Technology in the Classroom

As technology becomes increasingly a part of everyone's daily lives, I realize the importance of it within the classroom. It is true that not all students have access to computers & other technology. However, it is more true that most students do. I am currently taking a course about using technology in the classroom. So far, this class has broaden my perspective of what can be done in the classroom & how it should be done, when it comes to certain aspects of the classroom. In elementary school, I did not have a lot of experiences with technology. Most of my experiences were self-exploration of computers, etc. Within the classroom, we were exposed to technology, but not necessarily in control of it or actively used it to educate ourselves. However, in middle school, I was required to take a typing course that introduced typing, Microsoft programs, & the internet. This was my first real experience with technology within a classroom. In high school, we used technology for research, creations, writing, & more. In college, it is a vital resource & tool to be successful. As technology expands and grows, I realize that it is important, as a teacher, that I know these tools & how to use them. I feel that I am quite familiar & comfortable with a lot of technological tools. However, this course has caused me to discover tools that I was not aware of, such as Symbaloo & Glogster. Out of these two tools, I can definitely see using Symbaloo. I understand how to use this tool & find it as a great resource as a teacher. I plan to use this tool in the future as it is free, has great benefits, & is customizable. I can see that students would find this tool as a fun and enjoyable tool for their own education. I can also see why teachers find this tool as useful as well. Glogster & how it creates a personalized interactive online poster is an interesting tool. However, I just wish that it was free like Symbaloo. I can see why educators would pay for this resource though. It definitely allows for customizing. It is more open-ended when it comes to personalizing it. Additionally, it creates an interactive image that would engage students interest. This is the biggest difference between Symbaloo & Glogster. I believe that Glogsters can, if accomplished correctly, cause students to become quickly engaged & interested in the subject matter displayed. Both tools allow links to 2.0 web tools to their displays, such as videos, audio, etc. However, when adding these links, Glogster allows for more personalization & options of customizing than Symbaloo does. One of the reasons why I like Symbaloo more is that it is not as open-ended as Glogster. It already has a format & structure to it unlike Glogster. There is not much to choose from besides the background image & this allows for less time spent customizing & more time spent in finding quality links & research to add to the display. I feel like I spent more time on the Glogster that I created because I was customizing each & every piece of it. I do not feel that I spent as much time finding quality links, not that my links are not of quality, but I feel like that was not the biggest pursuit of this project. However, with my Symbaloo, I spent majority of my time looking for links. I plan on adding to my Symbaloo, but do not plan to with my Glogster. I feel like there is more room to add things on Symbaloo as well unlike Glogster. If too much is added to it, it becomes chaotic looking, unlike Symbaloo, which is very organized & more organizable. I have enjoyed this course the most out of all the classes that I am currently taking. I also have found it the most useful, thus far, in the semester. I look forward to the projects for this course in the future as my perspective about technology & using it in the classroom has already been broadened.