Technology in the classroom

Technology in the classroom has changes drastically of the past years. Teachers have so many options when it comes to assistive and supportive technology in the classroom. The main issue that teachers have is integrating all the technology the classroom successfully. It is important for teachers to integrate assistive and supportive technology in the classroom to support student learning. As noted in Connor and Beard, (2015), “Use of educational technology, especially computers, cell phones, tablets, and computer-related peripherals/applications, has grown tremendously and has permeated all areas of our lives” (p. 640). Implementing technology can seem intimidating to some teachers but is necessary because many children learn best using due to the technology driven society. As noted in Connor and Beard (2015), “Not only are teachers and teacher candidates being trained in the use of current technology and in the development of inexpensive alternative switches for classroom use, these methodologies are being utilized in the public school classroom setting. Therefore, students with disabilities will benefit from the increased use of accessible technology linked to college and career and functional standards” (p. 642). 

 

 

 One supportive technology program that I use with my students who have individualized educational plans are read aloud.  We use a reading program called Achieve 3000 in our school system. Achieve 3000 is a reading program that allows students to read on their own Lexile level. The program has a read aloud component for students with disabilities. The read aloud component reads the passages, questions and answers to students. This is a great  program that helps to  increase students’ reading levels and comprehension levels.  This assistive feature can be used with any age group and grade level.

Another supportive technology program that I use in my classroom room are online timers. In the past, teachers have used physical timers or egg timers to keep students on task. I love using online timers. They keep students on task when working and they can use them with their laptops and iPad. They can be used with any age group or grade level to support learning. Online timers are great for students who have time accommodations.

Technology in the classroom is important to classroom instruction. However, it does have some downfalls to implementing technology in the classroom. With the increased use of technology, teachers will need a lot of training to use and them integrate the programs in the classrooms. Also, because technology is so unpredictable it may not always work properly when needed. For example, we have one to one student technology in our classrooms and many issues we face are too many people on the server at once, computers or program glitches, or student laptops breaking.  

Connor, C., & Beard, L. A. (2015). Increasing Meaningful Assistive Technology Use in the Classrooms. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 3(9), 640-642.