Chapter 3 & 9

I like the question that opens chapter 3 -"What can you teach with technology that you cannot teach just as well without it?" I think we can teach without technology, but can we imagine a classroom without it in 21 st century classroom? Technology opens new possibilities for students across grade levels and the curriculum. Today's technologies "generate unique, powerful, and transformative learning experiences that do not happen in the same way or with the same impact when nonelectronic materials are used".
Current learning standards for educational technologies include five topics: critical thinking and problem solving, digital literacies, electronic communications and collaborations, creativity, and ditital citizenship. These standards applied in the classrooms enhance Student-Centered learning. The research conducted over 40 years period (Tamin et al., 2011)shows that "technology does produce gains in student learning when it is used to actively engage students, create communication among learners, and offer students opportunities to manipulate and interpret in a computer-based learning evvironment".  As a teacher I felt needed and appreciated after reading the other part of their findings, that "[i]n contrast, technology as a sole provider of academic content does not result in student learning gains. Teachers are critically important in supporting learning by focusing student's attention on questions to investigate and by enabling students to process and reflect on what they are learning through conversing and writing". 

A while ago my son's class visited a bank. One of the tellers explained to them how the bank works. She showed them how checks can be scanned and deposited. After the presentation they were asked to draw a picture of a bank from the future. My son drew a robot sitting behind the counter doing all the work. When we returned to their classroom, the teacher asked the students to draw a picture of a classroom from the future. There were computers, Smartboards, calculators, iPads, and projectors in their pictures, and every one of them had a teacher standing in the room!  When the teacher asked them wether they would like a robot or computer to teach them, they all started laughing and said the teacher was silly.  

Chapter 9 lists multimedia technologies used by teachers. They combine text, data, voice, picture, and video. PowerPoints are widely used in classrooms for presentations, however they are not engaging and often uninteresting. Digital projectors, document cameras, videos, webcasts are among many technological advances that engage students in learning. Because I teach PreK, I can not do any projects with them. Their participation is limited to using iPads and engaging in video clips. I can see how older students can participate in creating projects involving multimedia technologies.

I have a projector in my classroom, and I'm limited to playing "educational clips" for students. I try to make it interesting and engaging by pausing, rewinding, and asking questions. The fact that they watch a clip on a huge screen, gets their attention no matter what the theme is. I am very inetersted in Streamimg Video Resources for Teachers listed in the chapter and one day would like to learn Digital Storytelling.

Questions:
1. What kind of Multimedia Technologies can be used in Early Childhood classrooms?
2. What Multimedia Technologies do you see in the classrooms 50, 100 years from now?