Technology has come a long way since the
1990’s. Today, we have the ability to
bring technology everywhere we go; from our laptops, IPads, Android tablets, as
well as our smart phones. For this reason, as a future educator, we must use
this new ability of using technology anywhere to improve our daily lives
whether if it’s for improving our health, paying our bills, or even teaching our
class. Today’s technology allows us as
teachers to help students follow along with the class even though they have
missed a day of school due to a sickness or an emergency. By using technology in our classrooms, we
will ensure that students will get the best education possible.
Therefore,
I will be assessing 8 different technology tools that individuals could use for
educational purposes. The grading system will consist of a thumbs up (I would
recommend using this technology tool) or thumbs down (I would not recommend). The
technology that will be assessed include: Moodle, Firefox, Google Apps,
Livebinders, Showbie, Quickkey, Doodlekit, and Geddit. All these tools serve
different purposes for education including grade keeping, designing a webpage,
as well as searching the internet.
Going
in descending order from how the technology tools were listed above, we will
start with Moodle. Moodle is a virtual
learning classroom that teachers can use to share documents, websites, receive
and issue assignments. As a student you
will be able to see the entire class schedule, so you will never be confused on
what will be on the agenda for that week. You will have access to Moodle whenever you want, as long as you have
Internet access. Moodle prefers not to use their website on a mobile device,
but I was able to use it on my IPad with no problems; I was still able to
submit assignments and download documents from the virtual classroom. I would
give this technology a thumbs up because it was very useful in planning out my
school assignments and was available to me 24 hours a day; unless there was
maintenance being done onto the website.
Next
will be the internet browser called Firefox, also known as Mozilla. Firefox is
perfect for individuals that want a personal web browser that could be accessed
onto any computer. For example, you can use a login to access your Firefox web
browser on a public computer and still have all your bookmarks, history, and
saved passwords as long as that computer has the Firefox software. Firefox claims that it is the fastest web
browser you can find on the web today: “Firefox outperformed other browsers in
recent independent tests to be named the ‘speed king.’ So you can browse with
confidence with the fastest on the Web”(Firefox, n.d.). Unfortunately, from my
experience, this speed does not make up for its flash player compatibility with
Java. There were times when I needed to watch a YouTube video on Firefox, and I
would get an alert, that the flash player was not up to date even though I
updated it already. This nagging problem
was enough for me to give Firefox a thumbs down.
One
of my favorite technology tool is Google Apps. This technology offers many
different tools for education which enables you to create and edit documents,
create a spreadsheet, store files on a cloud storage (Google Drive), create a
presentation using slides, and much more.
The best part about this technology is that it is free. All you need to access Google Apps is a Google
email. Once you have that, all functions for the tools are completely
accessible on your Gmail or Google+ account. I give this education technology a
thumbs up.
Fourth
on the list is Livebinders. Livebinders
is a website where you can create a list of references into a neat online
binder. It is perfect for individuals
who like to store bookmarks on their Internet browsers. It saves all your work
through their online cloud, so your work is safe if your computer ever crashes
or breaks down. Not only is it reliable, but it is very easy to navigate
through. For education purposes,
teachers could use Livebinders to efficiently create their curriculum or personal
portfolio, by keeping all of their work in a neat and safe place. For overall
performance, I give this educational technology a thumbs up.
For
the fifth technology, I will assess the IPad application, Showbie. It is a virtual classroom on your IPad. Students are given a classroom code obtained
by the teacher, which they will use to access the class. From there, they can view materials that the
teacher posts up into the app and submit assignments. The application design is very simple to
navigate through, but the downside is that it only works through the IPad or IPod
device. As a technology tool, I give
this application a thumbs up.
The
sixth technology is called Quickkey. This technology is found on the Apple and
Android store and is free. It gives
teachers the ability to grade multiple choice tests by using your devices
camera and a specific answer key that is provided on the website. This application
has great features, but unfortunately it does not perform well; the automatic
scan may not work. From my personal
experience, my group used four different Apple devices to scan tests and we
could only get one successful scan out of ten tries. I give this technology a thumbs down.
The
next technology is Doodlekit; a website creator. Doodlekit is a simple website creator that is
free to use with limited features. Educators
could use Doodlekit to create a specific website for their class, so their
students and their parents can have instant access to the class’s assignments
and curriculum. Unfortunately, Doodlekit
falls short compared to other popular website creators like Wix or Weebly
because of the features it offers. One of the biggest problems about Doodlekit is the inability to publish your website without putting in your credit
card information. Because of these problems, I give Doodlekit a thumbs down.
For
the final technology, I will discuss the IPad/IPod application, Geddit. Geddit allows teachers to get information
from their students through the Geddit group.
The teacher could check for student understanding of the lesson by
asking a question on the application during class. The students could respond
instantly with their device without the fear of being judged by their
peers. Unfortunately, this could only
work in a classroom where every student has an IPad or IPod. I give this
technology a thumbs up for education purposes.
To
conclude, these technological tools have good intentions but from my personal
experiences, a couple of them do not do what they say they will do. As a future
educator, I am searching for technology that is simple to use and efficient;
allowing teachers new ways to make the educational environment more successful
for their students. To finalize, technology
can sometimes be a “hit or miss,” but do not let the bad technology deter you
from adding technology to your education curriculum. From the words of Heidi-Hayes Jacobs, an
internationally recognized education leader, “Teachers need to integrate
technology seamlessly into the curriculum instead of viewing it as an add-on,
an afterthought, or an event” (qtd. in Superwoman,n.d.)
