Monday 11 January 2016

The Role of Technology Use in the Classroom

We should use technology in the classroom to help engage the learners of today. The children in Primary schools today have never known a world without technology and most of them have been using technology from a very young age.  It surprises me the amount of children in prams who have their parent’s smart phone, a tablet or iPad playing games or watching YouTube clips while they are shopping or at sporting events. Children are comfortable using technology and don’t realise they are learning using these teaching tools.  Learning is therefore fun and entertaining and the children feel they are having fun just playing while learning.  Using technology is useful in most Key Learning Areas.  Introducing concepts using Interactive whiteboards, showing YouTube clips to whole class, children listening to modelled reading, learning maths concepts, visiting websites, using apps on tablets or iPads, the list goes on and on.  There are times however when technology is not the most effective learning method and should not be used for creative and hands on tasks.  When children measure, experiment, design, build or any other hands on activities that technology cannot give the same learning results. Sure there are many apps that can help children learn to measure but without hands on experience the children can only speculate on how much liquid could fit into a cup or if that jug does hold more liquid than that mug. Technologies are tools to be used in conjunction with hands on experiences to deepen the knowledge our students can gain during their lessons.  

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