Technology in the Classroom

This week I decided to blog about the lack of technology in classrooms.  I touched on the topic in my mid-term paper but since most of you will never actually read that paper I’ll explain what I wrote about.  When I was student teaching at P.S. 131Q I had the opportunity to experience both ends of the technology spectrum in my classes. My first classroom was a half class of 2^nd graders who all had some type of learning disability but no IEP yet, most of my students were either immigrants or first generation American so some of their parents were not familiar with the American school system and hadn’t had the chance to have their child tested.  This classroom was only made up of 13 students but the layout of the room was not a very technology friendly room.  The room could barely fit 13 desks comfortably and the computer was shoved over in a corner; also the sponsor teacher I was working with was a bit older. She was a very nice lady and she wanted what was best for her students but she was not up to date on the technological advancements occurring in the world.  The students never had a chance to use the computer during class and all of the lessons were taught using chart paper and the white board; these kids were not being exposed to any technology while sitting in the class.  Now fast forward 2 months and I was given my second placement of the semester. My second placement was at the same school and it was 4^th grade.  Walking into that classroom I immediately knew that this was going to be much different than my 2^nd graders, the class was more than double the size and so was the classroom.  I had 30 new students and a younger sponsor teacher who actually had a computer on his desk.  In this classroom technology was ever present because of the smart board that was used during the lessons.  Every lesson had a smart board element and my sponsor teacher found different games for the students to play to help learn math skills.  The smart board became my best friend in that classroom because it opens up the door to so much more in the classroom and the students interact so much more with the lesson when they can get up and touch the smart board to answer a question.  This technological element was a great tool that just wasn’t available to the 2^nd grade classroom and it makes me wonder why that is.  The school decided which classroom needed the smart boards and more computers but they seemed to leave other classrooms in the technological dark.  It surprised me how different the two classrooms could be and how uneven the technology could really be.