I’m Cool With Technology

“Shared difficulty creates tremendous community” is probably my favorite quote from Wesch. It was in a podcast that I had listened to years ago. What this says to me, is that through connection and interconnection, we can take even the most difficult circumstances and work through them. As an older adult (39) I think that it is easy for me to dismiss technology and smartphones in my classroom. HOWEVER, I rarely think that the easiest path is the correct one, and this applies to tech in the classroom as well. I firmly believe that if we can teach our students how to safely and effectively use technology to enrich their lives, then we are on the right path. I hope to teach in inner city or community schools, working with at-risk populations. I have for a long time seen the positives that come with technology. It is readily available and relatively inexpensive. For example, I wanted to record a hip-hop song for an art class I was in, the total cost was under a hundred dollars. With that, I composed the beat, recorded the vocals, and mastered it on my headphones. This is one small example of how technology can uplift my students.

I think that trying to predict what is going to happen with technology in my classroom in the future is a tricky beast. Technology has already expanded far beyond my wildest dreams as a child. I remember thinking how cool it would be if we could communicate in real-time through a video! I can see where it is going, in math for example in Regina Public, there is a push for everyone to be using Math Up in the next three years to teach grade 8 and under math. It is one hundred percent digital and online. I did not have a chance to use it on my internship, however, I did use Google Docs for the essay I had my students write. It was so dope, I could in real-time, go in and correct my students’ work and make comments to set them up for success.

Thank you for reading,

-Cody