Assignment #1

I think technology in education hold tremendous value. If you look at our current society, and compare it to ten years ago, or even five years ago, it becomes pretty obvious that we are moving more and more towards a techy world. If education is to remain relevant to society, if elementary schools are going to do their job of guiding successful children into adulthood, it's imperative that education keeps up with the societal trends. If education remains stagnant it becomes irrelevant and kids will tune out while in school. As a future teacher, I want to learn all the technology I can so that I can hopefully be that much better at relating learning material to children.

In an article by S. Michael Putman, I learned about using technology to assess reading at a fourth grade level. In this article Mr. Putman researched not only the effects of using technology for teaching reading, but also the impact it had on student's motivation to learn. He did a study on a group of 68 fourth graders to determine how a student's level of self-efficacy either worked together or against a computer based reading program, Accelerated Reader (AR). He divided all 68 students into three groups of varying reading levels and levels self motivation based on a Reading Survey portion of the MRP. It was found that students who accumulated the most number of AR points, also had an increase in self-efficacy but a lowered view of the importance of reading, while those students who accumulated an average amount of AR points had a decrease both in self-efficacy and a lesser view of reading. The final group, which was made up of students who displayed a lower reading level and lower self-efficacy, hardly participated in the computer reading program. Putnam's conclusion was that because AR teaches reading based on the number of points earned through taking quizzes, it became extrinsic to students. Learning to read was no longer about the enjoyment of reading, but accumulating the most points.

S Michael Putman. "Computer-based Reading Technology in the Classroom: The Affective Influence of Performance Contingent Point Accumulation on 4th Grade Students. " Reading Research and Instruction 45.1 (2005): 19-38. Research Library. ProQuest. Hurst Library, Kirkland, WA. 23 Sep. 2008 http://www.proquest.com/

Through Putman's article, I learned that a teacher must be careful about the kind of technology used in classroom. I learned that a teacher should examine learning programs which involve technology closely before assuming they are wonderful and will work for every student. I think it's also important to remember, though, that no style of teaching is going to work for every single child in every single classroom. As teachers, I think we need to use a balanced method of teaching involving technology, outdoor activities, worksheets, graphs, etc. In this way, we can hopefully reach the maximum level of learning.

NETS (National Educational Technology Standards) are important for both students and teachers because it serves as a benchmark. For teachers, it's important to know the standards because we are responsible for helping students reach those benchmarks. If we don't know and understand where our students should be by the end of the year, we have no hope of helping them reach that goal. For students, NETS is important because it helps prepare them for life. The standards and goals NETS represents are all life-skill related goals that will help children become successful adults who can easily navigate their way through our ever changing technological world.