We were shown this video in my TE458 class. Although that class is a poetry class, I really though anyone in CEP452 would appreciate this video as well. I also think people should share this video with others (teachers or not). I enjoyed it. Let me know what you guys think.
I spend four hours a week in a second grade classroom. This semester I have learned a little bit more about special education and I have learned a large amount about assistive technology. With this new knowledge, the past couple of week I have been thinking about some new things while spending time with my second graders. I find myself coming up with many questions while I am teaching, helping, and observing the students as well as their teacher. Some of my questions are:
Why isn't there more technology available for these students?
Is there anyone here that knows how to use the technology that is available?
What should I do in my future classroom if I don't have much technology available?
And the question that I want to focus on purely because it gets the most rise out of me:
Why isn't the technology that is available in this classroom ever being used?
In this classroom there are three functioning desktop computers, books on tape (with headphones), Leap Frog reading books and the oldest one of all - an overhead projector. Does this class have as much technology as other classrooms I have spent time in? No. Some schools I have spent time in have laptops available, Smart Boards and more. However, what deeply troubles me is that none of what I listed above is ever being used. I used to wonder if the computers even worked until one day my CT asked me to Google something for her. I went to the computers to log on but low and behold there was a password to logon. Guess who didn't know the username or password? Yeah, you guessed it: the teacher of that classroom.
This really troubles me because she has such a valuable tool available. Not only does this computer offer things such as Microsoft Word for a student who would rather type or speak into the computer but this computer has something HUGE: the internet. I just don't understand why this tool is not being used for these students. There are a large number of students in this classroom that I know would benefit from some assistive technologies. I am at a real loss here. I decided to Google this topic and actually came to find many other people wondering the same thing. I also came across a couple websites with tips on encouraging teachers to use technology.
I guess I am really just wondering some of your thoughts. If anyone would like to offer me some insight here it would be greatly appreciated. Also, is there a way for me to address this question with this teacher without crossing any lines?
