In my previous blog I talked about technology in the classroom and the ability to use it effectively.

Now I would like to pose a question based upon today's society.  Is technology a necessity in the classroom today?  Personally, the answer to this question could not be any more clear.  Technology is a necessity and a must in today's classroom.  As teacher's we would not be able to accomplish the learning goals without the use of technology.  I myself as a math teacher could not be able to teach without the ability to use a white/chalk board.  That's right this is considered technology as well, something that most people do not think about are the old technologies.  These technologies such as overhead projectors, whiteboards and other such technologies are still technologies just not the new prototypes that everyone thinks about.

The history of technology can be viewed in this video

Technology Preferences

Laptops are the primary source of technology that students in higher education use in the classroom, over that of smartphones and other handheld devices.  The numbers are at a 80% preference rate in high school and even higher at 85% in college.

Teachers prefer to use smart boards or interactive whiteboards in the classroom at a 48% rate.  This may have been higher if not for the technology barrier that is evident in the school setting where most kids know how to run the technology better than the teachers. 
(according to Kayte Korwitts on Survey Monkey).
 

Now that you have seen that I value technology in the classroom and many other teachers do so as well with the teacher preferences, I would like to talk about the appropriate ways in which to use technology.  I personally prefer to have times in class designated as dead times, where there is no use of technological devices so that students can concentrate and not be distracted by such devices.  Teachers must not let the technology be a distraction but an aid in instruction.

 Reasons for technology being a distraction in the classroom include
- Mobile phones, ringing, buzzing and making noise along with the apps that distract your attention from the class to other objects.
- Laptops can also become walls and create a distance between the professor and student, this is something that teachers need to address.
(Fang, 2012).

3 qualities that teachers who use technology effectively practice
1) They always start with the WHY- why are we using the technology and what is the purpose.
2) They adapt- They are up to date in the latest technology and know how to use it.
3) Embrace Change- They like to learn new things and do not fight it.
(TeachThoughStaff, 2013).

Sources
Fang, B. (2009, December 22). From Distraction to Engagement: Wireless Devices in the Classroom. Retrieved October 22, 2014, from http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/distraction-engagement-wireless-devices-classroom

 7 habits of highly effective teachers who use technology. (2013, May 11). Retrieved October 22, 2014, from http://www.teachthought.com/technology/7-habits-of-highly-effective-teachers-who-effectively-use-technology/

 Korwitts, K. (2014, April 15). Top ways to use technology in the classroom. Retrieved October 22, 2014, from https://www.surveymonkey.com/blog/en/blog/2014/04/15/technology-in-classroom/

 Math Tech

Long gone are the days of using chalk and an eraser for instruction in the classroom.  We will now be integrating technology into the classrooms that we as students never experienced.  This will lead to many new challenges.  While both scary and exciting it will be a change for future educators like myself who are trying to learn all this recently discovered technology and better my classroom learning experience with it. 

This link below talks about different school integrating new technology into their classrooms. 
Integrating Technology into the Classroom

USA today cites three ways to integrate technology into the classroom

1) Planning ahead, there are ways in which you can make sure your classroom and students are equipped to use the materials.  This may include instruction on how to use the device.
2) Try new things as a teacher. In not experiencing as many technologies as a child, we as educators will have to go out on a limb and try different things to see which we like and which we do not.
3) Be an educational designer, as in somebody who can figure out which resource best suites each individual student.
(McMullen).

Collaboration is a key component in the classroom environment as well as between teachers to bounce ideas and other important information off of each other.  With the use of technology this is a much easier task than in the past and can actually be very beneficial.  Education World states that teachers can create friends list with other teachers and create pages to place information that they used in the classroom along with teaching techniques and strategies that allow for better engagement of the students (Sullivan, J).

Teaching is now ever changing and the flipped classroom is becoming ever more popular and this can be attributed to the schools getting more and more devices for the students to incorporate such as chromebooks and other such devices.  The Huffington Post states that this allows teachers to let certain students access more information than others, that is those that are ready to move on can while the others can receive additional exercises over the digital devices (Spirrison, B).

Sources
McMullen, L. (2012, January 25). 3 tips on integrating technology into the classroom. Retrieved September 14, 2014.

Spirrison, B. (2014, August 22). Social Networking tips for teachers. Retrieved September 14, 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brad-spirrison/a-primer-on-educational-t_b_5698445.html

Sullivan, J. (2010, January 1). Social Networking tips for teachers. Retrieved September 14, 2014, from http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech256.shtml