Teaching+With+Technology-+Week+Two

The research that was looked at this week was very interesting regarding test scores and technology. It seemed that when looking at several of the studies, technology had a positive effect on test scores in general. I truly believe that technology does wonders for achievement. This past year our AP was reviewing test scores for Reading. She told the reading teacher that had a technology rich classroom that she would need to use less technology during the next school year because scores were low. What the AP failed to realize was the teacher that she was talking to didn't have a single student fail the TAKS. She had students that struggled a great deal in school. To get many of them to pass was amazing. She feels that technology is what helped and encourage them throughout the year. Yes, there are drawbacks to integrating technology but it clearly is a tool that is effective and necessary. Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Available online at the Center for Applied Special Technology web site, http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/. Schacter, J. (1999).The impact of education technology on student achievement: What the most current research has to say.Santa Monica, CA: Milken Exchange on Education Technology.Retrieved on March 2, 2011, from []. 
 * “ **** The task for educators is to understand how students learn and use the technology available in this digital age to provide selected supports where they are needed and position the challenge appropriately for each learner. In this way, we can engage more students and help everyone progress.” ** After I started my first class in the Masters program at Lamar, I was really excited after reading some of the articles. It was interesting to me to see how kids’ brains are physically wired differently than in the past because of technology. It wanted to share the learned information with everyone. I remember one day sitting in my AP’s office and sharing the information with her (about the new wiring of the kids’ brains). After what I thought was a great conversation, she ended the conversation with “well, I still think we should use mostly pencil and paper”. It made me so angry. I showed her the evidence and she still thought the “old” way of doing things was better. She didn’t understand that we are to use technology as a support not a replacement. If we use the technology correctly for each student’s learning we are sure to succeed. It seems like using technology correctly and not using it as a replacement tends to be a theme in my posts. I didn’t realize how important it is to me until given the opportunity to actually write about it.