An Introduction to technology in the classroom

Today was our first workshop on using technology in the classroom. I really enjoyed this workshop; Greg (our lecturer/tutor) gave some great points on how 21st Century learners are far more knowledgeable on the use of technology than we might have thought them to be. They have been brought up with technology being a huge part of their lives, and as such will be a major contributor to their learning.

There are certain ideas about using different aspects of technology in the classroom which I had not thought of before, such as having podcasts, which is used by University students every day, but I never thought about it in a Primary Education setting. We were introduced to a program called Inspiration, where we made mind maps and a creative page about ourselves.

I thought the Inspiration program was incredible, I had never heard of it before, and I think in the classroom it would be a very effective tool in consolidating the children’s knowledge of a subject in a creative and individual way. The program promotes children to think critically about a subject, whether it is through making a mind map, or creating their own pages with images, photos and text. I myself ran out of time to do an in depth mind map, so the one shown here is quite simple.

At the end of the first workshop I was really inspired to incorporate technology into my pedagogy, why limit children’s learning to concrete materials when there is so much to be gained by using various aspects and programs in all areas of technology. The one thing I came away with was that the possibilities are endless!