Looking back on this past quarter, my views on how technology can be used in a classroom have certainly changed! For one, standardized testing is completely electronic nowadays. If we are not testing our students regularly using technology, is the standardized testing going to test for subject knowledge or just how to use technology? While I saw how technology could be used to play learning games (such as http://www.ABCYA.com), I never thought about how it could be truly integrated to assist learning. There is a whole world of knowledge at the fingertips of our students. Why not let them use this when they will have the resource for the rest of their lives?

In this class, the most useful learning was with how to use all of the resources we have to better teach our students. Not only does technology allow for teaching to different learning styles, but also to accommodate to our students’ needs. So much can be customized within technology and so easily! No longer are we constrained by the materials and information we have on hand in our classrooms. I see myself integrating technology in a future classroom in many subjects. The potential is endless. Especially with the ability to do simulations such as reenactments or dissections, there is so much learning potential. I want to provide my students with the most well-rounded and involved education they can receive in my short time with them. They need to be prepared to move on and be productive members of the world eventually.

When it comes to tools, I am most likely to use padlet and google classroom (if available). For my students to so easily be able to share their work with their classmates and have access to the goings on in our classroom will help their learning. This will also allow for parents to have access and feel connected to our class. I want my classroom to feel like a family and have that support when needed. I feel that screencast-o-matic would also be a useful tool to help students who are not so fond of speaking publicly to share their work in a safe way. All of the accommodations technology brings is incredible and will help tremendously in creating a safe, forward thinking classroom environment.