Communicating with Students Through Technology

I read this article on the NEA website mainly because of the title alone. I chose this title because I truly have a passion for technology in the classroom. I have always believed that staying current with new technologies, as a teacher, should be a necessity. We as teachers should not know less than our students when it comes to devices and resources that are available to our students.

The main points of this article basically state various resources and tools available to not only teachers, but to all students as well. The first point discussed was that the use of technology offers a new way to give feedback to students, parents, and even other colleagues. There is no longer a common need to bust out the “red pen” for grading. Instead of just giving small red pen notes on research papers, we can now have students submit papers in an online format where the teacher can then add detailed comments and feedback with ease. This is also good because it is not wasteful. The teacher can even give feedback using podcasts or personal videos that the students can access individually. The article also points out the very important uses of Google. Google now uses Google docs, which makes it easy for anyone with a Google account to create and share documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. This makes it easy to create works that are collaborative between students and teachers. The last point of the article goes over some specific tools to integrate different styles of learning. One app called Animoto easily creates professional videos for the classroom. VoiceThread is an app that allows students to give verbal responses to a question online for submission, like a spoken forum. There is even an app used just to take polls and surveys. Overall the article sums up that there are many new tech tools that are easily accessible to teachers for use.

I agreed with the points and information in this article for the most part. Many of the tools that were mentioned are ones that I have experienced using. I particularly agree with the use of Google docs in the classroom. Every student should know that this tool is available to them. I remember a time when only a handful of students in a class even had computers at home, and less of those students had a computer that had a full version of Microsoft Works which included Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, and Excel. Now if someone has a computer and an internet connection, but can not afford to purchase the license for those programs, they are not completely out of luck. They can create a free Google account online, and they will have access to those basic programs for use through Google Docs. They can then email and share those documents for various projects and assignments.
The only part of the article that I actually did not particularly agree with was the first quote: “It’s never been about the newest technology – a printing press, a computer, an app – but it has always been about the creative ways in which teachers use technology to meet learners’ needs. The challenge is in choosing the right tool for the task.” I agree with this statement mostly. However the part where it states that, “it’s never been about the newest technology” does not sit right with me. I think that any technology that is new must be tested and tried to evaluate its possible applications. We never know if it is a good tool or resource until it is thoroughly tested and tried. While all apps and tools that are available to us as teachers are not always appropriate for classroom use, I do believe that teachers should be pushed to consider the newest technologies simply because there are so many new possibilities at our fingertips! We only have to reach for them and think of ways to use them to further engage our students in the classroom, involve the parents outside of the classroom, and help our colleagues alongside our classrooms.

Article Link: http://www.nea.org/tools/52048.htm