Blog #1 Role of Technology in the classroom

I think technology in a classroom is one of the greatest tools at a teachers disposal. As I plan to become a high school science teacher I feel that integrating technology into all the lessons not only offers additional methods for students to learn but it also makes the lesson more exciting and visual and hopefully draws the student even further into the topic. A lot of lessons that are covered in Biology are hard to convey to students through simple lectures and textbooks, but if you can pair those same students with a computer that shows them interactive diagrams and allows them to interact with the lesson it will leave a more lasting impression. Science is an ever evolving subject as well and research is done across the world as well as new lab tests and experiments. Allowing students to communicate across the country or world with other students covering the same lesson or researchers working on new theories that apply to a lesson or being able to watch as a land rover on Mars explores a new enviroment are all aspects of science that a textbook or lecture alone can't fully convey. All these scenarios are ways that bringing technology into a class can help give students a different look at a topic or provide them the chance to interact with one in a completely new way and hopefully create an interest in the student to want to continue learning. While technology shouldn't replace the role of the teacher or be the only way a teacher will teach their class it does offer another tool at the disposal of a teacher to draw students in. Whether its using a Smartboard or allowing students to work on computers it is a great way to excite and engage students, it just needs to be kept in mind that technology can never fully replace the role of a teacher or should it.