In ten years education will look extremely different. In order for me to really look at how much of a change there will be I first need to look at the last ten years in education. Ten years ago I would have been in sixth grade. When I was in sixth grade there was little to no technology integrated into the classroom. The entire school district, which consisted of seven schools had a laptop lab (30 or so laptops), which was transported from school to school as needed, these computers were very generic dell laptops. This was the only technology in the classrooms besides the overhead projectors. Throughout the next few years Pendleton School District began to integrate more and more technology into their classrooms. Now each and every classroom has their own smart board, document camera, projector, and most have an ipad or two. While ten years seems like a really long time to finally have more technology in the classroom it really is not, especially when thinking about the cost of all this technology.
Ten years from now is hard to predict for the mere reason that technology is ever changing. Yes, in ten years there will be more use of technology in the classroom, however I could not begin to tell you what that technology would be. As the years pass, we as a society will become more and more dependent on technology and as teachers it is our duty to make sure that the students do not get "left behind".
The biggest change in education I see happening is the switch from paper books to electronic books. Information is constantly being updated, because of more research; it is important to have the most up to date information possible. In order to do so, cost effectively, e-books are the way to go. While there may be more of a cost at the beginning, buying the tablets, in the long run the tablets will pay for themselves because of the cost saved by not having to rebind books or even buy 30 more copies of a new book. With e-books you can download and pay for the book once for several tablets.
A change in technology for the classroom is going to happen so we might as well embrace it and learn ways to use this wonderful tool in our everyday classrooms!
I agree that technology moving fast. It is important for schools to keep up with it as well. This allows them to help students keep up with the technology and help's them in the long run for job opportunities and just being able to do some pretty cool things and save money of course. Its hard to know where we will be with technology in ten year, but its fun to think of the impossibility's. Electronic books would be one of the coolest things I think that they could do right now.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you related what technology was like ten years ago to compare it to how it will be in ten years. That is a really good way to view it because when I look back at ten years ago you are exactly correct. Computers were used to write papers or to be in a key boarding class but by no means did we incorporate technology in our everyday classrooms. Technology was seen as a separate class, not as something that can actually be useful to teachers and students. That idea has really changed, and I think it will continue to change over the next ten years as well.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your comparison on how technology will change ten years from now and how you looked at how technology changed ten years ago. I really hope that books don't ever go away, textbooks is another story because they contain information about our world and it is constantly changing so I agree with habing ebooks.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about e-books, I think they are more practical and useful and will save a lot of money in the long run. If you look back on where we were with technology ten years ago, we have come a long way. I think the use of technology in the classroom today is appropriate and not too much. However, in the next ten years, it could get out of hand. I don't think we should become too dependent on technology. We need to embrace it yes, but if prohibits children from learning basic personal, social, and problem solving skills then they will not become independent and will be too lazy and too tied to technology. There is a whole world out there, besides what is available with technology and if technology use in the classroom can encourage kids to learn and explore the world around them,then it is a good thing.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to hear what the technology in your classroom was like 10 years ago and see it compared to today. Our school was much the same, we had a couple computers per class but we rarely used them. I think you have a good point in the necessity to ensure that our students are not “left behind” due to lack of technological knowledge. This is important to our future as a country since our students may become the future technological engineers.
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