ED 300 and Wheat Thins

I interviewed a teacher that is pro-technology.  He likes to use it and actually tries to do everything using technology.  He has a large amount of it at his disposal, such as a personal computer, laptops for the students, a sound system, DVD/VCR recorder/player, metronomes, wireless internet for the class, digital recorders, camcorders, video editing software, keyboards, and a digital projector.  He tries to incorporate technology into every class.

One way technology is used is during marching band season.  He video records the students marching and playing during practice and performances and then he plays it back to them so they can see everything that is going on on the field.  This lets the students see what they might be doing wrong and are more able to fix their mistakes.  The sound system is used to play back jazz, marching, and wind ensemble concerts, along with being hooked into a metronome during rehearsals.  He uses the laptops for music theory for writing music and have the laptops hooked through a midi keyboard so the students can write music as they play.

The laptops have headphone jacks that can play back things the students have composed.  This is helpful during aural training, since the students can compose music and immediately hear if they put in the correct pitches.  As I already pointed out during marching season, the students can visually see what they are doing right and wrong.

The teacher views technology as a way to bridge the gap between students and teachers.  All the students are accustomed to using technology so if a teacher can use it too, the students have a greater desire to learn from that teacher.  The students find that teacher to be a “cool” teacher and it makes class more fun for them.  The school is pushing for the teachers to use technology more too.  The administration wants the teachers to have podcasts, blogs, and to post videos on youtube.  They have been supportive of teachers asking for technology in their classrooms.

One thing the teacher would like is for every kid to have a laptop.  He has ten laptops for the classroom right now, so not every student is able to have one.  The teacher finds the laptops helpful and he finds that the amount of information at the students finger tips is great for the student.  The student can research and find answers while sitting in the classroom and does not have to walk to the library to possibly find a book.

The only technology that the teacher looks somewhat negatively at is cell phones, but there is a positive to them.  He loves cell phones to get hold of students.  If a student is absent, the teacher has another student call the absent one to find out where they are.  The teacher has over one hundred students in the classroom.  He can have each student pull out their cell phone to call their parents if a trip was changed instead of having one hundred students lined up outside the office door waiting for the phone.  The teacher thinks that during class, cell phones should be off though.  The teacher hates it when students are texting each other during class.  This is a disruption to him and the class.  He thinks it hinders the students learning.

The last important thing is how technology has improved the interpersonal relationships of teachers.  The teacher can email any teacher in the school to ask about a specific student.  The teachers have access to a program that tracks students grades and other things about the students.  A teacher can check a student’s grade in a different class and then work with that other teacher to help improve their grades.  A teacher can email another teacher to ask if something happened in their class if a student seems to be acting up in their class.  There are just many ways for teachers to collaborate with each other to improve their teaching skills.

As I said before, the teacher I interviewed is pro-technology and they are lucky to have fellow teachers and administration that are all trying their best to integrate the technology into the classroom.