Foundations and Assessment of Education/Edition 1/Foundations Table of Contents/Chapter 3/3.4.2

Educational Milestones of the 21st Century

By Amanda Wormuth

Learing targets
Reader will understand the advantages of students using technology

Readers will understand how technology is being used to help students with their test taking

Introduction
Todayâs classrooms are not like they were when students were in elementary and middle school in the 80âs and 90âs. The way todayâs teachers teach and the tools they use have come a long way from pencil, paper and once a week spelling test. Teachers have been handed a whole new set of guide lines in the past few years, some to keep up with new laws and others to keep up with new technologies, all and all itâs a new world out there for both new teachers and teachers that have been in the system for 15 to 20 years.

Technology in the class room
Class rooms today have seen many changes since they first started out in the 1600âs. Students have come from working with chalk and chalk boards to pencil and paper to now computers and smart boards. Now that we have entered the 21st century, school systems all across the nation are moving into the age of teaching with technology. While most people are for it, there are some that fear that students will not benefit and also fall behind in their studies. If teachers use the right tools and teach to the liking of the students then there should be little to no problems.

When it comes to learning a new subject it can be scary for any student, but using technology that some students have never used or seen before can be very over whelming. When it comes to intergrading technology into todayâs class roomâs teachers need to do it slowly. They can start with walking the students through a power point of what they will be working on throughout the school year and then move on to a video from online. This way the students can get a feel for what is to come and also to look forward to.

âAnd that is because schools are using technology not to only teach technology, but to teach the other subjects as well. Power Point Projectors have replaced slide projectors and the DVD's are played on the computer, then on to HDTV for teaching about rain forests, the sounds and creatures almost come to life for the students.â (Johnson, J) Using technology does not have to be a boring subject or something that is hard to follow. When the student uses technology it should be fun and exciting. Technology can be a great learning tool that can draw students in and make them want to learn more. After a class is done studying the civil war, the teacher can show the students a battle reenactment at bull run or have the students team up and look up the different kinds of wild life that live in the rain forest after studying about wild life in science class.

Technology doesnât just have to be about learning new and cool things it can also help students improve their skills in math and grammar. There are programs out now where students can type their papers on the computer and the computer will talk back to the students and tell them what is wrong and what areas need to be fixed. This can be great for shy students who do not feel comfortable with others reading and grading their paper.

Video games in the class room?
There are many forms of technology that can make a student lose focus and not want to pay attention to their homework and studies. What if there was a technology that engaged the student to study while having fun at the same time. Would a teacher use it? Should a teacher use it? Program writers are trying a new way to reach students and to get them to learn, all though video games. The makers of these programs are not saying that this is the only way for students to learn and understand materials; they are just saying that it could be one of the best ways. âRecently, the game was used in a science curriculum at a Waltham, Mass. middle school and students who played the game outperformed those who used a traditional curriculum by 20 percent in a final test of main concepts, Squire says.â (Chaptman, D) These types of video games focus on a chapterâs information and the player moves level to level learning more and more information as they go. At the end of the game students hadnât even realized that they were taught a lesson because they were having too much fun.

Some teachers on the other hand feel that these new programs are unnecessary. âSome critics worry that relying too much on video games and other interactive simulations to teach will only hurt students in the long run. They argue that it will leave students ill-prepared for higher education where reading textbooks still make up the bulk of the work.â(Hoppock, J) Teachers cannot rely just on video games to teach students the subjects they need to know. There would be no point and video games cannot teach students everything they need to know, they should only bring to light the information the student has already learned in class and applying it when playing a video game. Video games cannot teach a student about long division, or how to read this is where the teacher comes in and in no way should students rely on just games to learn new information. If teachers do decide to use this technology it should be a combination of both book studying and a video game follow up.

Conclusion
Teaching students about technology and how to use it can only improve the studentâs skills that will be needed and used in the future. It is a great way to draw students in and make them want to learn more about the subjects that they will be studying; technology can be used in many forms to educate students such as power points, history videos, and video games. If these programs make it easier for students to learn and helps improve their test scores then teachers should use this to their advantage.

Questions
1. What might be the best way for a teacher to introduce technology to his or her classroom?

A) A Pamphlet B) A Power Point C) A Coloring Book D) None Of The Above

2. If a teacher does not know how to use a program which of the following should they do?

A)Tell no one and keep it to themselves B)Do research and find out information about the program C) Asking the schools tech team for help D)Both B& C

3. What school subject(s) can a video game be written for?

A)Math B)Science C)English D)History E)All of the above

4. What studying technic might help improve a studentâs test grade?

A)Studying the test materials B)Watching TV C)Playing a video game that involves the test materials D)A & C

Answers
1)B, 2)D, 3)E, 4)D