Technology in the Classroom argues that teachers should embrace technology more in their classrooms to better engage students. While some teachers are reluctant to use technology, students are accustomed to learning visually from devices. The document highlights how a website called Brain Pop Jr. that teachers frequently use engages students through animated videos and interactive follow-up activities. It concludes that technology, when used to make learning fun, can be a wonderful classroom asset for students.

1. Technology in the Classroom By Marissa Gutierrez

2. We live in a fast paced world and as teacher s it is crucial that we keep up with the students and their interests. According to Foltos (2009), American schools have increased spending on classroom technology to more than $5 billion annually. Unfortunately, surveys suggest that fewer than 20% of teachers use technology several times a week, and up to half of all teachers didn’t use

3. Foltos (2009), states that some teachers don’t use technology at all. Every teacher in our school has a board but there are several teachers who refuse to use them at all, which is unfortunate for those students in their classrooms. Teachers can use technology to keep the students interested.

4. television and video games have increased the speed at which children, obtain information, these types of websites help to engage them more easily than static text and build upon prior knowledge stores (McDaniel, 2009). Modern technologies are very powerful because they rely on the preference for visually presented information.

5. Television, movies, videos, and most computer programs are very visually oriented and therefore attract and maintain the attention of young children (Kneas & Perry, 2010).

6. Students love working with technology and some of them don’t have computers at home so school is the only access they may have to it. Teachers and students can both benefit from the positive outcomes that come from the use of technology in the classroom.

7. There is a website that we visit frequently called Brain Pop Jr. The students love doing it together as a class and I love it because they are learning. The students are introduced to a new subject by first watching an animated video with characters they have come to love. After the short video we do activities that relate to the subject such as a word wall, pop a joke, and a game. The assessment is given at the end of the lesson and it can either be printed out or taken online which is what we do. The students are given five questions which we vote on as a class and a grade is provided at the end of each lesson.

8. Teachers should embrace the era of technology we live in order to provide a better learning environment for their students. I also feel that the school districts should hold more professional developments geared toward the use of technology in the classrooms.

9. Teachers need to find a common ground with their students. If they are presented the content in a manner that will make it fun for them they will work harder for you.

10. It’s time to making learning fun for our students not a chore. Technology can be a wonderful asset in any classroom if used to benefit the students. Students need to be educated on the uses of technology early in their school careers so that they will feel comfortable using it.