The image above was taken on the first day of class. I took it with my iPhone, a device millions of times more advanced than my family's first Tandy Color computer. I remember the day my dad brought home our new computer, I was the first kid in my school to have a computer in my home, and dad was just so happy to provide it for us. He told us that this was the future and we would be able to do so many things on this new and magical device. He may have exaggerated a bit, but It was an amazing technology for the 1980s. Now we all walk around with highly advanced, tiny computers in our pockets. We have come a long way since that first computer. If I want to take a picture of some delicious meal I have just been served and post it on Facebook or Twitter (aka food porn), I can just whip out my phone and do it right there and then. I don't know the name of that Humphrey Bogart movie where he plays a private detective, just take out the phone and look it up on IMDB.com. We really do live in an amazing time. We are now going through a technology revolution that makes the industrial revolution look miniscule by comparison. New technologies are being developed and utilized at an exponential rate. As teachers, we need to make sure that our students are able to thrive in this ever changing world. We need to teach them skills that they will need for technologies and jobs that haven't even been created yet. To do this we need to use constructivist teaching strategies. Students who have higher-level thinking and reasoning skills will be the ones who will succeed in the future. Students need to know how to research in order to discover answers to problems and issues. They need to know how to work collaboratively and to create useful and informative presentations and projects. The most important thing, however, is that students need to learn how to effectively use technology, everyday of their lives. As a teacher, I must guide my students to become successful in all of these factors in order to help them become successful in the future. My fist step is to learn how to effectively use technology in my classroom. After taking Instructional Technology Applications, I now realize how important it is to utilize technology in my lessons everyday. I have also seen first hand how a constructivist approach to education is the most beneficial to the students. I will design my history class as a constructivist/inquiry-based classroom. My instructor, Garth Holman, has shown me that this is not only possible, it is the best way to approach History lessons. This is one of the most important things I have taken from this class, which has been the most inspiring and beneficial class I have had in my graduate-school career so far. The other important idea I have taken from this class is that I need to continue learning about new technologies. There is an endless amount of free technology out there that can help me create a technology rich and engaging classroom environment.
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