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Chris Reid

ED 230 Education Technology

Spring 2014

Question: Why should we integrate technology into a classroom?

As a Gen Xer, it is a different world, technology wise, from the one I grew up in. My

husband and I were just starting a family when home computers and the World Wide Web was

introduced to us. As a young adult, I remember my dad saying to me, “Soon you will be able to

access any information you want using your home computer.” I could hardly believe that what

my dad was saying was even possible. At the time, I was using an Apple computer with DOS to

type college papers. I felt lucky to have a computer rather than the typewriter that I grew up with.

But, here we are, information at our fingertips.

At times this new technology can scares us 40 plusers, but advancing technology is not

going away. Therefore, we need to embrace the changes, learn how to use it, and, as teachers, we

need to intergrade the technology into our classroom.

Don Tapscott, in his book Growing Up Digital states that kids are smarter than their

parents. In fact, there has not been a generation where kids knew more than their parents. I have

experienced this. Just today I had problems with my email account. It was my teenage son who

quickly knew how to fix it. The article made me realize how often I go to my sons for

technological help. Tapscott also states “…Net Geners’ brains have indeed developed differently

than those of their parents” (29). I agree. How do these kids know how this technology works

without reading the instructions?

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I believe that as a future educator I need to learn as much as possible regarding

technology in the classroom. For example, I just learned that Google drive, Gmail, and YouTube

all use the same password. Lame. I should have known this.

More importantly, as an educator, I believe I need to teach students the importance of

keeping their information private. The article by Palfrey and Gasser state the importance of

making sure kids know that whatever is posted is forever available in cyberspace. The video on

this week’s lesson, of the girl named Molly, is a perfect example. High school photos may not be

appropriate for a future employer to find.

Technology belongs in the classroom because it is the future. I am excited about this class

and what I am going to learn.