Computers and Technology in the Classroom One

¶ … Computers and Technology in the Classroom

One of the critical advantages of introducing technology into the classroom, even for the youngest of elementary school children, is that technology offers the presentation of clear problems that require immediate, hands-on solutions with appreciable results. (Roblyer, 2003) Computers have a tactile and visual quality in their applications that are enticing as toys to elementary school level children. Unlike many toys, however, there is an educational and real-life component to using computers that makes the integration of technology crucial to modern education. One must not allow one's students to be part of the much discussed digital divide that separates tomorrow's workers from those whom are technically literate from those whom are not.

There is also a communications aspect to the use of technology in the classroom, as embodied through the use of the Internet and the World Wide Web that would be of value for the school to embrace. For students in grade five of our elementary school, the creation of a weblog chronicling a school drama about the old west would be an ideal way to integrate the communications, technology, and history. Students of this age are ready not simply to assimilate learning and technology, but use that technology to teach others in the online community. Blogs are ideal for students of this age group as they can be "personal journals made up of chronological entries, not unlike a paper diary," thus having a personal and creative element, but can also be complied as a group. Also, "the features of a blog include instant publishing of text or graphics to the Web without sophisticated technical knowledge," but still provide a basic introduction in technical know-how. They also provide "ways for people to provide comments or feedback to each blog post, the opportunity to archive past blog posts by date, and hyperlinks to other bloggers." (Huffaker, 2003) Students can communicate with and educate other like minded and like aged students on the Internet about a school project and use the Internet for academic purposes.

Blogs "promote literacy through storytelling, allow collaborative learning...and remain fungible across academic discipline." Thus, "blogs represent a perfect medium for literacy. Authors must read and write as they would on paper, while increasing their comfort with computers and the Internet. Because blogs do not require exceptional technical skills, but still offer the opportunity to "tinker" using Web programming languages for customization, blogs remain equitable for all age groups and both genders, and still provide a medium for learning programmatic skills." (Huffaker, 2004) Because their format is similar to a personal diary, where recounting tales and autobiographical events is prevalent, blogs provide an arena where self-expression and creativity are encouraged. Blogs provide "linkages to other bloggers establish the same peer-group relationships found in nonvirtual worlds. Also, a blog's "underdetermined design, where a system is engaging," in other words, facilitates creativity," yet is intuitive and easy to learn," in other words still requires one to learn structure and the vocabulary of a discipline, makes it an ideal technical learning tool. (Cassell, 2002)

This use of technology could be well integrated into the curriculum through four distinct phases, first involving the purchasing of a digital camera for the fifth grade class in question, to allow posting of pictures through the weblog, secondly in terms of designating various tasks to children along with their roles in a real-life school play and their status as researchers when discussing the history behind the play, thirdly and fourthly involving the completion of the 'real life' project of the play and the ongoing virtual life of the blog, and finally with a cumulative step of presenting the weblog's progress as a kind of scrapbook for the classroom. A fifth component might also be a review, of the comments or posting part of the blog, from individuals across the Web. Hopefully, students from around the world will have viewed the blog. Their posts could be read and discussed by the class.