Team video-individual report

I really enjoyed working with my team to make the technology video.  Everyone had something to contribute like editing skills, or asking good interview questions.  It was interesting to go to the school and observe how technology is used.  As expected, funding limitations prevents schools from having the most up-to-date technology, but teachers make the most of what they have.  The computer lab is where most students have access to technology. They usually have one or two times per week where they can go to the lab. There is also a mobile laptop lab that teachers can sign up for their class to use.  Most classrooms have a projector so they can show work on the board.  Smart boards were not used in the school we visited but I know a lot of Title 1 schools have them. Actually, Title 1 provides funding for a lot more technology.

Teachers individually come up with different uses of technology in their teaching.  The teachers we interviewed do a lot on their own. Blogs are pretty popular.  iPads are being used more and more, both as teaching tools, and as a way to easily track student data and even some test administration. One of the teachers we spoke with said she thinks paper will be used less and less.  The younger and more tech-savvy teachers are the ones who take the most advantage of what limited technology is available.

School-wide, more things are going electronic such as student registration.  Parents can do it online instead of filling out all the paperwork.  It saves time, space, and trees.  Also, more testing is done on computers like end-of-year CRTs.  This helps streamline the testing process, although it eliminates the ability of human judgement when it comes to grading. And it's hard for some students to test that way.  For those who have not been exposed to much technology at home, it may be difficult for them to figure out basic computer skills, although for more and more students, it's a part of their daily lives.

Overall, this was a good experience.  It was a good chance to observe technology as it is used today, and see what we will have to work with as teachers.