Technology use has become prevalent in todays society.

From Smartphones to tablets,

and from Twitter and Instagram to online banking to accessing any information at any time and
from anywhere, our society has become dependent on using technology. Generations are
growing up in this technology saturated society with so many devices and the information that
is provided right at their fingertips. This access to technology impacts the way in which
students think, act, react to information, learn, understand and process new information. The
education of students today must evolve with the technology use in all other facets of society.
Teachers have a responsibility to engage students by utilizing technology resources
that are made available in their schools. The implementation of technology needs to be
intentional, purpose driven, and productive. Technology should be intentionally used in each
classroom and not reserved for a technology class or computer lab setting. In each classroom
setting the teacher needs to have carefully planned objectives followed by the selection of
appropriate software to meet these objectives and then decide which type of platform and
hardware will allow the teacher to meet the objectives using technology (Thornburg, 2014).
This process allows for technology to not be randomly attained which results in it being
randomly used or not used at all because there has been no design for its implementation.
Technology is used to educate. The role of technology in a classroom is to transform
what can be done by the students. This includes using technology resources to enhance
student creativity, to challenge student critical thinking and research, to provide opportunities
for collaboration, and to evaluate the legitimacy and accuracy of content and sources (Edutopia
Team, 2008). The full impact of technology in education will not be understood until there has

been consistent and widespread implementation technology use beyond drills, repetitive
practice, internet research and online education games.
Current uses of technology in my classroom include maintaining a website for resources
on class information and content. In the future I want this site to be used as a more interactive
site to include screencasts and work towards a flipped classroom setting. I currently make use
of websites including and similar to kahoot.it for student polls and content review. My students
use online resources such as padlet.com, docsteach.com and web quests to analyze and
synthesize content. In the future I want to teach in a 1:1 setting where students are equipped
with either laptops or tablets. Currently, my classroom is limited to a shared cart with netbooks
that does not include enough devices for every student in a class. This is frustrating as I would
like every student to have a device everyday so that electronic versions of textbooks could be
utilized, Google Docs and OneNote would be used for lesson notes and collaborative projects,
and students would be free to explore web resources they were directed to and to collate
resources on sites such as Scoop.it.
Technology will be implemented to meet the needs of diverse learners particularly in
how information is taken in and how students make sense of information (Duffie, 2008). In a
future 1:1 setting I would implement a system where students could easily highlight or
annotate notes that were being discussed in class, including to have students insert links to
addition information on a topic. Currently I use online graphic organizers such as
exploreateree.org.uk or readwritethink.org to assist students with making sense of content and
research. I have also used sites like padlet.com for students to explain and display what has
been learned about a topic.

I think that technology should be a part of education and not in addition to education.
When incorporated effectively technology can improve student motivation, expand on content,
and reach different learning styles (Murray, 2013). The use of technology is not a trend that
will come and go. Technology use keeps the focus on the teacher, although it be as a facilitator
in a student-centered classroom. However, the teacher is designing the course to meet the
educational objectives but with the assistance of the resources that technology places at the
fingertips of those in the classroom.

References
Duffie, J. (2008). Using Technology to Support Diverse Learners. Retrieved from Slideshare

Online Web site: http://www.wested.org/cs/tol/download/lib/2590/TechSupDL6-707.pp

Edutopia Team. (2008). Why Integrate Technology into the Curriculum?: The Reasons Are
Many. Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integrationintroduction
Murray, Corey. (2013). Survey: 74 Percent of Educators Support the Use of Technology in
Schools. EdTech: Focus On K-12. Retrieved from
http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2013/02/survey-74-percent-educatorssupport-use-technology-schools
Thornburg, David. (2014). The History of Ed Tech Shows It's Not About the Device. THE Journal.
Retrieved from http://thejournal.com/Articles/2014/07/24/The-History-of-Ed-

Tech.aspx?Page=1