My student’s experiences with technology

Throughout the semester and my multiple visits to a third grade classroom at Lomond elementary I have formed relationships with some awesome kids. They are very welcoming and treat me as a teacher. For the most part they have appropriate classroom behavior and respect the teacher and one another. I have gotten to observe how their classroom is run and the different resources they use. I was surprised how much technology both the teacher and students use in the classroom.  Almost every lesson I have seen the teacher uses the smart board. She’s great at finding interactive activities or digital stories for the students to learn from. The students also all have their own chrome books. Right now they are also working in partners to complete an animal research project. Together the students are working on a google doc to share ideas and information. This is a great way to allow students to work collaboratively with one another outside the classroom as well. When I asked a group of students what they use their computers for, the answers were endless. “Flickr, google docs, google maps, reading rockets, dreambox, etc” I was amazed at how much they knew how to do and how well they were using these resources. They are always excited to use these apps and don’t view them in a negative light. Having students use technology in the classroom is a great way to differentiate lessons. It allows them to learn through interactive games. One of the apps has a feature that allows a story to be read aloud to them. This is a great feature for struggling readers. I asked if they use them at home as well and they explained to me they can access their work on any laptop, iPad, iPhone, etc they just never do. They told me the games they play at home are Minecraft, fortnight and a multiplayer robot game. Although these aren’t technically educational games they are still learning and their minds are growing through the different challenges. I wonder if the teacher has ever used the educational minecraft in her class. Something that concerned me was a few girls told me how they use different social medias. What they are seeing on the internet definitely influences how they behave in the classroom. These girls have a lot of technological freedom at home. It is obvious to me that all of these students are very comfortable using the internet and technology in many different ways. They enjoy both the educational games but also being given the opportunity to explore different ways to use technology.