When I envisioned myself student teaching, I envisioned a classroom that was full of technology with smart boards, DVD players, etc. However, my student teaching experience has been quite the opposite. When filling out the "Tech in my Placement" survey I realized just how sparse the technology in my classroom and placement school really is. I had to go to the classroom to even look and see if we had a projector! We did have one, but we have never actually used it. We also have a TV that we've never used, and I'm not even sure if it works.
So, I guess the bigger issue is not only that we have very few technological devices, but that we rarely, if at all, use the ones that we do have. We even have giant Mac desktops in the back of our classroom, but I've never seen them turned on! Also, when the students want to use them, they have to ask for a keyboard, which I think is a good policy, but I'm not sure that all students are aware of this. Some might just think that the computers are out of commission because they have no keyboards, and therefore not know that they are available for use.
I have tried to think about how I could incorporate our classroom technology into the curriculum when I take over in the spring. I also thought about whether or not there was a reason that my mentor teacher hasn't used the technology yet. One of the reasons I came up with is that maybe he is worried that they will be destructive or use the technology for inappropriate purposes, such as checking their Facebook or Twitter.
Because of this, I probably wouldn't have them use the Mac computers in the back. However, I would love to use the projector when I start giving my lessons. Right now we have white boards, but they're often hard to see from the back of the classroom, especially when the dry erase markers are running out constantly. Using the projector would probably take care of this issue, and it would allow me to better teach a lesson to the class. I would LOVE to have a smart board, because I think they are so great for teaching, especially in a math classroom. I know, though, that I can't just magically wish a smart board into our classroom. I hope that, when I get my own classroom upon graduation, that I will have access to a smart board and will be able to leverage that tool.
