Like others, I also disagree with Clark's position.

I feel that educators

need to use technology to hook and interest students. Then once
students are engaged and motivated the learning takes place. In
my experience, I have found that not only does technology assist my
teaching; it also motivates my students to want to learn more and
do well.

To piggyback off of Lee, my kindergarten students have been using

STMath, a problem solving program that is self-guided, since the
beginning of the year and I have also seen a huge improvement in
understanding of math concepts. So here is just one main example
how technology has influenced my students show growth.

Like Katarina, I too am a visual learner and find that a majority of my

kindergarten students also learn best through visuals.
Each day my students are presented with technology that enriches
their learning while also keeps them engaged and motivated to
learn. Every morning, I use my interactive white board to project the
language arts lessons through the Reading Wonders Website. I use
interactive lessons because I find that it keeps my students engaged.
The students expect to use the board daily and I believe if I were to
teach straight from my manual without using technology in any
capacity, student engagement and student achievement would
drop. Following whole group instruction, the students visit literacy
centers. While I work with a small group, students use five classroom
computers as well as five iPads to practice skills on the Reading
Wonders website or practice problem solving on the STMath website.
Students are engaged during this time and are practicing taught
skills or are previewing a skill that soon will be taught. The students
may also use other preloaded apps during this time.

My five year old students enter kindergarten with the expectation

that they will use technology during each school day. About half of
my class has a device at home and come to school with the
background knowledge to use one independently. Unfortunately,
my district is not 1:1 yet, but within the next two years, all students will
have a device to use all day. I am looking forward to the time that
each student will have a personal learning device to help them
grow as a student and learn through interactive technology
experiences. So I do agree that even though technology is
expensive, it is without a doubt a necessity in the ever evolving
elementary classroom.