Week 4 Essential Question

Essential Question:  Week 4

How can you engage all students?

Technology is a real motivator to students.  My students like and are generally more motivated and engaged in the assignment if we use technology.  I like to vary the technology I use.  I have taken things like prezi, glogster, wordle and used them in classes to keep these kids engaged.  I feel that giving them this new tool or allowing them to try something or use the internet to search something, helps keep them engaged. Using things like word and powerpoint gets a little boring, so throwing different types of things like we are learning keeps them more interested.

 What is your ideal technology "set up" in your classroom?

My ideal classroom technology “set-up” would be having all the computers with their own computer station.  This gives the student more room to work.  I would also like to have the computers face me.  Now I have them face the wall and the backs of students are towards me.  I would like them to be able to follow my instructions on the computer and look at the screen at the same time.  I would like to have a remote form LCD so I can walk around during lecture and see what students are doing.  Are they understanding what I am saying or am I just talking to myself.   The only other thing I would like is access to other software that may make teaching my topic a little easier.

How would technology impact student achievement and engagement in your classroom?

I think that technology does impact engagement.   As I stated earlier my student like to use technology.  It moves them from a regular desk to a different type of activity.  It could be taking digital photos, creating a video or just doing a web quest on the computer.   I can’t say how it would impact achievement.  I am not really sure it does.  I am someone who came from a non- technology age and we did fine.  I guess in my class technology gives the students more opportunity to use a variety of tools to do something a little better or different (like a digital poster versus a regular one).  I am really not sure how to answer this.