My integration

After reading the different stages of Technology Integration I felt as though personally I am in between stage 4 (appropriation) and stage 5 (innovation). I know of a good deal of websites and apps and what not that I could use and I am aware of different education websites and what not that I would be able to use, but I handle use any of them personally to help me. I am having trouble getting to that 5th stage, in my cohort I feel as though we are somewhat of the in betweeners, meaning that for the beginning part of our education we were taught the "traditional" but as we progressed is when technology really started to take off in school so we were getting more introduced to it. So most of us (my cohort) is able to swing back and forth between a more "old" and "new" school education and tools. That makes it hard for me to make the leap to the next level because while all of the apps and websites are good and can be extremely useful I feel that nothing can beat "a good ole fashion handwritten letter....that you pick up from the mailbox" as my mother would say. I have been lucky enough to observe a few class (all in Michigan, where my old school is) and noticed that none of them were heavy uses of technology and none were completely anti technology. They all had a different mix of integration. Mostly this is true because of the economic status of each school, a couple of them seemed to incorporate more technology into their classrooms they simply couldn't afford it. BUt I did notice that the classes that I observed where students were using technology more (mainly computers to play games and practice different aspects of English, Science, and Social Studies) the students seemed to be more involved in "regular" class (without technology) than those students who never even went to their own computer lab. Whether this be directly related to the fact that they didn't have the technology of because their status I am not sure. 

Media outbreak

Today in class we view several studies that were done to evaluate how much technology we are using as a society. One of the statistics what stood out the most for me was the number of younger and younger people with cells phones, and not only cell phones but smart phones. I think that it is really young for a 5th or 6th grader to have a cell phone, and there were a surprising amount K-2 who owed a cell phone. While I was surprised by the number who owned their own phones it is also plays in our favor as educators. While many teachers and school have strict no cell phone policies those that do allow them, we can now utilize them in class. With such things as the web site were it's an online poll and students are supposed to text the answer. It is a great way for the students to learn how to use their phones properly moreover become more engaged and involved in class. As I progressed through school I noticed a changed in the way some teacher felt about cell phones and I believe that, just the same with most other things, the more you tell a child, or most people even, that they cannot do/use something they are going to want to do/use that something even more. More teachers are finally joining the band wagon and joining their students with the technology craze. Technology shouldn't be viewed as a devil instrument put on this Earth to corrupt and brainwash our children, if used properly can and will be a great way to get every student involved in class and help each of them learn and succeed at the highest level. Whether we like it or not technology is taking over. It is everywhere we look and so intertwined in our children's lives that it would be crazy not to use it in the classroom.  

All about me

Reflective Post #1: Introduce yourself. Give the reader some background about how you arrived at this point in your career. What is your experience and opinion regarding technology in education? Feel free to include photos that express your personality (yet are appropriate to the blog), provide links or videos that you feel will help the reader get to know you

My name is Ryan and I am excited to be in this class. This is my first quarter at NL and am working on becoming a special education teacher. I am a transfer from a very small school in MI, called Adrian College. I attend Adrian for the most part because they were the closest school who offered lacrosse as a varsity sport. While there I was able to observe a few classrooms, two 8th grade classes and one 6th grade (each at a different school). One of the most interesting instruments that I saw was a pen, I forgot what it was called, that students could use and it would read the words to them ( as the students dragged the tip of the words it would read out the words to them). It is technology such as this pen that helps not only the student but also the teacher because now the teacher doesn't need to sit there and read the question to that them, they are able to help others who may not need it. Technology is going to play a huge role in the way classes are taught. It is already taking over the classrooms and will continue to play  bigger and bigger roles as new technology emerges With technology teachers are able to have their students become more involved and able to witness things that in the past would not have been able to do. Teachers are able to "take" their students to different countries and states from their classroom with the help of tools such as skype or flickr. As a future educator I am very excited to see how technology changes and what new educational technology arises.