Class+1

=Class 1: Why should you integrate technology in your teaching?=

__** Technology in My Classroom: **__

 * My university background was focused on **Religious Studies**. I find it remarkably interesting and worth the exploration because it is such an essential component of history and contemporary society.
 * I hope to one day be able to share my passion in Religious Studies with my students. Often times in Catholic schools, Religion is portrayed as a 'bird course' and my goal is to change that. **Technology is a great start** to make it happen.
 * Just as Bruce mentioned today, **we are boring**!
 * Technology is exciting and engaging for the digital natives who are the students of today. I hope to increase and expand my knowledge on technology and what it has to offer to education and learning.
 * Although technology is a great asset to today's society, it does come with some **draw backs**.
 * First, students may be able to multi task, but is their **divided attention** as efficient?
 * Second, technology carries a big **price tag** attached to it. Not all boards or schools can afford all these new devices. Thus, the school that you attend determines if you have access to these new methods of technology. For example, during my first practicum I was placed in a grade seven class. The class did not have a screen or a projector. The teacher used a head-projector on the white blind that covered the window. This eliminates any sort of powerpoint, computer/internet base presentation. How fair is it that a school just a couple of blocks away from this school had something as new as a smartboard available to their classroom? If the resources were available, I would have used different techniques to engage the students in various activities, but the tools were not available.[[image:3509154129_f486daa9fe.jpg caption="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesclay/3509154129/"]]


 * Yes, today's generation is lucky to have these digital reources, but is it finiancially possible to provide these tools in every single classroom?

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 * This video shows that even in North America, there are schools that are very different and the main reason for this is the access to money. If the school does not provide the technology, it becomes very hard to integrate it into the classroom.

__**Wikispaces:**__

 * Today we learned about wikispaces and the different uses they can take on in a classroom. Luckily, I have already worked with wikispaces in my Schooling and Society Class last semester. Wikispaces are a great tool for collaborative work incorporating technology.
 * Following is a link to an Electronic Essay that I had to make with my group and it was constructed on a wikispace page. Take a look!
 * Bullying


 * __Ian Jukes - Understanding the Digital Generation__**
 * understanding how to teach and deal with students who are known to be Digital Natives
 * the story of the Five Apes as an example of what we call TTWWADI - That’s The Way We’ve Always Done It
 * kids today look the same as past generations, however inside they are completely different
 * Because of digital bombardment, their brains are adapting to accommodate all the technology they spend so much time surrounded by.