It’s an exciting time for education and technology. Educational technology is constantly improving and is becoming more common in the classroom. Google “presentation in the 21st century classroom” You will find that schools are moving to a different environment. Is it good? Having trouble adding interactivity and engaging materials to the classroom?
These questions will not be answered in this article. This article will focus on educational technology. Technology regularly demonstrated at conferences for teachers and administrators. This article aims to inform you about what technology is currently available for schools. We will also remain on the subject of 21st century classrooms.
Document cameras, projectors and computers are becoming commonplace in the classroom. Document cameras are incredible technology used in education today. The ability to display a page in a textbook or worksheet on the board without creating a transparency! Many schools still use transparencies and overhead projectors. Overhead projectors limit the freedom to adapt to the class and create real-time learning experiences based on student responses.
Projectors and interactive whiteboards have been a must ever since the internet came along. Multimedia, simulations, videos, maps, research, etc. Projectors allow for whole class learning and stimulating discussions centered on a specific topic or skill. Interactive whiteboard technology allows the teacher to stay in front of the classroom and note and control the mouse.
Another important element of educational technology is computers. Computer labs have been common in schools for some time. The real concern was the actual “computer access” that the students have throughout the week. It has always been a challenge to have enough computers and create a consistent schedule for the whole school. One answer to this challenge was mobile laptop trolleys. Imagine a large car with 25 laptops plugged into power outlets in the car. Only the cart requires an external outlet to power all laptops. This cart is moved from classroom to classroom and students are assigned a computer number. Instead of scheduling computer time for the computer lab, teachers reserve these laptop carts… and bring the computer lab to them!
Classroom response systems or voting response systems or clickers are becoming a common trend as an additional element of their educational technology plan. You can probably find more information by googling “presentation in the 21st century classroom”. These devices allow for true interactivity and engagement within the class as a whole.
The final piece of any educational technology plan is the software. Blogs, wikis, games, curriculum software, reading and math intervention software, etc. are all things that students do on computers. Once the hardware is in place, the question is, “What are the students doing on the computers?” Educational software is such a broad term that schools are constantly looking for software specific to a target audience of students: high school credit recovery, homebound students, before and after school programs, school curriculum supplements, state test preparation software, etc.
One thing is for sure, educational technology is constantly improving and classrooms are getting closer and closer to the 21st century classroom.
Thanks to Josh Leitz | #Educational #Technology #classroom #today
