Technology Final Project Link to Storybird

http://storybird.com/books/the-true-story-of-cinderella-and-her-evil-stepsist/

Week 16

This semester I have learned so much about technology and the different ways it can be used within the classroom and how valuable of a tool it can be for teachers as well as students. Before this class I had a basic understanding of technology, but had not really thought about all the ways it can be used in the classroom and had not clue about all the different sites and fun things there are to do with technology. I enjoyed learning about all the different variations for presentations or projects in the class such as Prezi, Storybird, Flipsnack, Vocaroo, etc. This class has really challenged me to think about all the ways I can incorporate technology into my class and the many different variations I can use to make it more engaging and exciting.

Before this class I had never heard of NETS, but now feel like I am fairly familiar with all of them. I have used each of them at some point throughout the semester, but I think the two I am most familiar with are 1. Creativity and Innovation: Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. and 2. Communication and Collaboration: Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.

Overall, this class has been a valuable learning experience and I am excited for all the ways I can incorporate technology into my class and make it more engaging and a more effective learning experience for my students.

Week 15

I found a geography lesson where the teacher was planning on having her classroom Skype students from other elementary schools and having them talk about what life is like for them where live. Especially in regards to how geography, such as wheat fields and farms or other things impact their life. I thought this was a neat idea that helps students see not only pictures of different geographical areas, but also talk with students who live there and see how the different geography impacts their life. I would love to use this in my classroom and have my students predict how they think the geographical differences would impact the other classes and then ask and see if their predictions were correct.

2.	Communication and Collaboration
	Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students:
	a. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media. b. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats. c. develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures. d. contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems. 1. Creativity and Innovation   Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students:   a. apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes. b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression. c. use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues. d. identify trends and forecast possibilities.

Reflection 12

While working on a lesson plan for a class I came across this website called Education World. I did not have time to look at all the things the have there, but one resource I found were hundreds of free downloadable templates to use in your classroom. From calendars, to parent newsletters, coloring sheets, and all sorts of other templates that could be used in the classroom. Here is the link if anyone wants to check it out.
http://www.educationworld.com/tools_templates/index.shtml#miscellaneous

Reflection 11

I recently had the touch screen on my phone break and had only had the phone for about a year and a half. It seems like each new phone I get breaks quicker and quicker. It makes me wonder that although the technology is getting fancier and more advanced, if the quality is dropping or harder to sustain because it is so fancy. Or maybe it is just a trick from the phone company to make you buy a new phone more often.

Reflection 10

Today in one of my classes we had to create a newsletter of sorts to send home to parents and just for logistics of this class made it on paper with markers. It made me think about how thankful I am for technology and that I can create something like this on the computer so it looks nice to send home to parents because I cannot draw at all.

Comments on Classmates Blogs

http://wright2whitney.blogspot.com/2012/10/reflection-5.html?showComment=1354050427216#c8012780901061845435

http://bethanylowesblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/week-9.html?showComment=1354050654275#c7597375987035710091

http://sitzleralyssa.blogspot.com/2012/10/week-8-twitter.html?showComment=1354050828230#c1226322516417700069

http://sigridthoreson.blogspot.com/2012/10/reflection-7-technology-that-breaks.html?showComment=1354051023392#c8666747324532438261

http://kendracotton.blogspot.com/2012/11/week-10.html?showComment=1354051287133#c623201837744972121

http://heatherkristinsadventures.blogspot.com/2012/11/reflection-10.html?showComment=1354135505506#c5554344238275752957

http://angiegarza12.blogspot.com/2012/11/reflection-9.html?showComment=1354135719580#c3318925447948648096

http://tootsievasquez06.blogspot.com/2012/11/reflection-8.html?showComment=1354136211545#c2131391590175018751

http://amdowns8.blogspot.com/2012/11/week-14.html?showComment=1354136359278#c1898436400647999540

Reflection 9

At Thanksgiving this past week, my family was talking after dinner and my 5th grade cousin was complaining about how she is one of the only kids in her class without a cell phone. I did not get a cell phone until my sophomore year of high school and I remember in when I was in 5th grade hardly anyone had a cell phone. It just made me think about how technology use has grown so much just in the past ten years and as teachers   we will have to deal with stuff at the elementary level a few years ago would have barely been on the radar at that age. It also shows how adept younger kids are at using technology and plays into the importance of teaching with technology to better gain their attention.

Week 14

I read a few different articles while researching the future of technology in education and found there seems to be a theme of trying to change the mindset of teachers as well as the whole education system of from thinking "we've always done it this way" to "how can we best integrate technology and prepare our students for the future." It is difficult to integrate technology because it is always changing and becoming more and more advanced, but as teachers it is important to prepare our students for the future and technology is a huge part of life now. In one of the articles I read, Joyce Johanson makes a good point when she says,
                 "Americans accept the advantages technology offers us at home, on the highway, in business and industry. We accept, expect, perhaps even demand, these advantages in all aspects of our lives except education. Why? Why is it that the educational "we’ve always done it this way" and "it’s worked for over 100 years" attitudes block the integration of technology into our schools where we are educating children for a future that demands they understand and use technology? The fact is that if America wishes its future generations to be able to meet the demands of a global community, to compete in a world that is technology-based, and to manage the vast amounts of data and information available, we must give today’s children the tools through education." (http://www.wiu.edu/thecenter/articles/thefuture.html)
             I agree with what she says here and think that as technology becomes more and more a part of life and work it becomes very important to teach our students how to use it as well as use it to keep their attention as we teach. How we do education is changing and technology is one of the main forces driving this change.

Reflection 8

Before this year, I had never really thought about how useful a program such as Google Maps could be in the classroom. A few different classes I am in now have talked about different ways it can be used in the classroom. Using it you can show students what a place actually looks like; it can allow you to take them on a mini field trip to places all over the world.

Week 13

Word: Typing, the synonyms feature, spell check, formatting help
PowerPoint: Slideshow, transitions, add photos, backgrounds
Excel: I don't really use Excel that often, but when I have I have found it is useful for list making and figuring out money stuff with the auto calculate functions and is helpful to keep everything in line.

Lesson Ideas:
1. To help my students learn Excel we could do a math project where they have to start their own business and keep track of the finances on Excel in order to determine if they are losing or making money.
2. To help my students learn PowerPoint we could do group presentations that relate to something we are working on in class and part of the presentation points come from having certain elements from PowerPoint on their presentation such as, transitions, pictures, words, etc.
3. To help my students learn Word we could do a project where they have to type a short paper and the paper with have things that need to be bolded, italicized, have a header, etc.
                  *Before starting any of these projects we would do a short overview of the programs and the basics of using them and then the projects would give the students more practice with them.

Week 12

The article I read was about the use of active boards in classrooms and the some of the studies regarding the use and effectiveness of them. In some studies between 16-26 percentile point gain in student achievement was noted, but "One of the more interesting findings from the study was that in 23 percent of the cases, teachers had better results without the interactive whiteboards." When they looked into this though, they discovered that this tended to result from how the boards were being used. Stemming from that, this article was able to help explain effective and not effective ways of using an active board. Reading this article can help a teacher to understand the best ways to utilize technology and in particular active boards in the classroom. 

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov09/vol67/num03/Teaching-with-Interactive-Whiteboards.aspx

Reflection 7

I was preparing a short lesson for one of my other classes and stumbled across a website with a bunch of different lesson plans and downloadable power points or classroom resources. I thought it was so neat that just by spending a little time on Google I was able to save a lot of time and enhance the lesson I already had begun to form on my own. Here is the link to the website if anyone is interested. http://betterlesson.com/home

Week 11

The blog post I read was called "Are they Students or are they Learners?" by David Warlick. It broached the topic of the difference between students and learners and the value of shifting our thinking as teachers to viewing our class as learners instead of students. There was a very helpful chart that put the two side by side and drew out the differences. Two of the main ones that stuck out to me were the relationship with educators and motivation. For students, the relationship with educators is "Students are employees, expected to obediently follow instructions." On the flip side, "Learners are citizens with a vested interest in the learning society." In regards to motivation, for students it is "Obligation: Students are culturally obliged to work for the teacher & for compensation" but for learners it is  "Responsibility: Learners are motivated by an understood and realized “value” in their work, especially when it is valuable to others." I really enjoyed this article and it made me truly think about the classroom and my view of my class and the relationship I build with them. I don't really know if my comment contributed that much to the learning world, but by reading this and thinking about different ways to approach teaching, it can help me to impact the learning world within my classroom. 

http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/?p=2762

Week 10

I found a blog post explaining the different levels of Bloom's Taxonomy with examples of how it relates to the classroom. While reading it I thought about how this could relate to technology integration in a classroom. One of the main steps that stuck out to me in relation to this was the last step, creating. The article talked about how this is often the most challenging step of Bloom's. With technology it opens a whole new word to creation and how projects can be done. Using technology and the wide variety of resources that come with it can allow students to create things they never thought they would be able to.

http://thoughtweavers.wordpress.com/2011/05/22/using-blooms-taxonomy-in-the-classroom/

Technology Project Plan

For my project I will be doing a reading/writing project for fourth graders in relation to different genres of books. They will select a genre research it and figure out the elements of that genre, then read two books that fit their genre write down the element from their book that makes it that genres, and once this is checked off, create their own short story that fits their genre using storybird or possibly pic-lit (I need to look into this one more).
Learning Targets:
The student will be able to explain and recognize the characteristics that make up different genres.
The student will write their own short story using the characteristics of the genre they selected.

Writing:

EALR:	2. The student writes in a variety of forms for different audiences and purposes.
Component:	2.3. Writes in a variety of forms/genres.
Grade Level Expectation:	2.3.1. Uses a variety of forms/genres.

Reading:

	EALR:  3. The student reads different materials for a variety of purposes Component 3.4 Read for literacy experience in a variety of genre Grade Level Expectation:   3.4.2. Understand contemporary and traditional literature written in a variety of genres.

http://vocaroo.com/i/s1dFncMwtVKk

Week 9

Reading Bob Sprankle's article Caught on Video really opened my eyes to how many different ways a video camera could be used in the classroom. I had never thought about so many of those uses. I really like the idea he had of recording students explaining how they solved a problem at the beginning of the unit and at the end so they can see not only their change in progress, but also their change in thought process. I also liked the idea of recording class so students who miss are able to watch it and keep up. I know this is used at the college level, but I have never really seen it at the elementary through high school level and think it could be very valuable.

Flipsnack

Week 8

Twitter may not seem like it would be a very useful tool for educators, but it can be used in many ways by teachers and within the classroom. Teachers can use it to share ideas and ask questions of each other. One tweet I saw was a teacher asking how can Skype be used in the classroom? This is just one example of many of how teachers can pose questions to each other and share their ideas on how to use technology or other things in the classroom. Twitter can connect hundred of thousands of teachers from all over the world.

Reflection 6

My friend has a kindle and I was thinking about how amazing it is that there are thousands of books available on a small lightweight tablet. I personally like the feel of  a real book in my hand, but I was thinking about how good it would be for traveling and space saving as well as having a huge library at the touch of your hand.

Reflection 5

This weekend we traveled to Idaho and Oregon for volleyball so we spent many hours driving in a van. While in the van I was able to write a whole paper and was thinking about how just a few years ago that would not have been possible. It is neat how portable technology has become and how that can allow students and others to make efficient use of their time.

Reflection 4

One of my professors was talking the other day about an article he read on the term "I don't know" and how it will most likely disappear from our vocabulary because of all the access we have to knowledge through the internet on computers, phones, ipods, etc. Now instead of saying "I don't know" when a question is asked, often we say, "hold on let me look it up". I realized how true this is and thought it was very interesting to think about.

Links to Comments

http://sigridthoreson.blogspot.com/2012/09/promethean-activboard.html#comment-form

http://tootsievasquez06.blogspot.com/2012/10/week-7.html?showComment=1349754287482#c4488744701136451210

http://www.heatherkristinsadventures.blogspot.com/2012/10/reflection-3.html#comment-form

http://www.angiegarza12.blogspot.com/2012/09/week-two-2_11.html#comment-form

http://kendracotton.blogspot.com/2012/10/week-7.html?showComment=1349832134915#c1869264474695744084

http://www.bethanylowesblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/reflection-1.html#comment-form

http://amdowns8.blogspot.com/2012/10/reflection-5.html?showComment=1350268121415#c4900719392792833896

http://treybotten.blogspot.com/2012/10/9-blogs-for-educators_9.html?showComment=1350268312427#c3691498341106368792

http://wright2whitney.blogspot.com/2012/09/week-3-digital-natives-digital.html?showComment=1350268470482#c5633335086753658690

Week 7

I looked at Mrs. Abernathy's classroom blog, and thought the videos they made for Pi Day were neat. She had groups of her students make a videos on Animoto, Glogster, and other websites about the number Pi and Pi day. I thought it was a clever way to use technology to make math more fun and the blog was a good way to show all their videos. They were able to learn about math and using different video making programs.

Animoto Video

Make your own slide show at Animoto.

Reflection 3

I was thinking the other day about how valuable technology is to teachers and the time saver it is. There are so many classroom tools and lesson plans available on the internet that can save us so much time and give us ideas. It is like a huge shared brain. We get to share our ideas and take other teachers' from all over the world. Before all this technology the shared lessons and ideas would have been limited to just the teachers you knew and lived around you, but now you can take lessons from teachers everyone and make them your own to fit your classroom.

Week 6

The Generation IM article was very interesting and really made me think about how intertwined kids are today with technology and the role that plays in their lives and learning. I really like the seven ideas of how to integrate technology into the classroom because they were very good ideas that I probably wouldn't have thought about. Especially the Google maps and using them to show kids what they are actually learning about and taking them on virtual journeys. I was surprised with how much time kids actually spend using technology and it was a good reminder for me as I go into teaching how important it will be to teach in a way that involves and keeps students engaged. This could be used in a science lesson by having the students study pictures of brains of kids today and kids years ago when they were not raised on so much technology and the differences in brain development.

Reflection 2

The other day I was able to talk on Facebook with a friend I met in Thailand who grew up in one of the children's homes we worked at and now works there. I also have been able to stay in contact over email and Facebook with the family who runs the home that takes care of Tina, the little girl who stole my heart. I was just thinking about how incredible it is that I am able to stay up to date and talk with these friends on the other side of the world, and am able to have an almost instantaneous conversation with them. This could be used in a classroom by instead of having pen pals and being limited to the US, students could have email pals and bridge cultures and countries.

Week 5

The Promethean Active Board is a high tech interactive white board that has many functions that can help foster learning and engage and actively involve the classroom. It has functions that allow multiple pens to be used at once enabling small groups of students to work together at the board. It also can be used for interactive presentations, videos, and many other things that can help this generation of students stay engaged in class. I am curious as to how it is different than other interactive white boards and what makes it either easier or harder to use. I got the information for this active board at http://www.prometheanworld.com/en-us/education/

Assignment 2

Link to the activity for my presentation: http://exchange.smarttech.com/details.html?id=d5875907-2e6e-42c0-a94f-93303008fb60

List of features in my presentation:
Sound (balloons popping)
Graphics
Moving pictures and words

NET for teacher:

"Design and Develop Digital Age Learning
Experiences and Assessments: Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic
learning experiences and assessment incorporating
contemporary tools and resources to maximize content
learning in context and to develop the knowledge,
skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS·S."
This NET is included in my lesson by having students come up to the board and participate by actually using the SMART board. The SMART board is a contemporary tool and by having the lesson as an interactive slide show and game it involves the students in not only learning the lesson, but also how to work the technology.

NET for student:

"Technology Operations and Concepts
Students demonstrate a sound understanding
of technology concepts, systems, and operations."
By having the students actually participate in using the board (clicking the words, the frog, and balloons) it is helping them to begin to understand how to use the SMART board as by me using it in class they are able to see even more of the functions and how they work.

Future Learning:
Using an interactive white board in the class can be a tremendous tool for student learning. It can help keep them engaged and involved in their learning and even an active participant in the learning process. With all of the tools and resources available for interactive white boards it can help a teacher to vary the ways material is presented to reach every type of learner as well as keep students interested and avoid being mundane.

Week 4

The SMART Board technology is incredible. I had no idea before this class that it was so involved and had so many different things you could do with it. In the past, when my teachers had used it they mostly used it just as a white board, but this was also right when they were beginning to come out. I learned a lot in class about how to navigate it and use it effectively. I like the website that has all of the lesson plans you can download and was surprised at how many there are. They also showed just the beginning of all the things the SMART Board can do and some of the fun games and learning tools it has. I still have lots of questions as to how exactly to work it and the best way to use it to keep all my students involved in each lesson. I think these will be answered with practice and experience.

Demographics Write-up

*Some of this information is fictitious for assignment purposes
Classroom Demographics:
In my 3rd grade classroom at Woodland Elementary I have 28 students; 15 boys and 13 girls. Eleven students are on free and reduced lunches and I have 4 students on IEP's. 2 of my IEP students are ELL, 1 is autistic, and 1 is ADHD. I have 4 parents who regularly volunteer and 5 who come in on occasion. There are five computers in the back of the classroom available to my students. I also have a laptop for my own use and classroom document camera.

School Demographics: 
Woodland Elementary is located in Lacey, Washington in the North Thurston School District. It has about 540 students in grades K-6th.

Student Demographics Enrollment October 2011 Student Count 518 May 2012 Student Count 542 Gender (October 2011) Male 285 55.0% Female 233 45.0% Race/Ethnicity (October 2011) American Indian/Alaskan Native 2 0.4% Asian 24 4.6% Pacific Islander 10 1.9% Asian/Pacific Islander 34 6.6% Black 22 4.2% Hispanic 83 16.0% White 297 57.3% Two or More Races 80 15.4% Special Programs Free or Reduced-Price Meals (May 2012) 206 38.0% Special Education (May 2012) 94 17.3% Transitional Bilingual (May 2012) 10 1.8% Migrant (May 2012) 0 0.0% Section 504 (May 2012) 5 0.9% Foster Care (May 2012) 0 0.0% Other Information (more info) Unexcused Absence Rate (2011-12) 277 0.4%

*Chart taken from OSPI website http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/summary.aspx?groupLevel=District&schoolId=2917&reportLevel=School&orgLinkId=2917&yrs=&year=2011-12

Community Demographics: 
Woodland Elementary is located in a mainly suburban area. It has a lot of middle to low middle class families, as well as a large military community. Because of the military community there is some fluctuation in overall attendance to the school. There are always a few new students and some that move away each year. The community is fairly supportive of the school and tries to be involved. There are many active PTA parents. The school is in the process of upgrading their technology, but because of the budget the process has been slowed down. There is a fair amount of support from the community in regards to improving technology in the classrooms.

Technology Standards(for a 3rd grade classroom): 

1. INTEGRATION: Students use technology within all content areas to collaborate, communicate, generate innovative ideas, investigate and solve problems.
  1.1 Innovate: Demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge and develop innovative products and processes using technology.
  1.2 Collaborate: Use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.
  1.3 Investigate and Think Critically: Research, manage and evaluate information and solve problems using digital tools and resources.

  2. DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP: Students demonstrate a clear understanding of technology systems and operations and practice safe, legal and ethical behavior.
  2.1 Practice Safety: Demonstrate safe, legal and ethical behavior in the use of information and technology.
  2.2 Operate Systems: Understand technology systems and use hardware and networks to support learning.
  2.3 Select and Use Applications: Use productivity tools and common applications effectively and constructively.

*Standards taken from OSPI website http://standards.ospi.k12.wa.us/ComponentListByGrade.aspx?subject=8,GLE&gl=4

Week 3

I thought the article by Marc Prensky was very interesting, and he presented his case in a way that really made me think about education and the shift in the different generations. I really liked his terms "digital natives" and "digital immigrants" and how he said that even though the immigrants may try their best to adapt, they will still have an accent. I know this to be true first hand because even though based on my age I would most likely be labeled as a native, often times I still feel like an immigrant especially with how much more exposure young kids have now as compared to when I was growing up. I'm sure I have a digital accent to them, and liked the way Prensky explained that and how it affects both the students and the teachers. As someone planning to go into the education field it really makes me think about how I can best reach the younger generation who have grown up in a different way I have. It also makes me wonder how it will progress as technology becomes even more advanced and inundated into life from younger and younger ages, and how that will affect how lessons are taught and the format of classrooms.

Class Blog Links

Whitney's Blog
Alyssa's Blog
Bethany's Blog
Kendra's Blog
Amanda's Blog
Heather's Blog
Sigrid's Blog
Angie's Blog
Monica's Blog

Reflection #1

The other day in volleyball practice my coach had his ipad out and would video us doing our approach and then using a program could slow it way down to show us our mechanics. I had never really thought about how valuable of a teaching tool this can be for coaching or even in a health and fitness class. It is amazing to think that he could video us, pull us aside, show us what we were doing wrong and right almost instantly, and then we could go straight back to practicing with the idea of what we needed to do differently fresh in our minds. This technology allows us to see what we are doing and be able to try and fix it right away instead of waiting until after practice when film is downloaded onto a computer.

Week 2

Sir Ken Robinson states in his TED talk, "Reform is simply improving a broken model. What we need is not evolution, but a revolution in education." I believe this is very true and it is clear by looking at the education system there are major issues that need to be fixed and sometimes that requires tearing down the foundation and beginning again, but it is much easier to say what is wrong and propose a solution than to actually implement it and make it function. As I listened to his speech I agreed with much of what he said about the education system and its downfalls, but at the same time wondered how much of what he said could realistically be implemented and how soon this revolution could occur.

One of the major downfalls that Robinson pointed out was the linearity of the education system and the almost assembly line characteristics of it. It is as if we have the kids on a track and just move them through the classrooms assuming they all learn the same, have the same life goals, college, career, retirement. Like the example Robinson uses about the student who wanted to become a fireman, many of his teachers did not leave room for him to comfortably move outside of the box our education system has become. As teachers it is critical as Robinson put it, "to feed the spirit" to figure out our students passions and personalize our curriculum as much as we can to feed each of our students' passions. It is the idea of moving from the industrialized model to the agricultural model of education, to create an environment that allows our students to grow and flourish if they so choose.

Unfortunately, as with many great ideas there are hindrances that make it much harder to successfully implement them. In this case, realistically there is not enough money, time, or teachers to create classrooms that can have a true agricultural model. You simply cannot create a curriculum for each student you have. As nice as Robinson's ideas sound, as with most ideals, they are not completely attainable, but I do believe we can find a balance between the standardized assembly line form of education and the personalized agricultural form and create classrooms where students are able to flourish and grow more. We cannot reach the ideals of Robinson, but with committed, passionate teachers I believe we can start a revolution in education and begin the journey of creating classrooms where students are most likely to succeed and grow.

As for technology in the classroom, I think it can be an important tool used to involve students. Most young people today have grown up in an environment saturated with technology, to think then that we can keep doing education the same way and not adapt our curriculum to fit the way students are learning now is unrealistic. As Robinson is pointing out, we need to create curriculum and environments that best fit our students needs and learning styles and create classrooms that encourage their learning and growth, not hinder it. With how prevalent technology is in this day and age, it is an important tool in creating classrooms that students can flourish in.

Week 1

There are many different factors that have played into my decision to become a teacher. I have always loved kids and being around them. My mom teaches resource room and as a result has worked with a lot of kids from broken and unstable homes. It breaks my heart to hear some of the stories, but is also encouraging to hear stories of their success in the classroom. So often the only stability a child has will be at school, I want to be able to provide them with a safe place where they can learn and grow. I have always loved learning and think that everyone should have to opportunity to learn and am willing to invest the time and love to try and help each student do the best they can. I also recently spent a little over two weeks in Thailand working in children's homes. The time I spent there working with the kids was probably one of the most joyous times in my life, and really just solidified for me that I truly do want to work with kids the rest of my life. I am so excited to become a teacher and be able to have an impact on kids lives and them impact mine, whether that's here in the US or overseas. 

I feel that technology is an important tool in education, especially in today's society where kids grow up with so much exposure to technology. Technology can be used in so many different ways in the classroom to keep kids engaged and prepare them for the real world where technology will most likely be a critical part of their careers. I am not super tech savvy, so I am a little nervous because chances are the students will know a lot more about the technology than me, but hopefully this class will help me with that.