The use of technology in today's classroom is imperative. Technology has an immense amount of benefits and children can further their 21st century skills by practicing using technology. Technology can be used for any grade and for any subject. It is very ethical that students engage in the use in technology. The common core now requires students to be technological literate as young as preschool. Teachers should use technology to convey information that they are trying to deliver. Teachers need to understand how to utilize technology in the classroom because this can be a form of communication to parents and teachers can update classroom information online. Technology can be used for a variety of purposes such as PowerPoints, emails, blogs and using clicker technology in the classroom. Each attachment in section connects with the National Education Technology Standarards ( NETS). The NETS are a guideline for teachers to follow that encourages the use of technology within a classroom.

Ethics relates to our lives in both our physical and digital realm because the internet is a newer concept in today’s society. The fast paced growth of the internet and accessibility that people have makes the internet a tool for people to utilize for their everyday needs.  People use the internet to pay bills and make online purchases. This can lead to hacking and identity theft. This can happen in the physical world also by a paper trail or stealing credit card numbers.”Hacking activities expose confidential user information like personal details, social security numbers, credit card numbers, bank account data and personal photographs. User information, in the hands of computer hackers, makes it vulnerable to illegitimate use and manipulation” (Oak, 2011, p.1).

Attached to this section of the portfolio are examples of how technology can be incorporated in the classroom.

References

Oak, M. (2011, September 9). Effects of computer hacking. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/what-are-the-effects-of-computer-hacking.html

This section of my portfolio all relate to the National Education Standards (NETS). These standards are imperative for teachers to use because they need to incorporate technology in the classroom. It is very important for teachers to use 21st century skills because students must be prepared for their futures. Students must be prepared for their futures and understand how to navigate and use technology to their advantage.

21st century skills include being innovators, self- learners and being technology literate. These skills are related to digital literacy in several ways because having life and career skills, having information media and technology skills as well as learning and innovation skills such as critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity all can be applied to being digitally literate. Each skill students acquire will prepare them for the competitive working world. (The partnership for, 2011, p.1). Teachers must keep up with the demands and revolutions in society and be able to incorporate technology in the classroom. “Schools in the 21st century will be laced with a project-based curriculum for life aimed at engaging students in addressing real-world problems, issues important to humanity, and questions that matter”(Allwebco Design & Hosting, 2008, p.1).The 21st skills are important in order for students to be prepared and have readiness for their futures.

The International Society of Education Technology National Educational Standards for Students and Teachers are the standards for learning, teaching, and leading in the digital age. These standards are widely recognized and adopted around the world. These standards are important because they set standards for practices in learning, teaching and using technology in education. There are many benefits of using these standards that include improving high- order thinking skills, preparing students for their careers, having online learning environments and creating digital places of learning in schools.(Iste.nets the standards, 2012, p. 1).They relate to societies current educational trends and demands because a lot of educational methods of teaching are now going through the web. Children need to be prepared for their competitive futures and be able to be ahead and have an experience with technology for their professions.

References

Allwebco Design & Hosting. (2008, August 01). 21st century education. Retrieved from http://www.21stcenturyschools.com/What_is_21st_Century_Education.htm

Common Sense Media. (2009, June ). Retrieved from http://www.itu.int/council/groups/wg cop/second-meeting-june-2010/CommonSenseDigitalLiteracy-CitizenshipWhitePaper.pdf

Iste.nets the standards for learning, leading, and teaching in the digital age. (2012). Retrieved fromhttp://www.iste.org/standards

www.nysed.gov. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/common_core_standards/pdfdocs/nysp12cclsmath.pdf

 The Google Apps website that can be used as a future reference as a teacher. It can be used to keep in contact with parents and can also be used for a teacher to post homework assignments. These websites are used by educators as a way to communicate with students and worksheets can be uploaded here. There can also be gadgets placed in these websites that can be tools for students to use and can be additional sources of information to keep an active communication in the classroom. Active URL's can also be uploaded to this site and these can be links to other sites that can be beneficial to students. I believe that visual learners would truly benefit from this type of website. Parents can benefit greatly from these types of sites because they can get continuos updates about what is going on in the classroom and what their child is currently learning. Attached to this section is an example of a Google Apps website that I created.

The website I chose is http://fotoflexer.com/. There are so many great applications on web 2.0 but this one caught my eye because I have used it before. It was so easy to use and free. I love editing pictures and printing them out, pictures are very important to me especially being away at college it is a great way to remind me of my family and friends at home. FotoFlexer is so early to use, as soon as you log on the website you can immediately upload a photo and can upload photos from other websites such as Facebook. There are many fun effects such as adding shapes and words to your pictures. You can easily remove red eye, change colors to pictures and re-size photos. I often crop photos and this website allows this to be done with the click of a button. There are around 35 different effect options that this website offers and there are even distort options that allow you to make a picture silly.  Once edited, there is a button that saves the picture right to your computer in JPG format. I will continue to use this website and can be a great tool in my classroom if I want to send pictures home with my students or hang them around the room. I can put words and themes on the pictures so that they correlate with the classroom. This website was a great find and so easy to navigate.

References

Arbor Labs Inc. (2007). Fotoflexer. Retrieved from http://fotoflexer.com/

Technology is something that is continuously changing and many people have a hard time keeping up with. However, as a future teacher it is imperative to be able to take advantage of the many benefits that technology offers and be able to successfully use technology within the classroom. These new technologies allow students to be actively engaged and learn in a setting that is more anonymous and less pressured. With the added pressures of  Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) and students scores SMART products are a great way to get students interacting and focused on learning in a more relaxed way.“Observations also indicate that designing lessons around interactive whiteboards can help educators streamline their preparations and be more efficient in information and communication technology (ICT) integration, thereby enhancing their overall productivity” ("Smart: Research and data," 2011, p. 1). Smart boards have statistically shown to help motivate students to learn and can accommodate to several types of learning styles. This is important as a teacher because students all have different needs, and the SMART Board helps to adjust lessons to fit the needs of each student. 

With the new technology, students can gain more confidence and class and teachers are getting accurate feedback at a very fast rate. The SMART response devices are handheld and students answer questions on them and the information is sent to the teachers computer and gets data instantly. “New technology is making it possible for students to tell a teacher if they don't understand a concept without being put on the spot” (Wimmer, 2012, p.1). The students can remain anonymous and the teacher can tell that day if they need to re-teach or review something that certain students were struggling with.

One new product that is interactive for the classroom is the Activ Table. This is a table where students can work together on problem- solving activities and decision making. This table is great because it supports the common core with 21s century skills. “The ActivTable is designed to support group work, problem-solving activities and consensus decision making, as well as building important 21st Century skills such as collaboration, communication and critical thinking” (Promethean, 2012, p.1).This table allows up to six students to use it and is handicapped accessible. This table allows for differentiated instruction and can be used by teachers when they need to divide up the classroom. The students all have to decide on the activity, and there are multi- touch options which allow all students to interact at the same time. This table also tracks the students work while on the table and their progress which is a great way for teachers to assess student’s time while at the table. This invention would be great t use during group work and is also very easy for a teacher to keep track of who is on task. Technology is a great tool for teachers to utilize and there are so many new systems that benefit students in numerous ways.  

I think that this new technology can be implemented in any classroom I am in as a teacher. Teachers can use this technology for review games, lessons, showing clips and movies and students can certainly use this for review and practice. I love the idea that the teacher can instantaneously get students results; this can be a great assessment for my own teaching and can tell me what I can change and improve on. I also can use this technology for group work and for accommodations for students with many different disabilities and learning styles.

 References

Smart: Research and data. (2011). Retrieved from http://smarttech.com/us/Resources/Research and data

Promethean. (2012). Activboard 100 system. Retrieved from http://www.prometheanworld.com/en-us/education/products/interactive-displays/activboard-100-range

Wimmer, N. (2012, January). Smart technology helping teachers in the classroom.Retrieved from http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705397590/SMART-technology-helping-teachers-in-the-classroom.html?pg=all