18 April- "My Beliefs"

This is my beliefs about technology. I believe that technology is very useful and very beneficial. I am grateful for the way it makes things quicker and easier. Although technology is critical to our lives I think that we need to only use it when necessary and not bombard our students with things that make their lives more complex. I think we need to simplify and by using technology only as a tool and only when necessary will help us with that.

I really like the NET standards that we read because it stated things that I need to do and know to be a competent teacher and keep up with the latest and best ways to teach. I really like the fifth heading about productivity and professional practice. We need to teach students how to use technology to increase productivity and do so ourselves. We also need to utilize the best communication methods that we can to collaborate with peers, parents and the larger community. This will definitely nurture student learning. I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in the education programs collaboration meetings (lectures) they are having with a University in Spain over the past couple weeks. It is very interesting to hear about the things Spain is teaching in their education department and share with them what we are learning. I believe students should understand what is going on with students around the world. This is made possible by video broadcasting, skype, and there are many other programs out there. When I was a kid we wrote to students on the east coast but the letters took so long to get here and get to them that we didn't learn as much as we could with simple video broadcasting.

I believe that technology has its own place and as teachers we must distinguish when to use it and when it is burdensome. We need to make sure our students are effective face-to-face communicators but we also need to make sure they are ready to face the world once they leave high school. We need to make sure they have creative minds and can innovate and investigate. I want my students to know how to use technology but also when how to turn it off. I really liked that both UNI and NET talked about teaching kids about copyright and safety. These are crucial when using the internet and other types of instant media. I'm really excited to be able to use the things I've learned in this class so that I can make math fun for my students and also have it come alive for them.