Technology+Integration

I watched the video clip on Forest Lake elementary’s differentiated instruction using technology. As a STEM school, this is the ultimate in technology integration in schools. They seemed to have all the latest and greatest technology on site from smart boards to remote response units. I can see how this much technology could be intimidating for older teachers. I couldn’t help but notice that there were no “older” teachers at Forest Lake. Their entire staff seems to be under the age of fifty. I’m not sure if that’s because of the level of technological expertise that would be required of their teachers or not. I think teaching in an environment like that would be wonderful.

I feel very strongly that technology is imperative in today’s classrooms. Not only do we as teachers need to know how to incorporate technological advances into our instruction, we need to know what’s out there in the seats vying for our student’s attention. As a literature teacher, I like the idea of using interactive power points to discuss the work of specific authors and perhaps employing clips of movies made from books we study. I think having students present their own poetry with musical/visual accompaniment that they design can help get students interested in poetry. I have many more ideas how technology can serve my students.