Today's childhood is much different than it used to be. Now days elementary students are seen with ipods, cell phones, computers, and most recently ipads. Since young children are surrounded by technology it only makes sense to incorporate technology in the learning environment of the classroom. It is an inexpensive way to engage students of all ages throughout the day. For this blog I will discuss just a few ideas I think I personally will use in my classroom someday.
Seen throughout many classrooms in the Oshkosh area are Smartboards and Elmos. A Smartboard is an electric whiteboard that can enhance classroom learning in a variety of ways. An Elmo increases classroom projection by displaying still (notes, books) and moving objects for the whole class to see. Although these are great resources to have, some schools throughout the United States cannot afford them.
I thought it was a relevant topic to research technology use in a low budget classroom because of the common trend we see with schools decreasing budgets. I found a lot of great ideas that someday I can hopefully implement in my classroom.
Looking at the website education.com I found a lot of different, simple, and inexpensive ways to engage and motivate students in the classroom. A more common way to incorporate technology in today's classrooms is by projecting word documents onto a screen. This provides a clearer way to display and organize class notes and activities.
Class notes can be pre-typed or can be hand written under the Elmo. Teachers can invite students to type or write notes as the lesson continues. Having computer access will allow the note taker to highlight, and change font color and style.
Another great way to integrate your students with technology is by creating a classroom website. Having the students help create the site will build a positive classroom environment. The website is a great way to not only communicate with the students, but also the parents. The website can be filled with information: syllabus, assignments, notes, grades, field trips; or it can display student work and classroom pictures.
Here are two great web services that allow you to use for making class websites and blogs:
- www.weebly.com
- www.yola.com
There are many more ideas that teachers can do to incorporate technology in low budget schools. Be creative and enjoy searching the web!
Technology in the classroom is a great idea, especially if it's low cost. We just have to make sure that we don't exclude students who don't have access to the technology at home. As long as the technology is accessible for students to get assignments done during school hours it is a great supplement to daily lesson plans. However if assignments are given as homework and students don't have the technology at home, this can become embarassing and make students feel left out.
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