that I would like to use in my future classroom. An article titled “Inquiry-Based Learning and Technology: Designing and Exploring WebQuests” written by Jan Lacina, introduced me to the topic of WebQuests. Being a “digital immigrant” I have never come across WebQuests in my past experience; however, after reading the article I saw a great advantage of using WebQuests and I am planning to use them in my teaching career.
The article explained WebQuests in great detail and mentioned its many possibilities and uses. By using WebQuest we as teachers can have a greater influence on students who are not much into school and learning; there is just something about technology that grabs students’ attention and gives them a desire to participate in a given activity and learn the valuable information presented. WebQuests are also a way to incorporate inquiry-based learning into the subject we are teaching. The article defines WebQuests as: “activities in which most, or all, of the information used by learners is drawn from the Web”.
Not only did the article explain how WebQuests work but it also gave a list of WebQuests for various subject areas, which were created by teachers for their classroom use.
There are many advantages of creating and using a WebQuest in a classroom setting. First of all, it can be used in any classroom and for any subject area. Secondly, it is completely free and all the tools and directions are provided. And finally, creating a WebQuest is not hard and does require html knowledge.
The article was very interesting and informed me of a great new way to use technology in my future classroom. As I mentioned before, this was my first exposure to the subject of WebQuests and already it proved to be a positive tool and gave me ideas for uses in the classroom. “webquests are a wonderful instructional method through which teachers can build technology-rich activities, while fostering cooperative learning”.
NETS
While teaching in school and using technology in classroom, it is important to stay on track with NETS for teachers and students. I strongly believe that NETS are very important in a teacher’s career and serve as guides to quality teaching. NETS help us to stay on task and become effective teachers by demonstrating what is expected of us. Another important function of NETS is to oblige teachers to stay current with students’ level of technology use. NETS are also very important and useful for students. If used by the teacher correctly, they help the students stay current with new inventions. In addition, they prepare and equip the students for real world and future.

Article information:
“Inquiry-Based Learning and Technology: Designing and Exploring WebQuests”
Jan Lacina. Childhood Education. Olney: Summer 2007. Vol. 83, Iss. 4; pg. 251, pgs.
http://proquest.umi.com.firma.northwestu.edu/pqdweb?index=18&did=1275350681&SrchMode=2&sid=2&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1233734363&clientId=20972