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Libby Haines
Professor Mangini
Writing with Technologies
22 April 2015
Technology in the Classroom
Technology has become a major component in the world today. This generation of
students has grown up with technology and do not know a world without it. Everywhere they
turn there is something involving the internet. This technology dependent society has changed
the way that children think, act, and interact. Children are now absorbed in technology instead of
the real, outside world. Children are interacting more with technology than their school work and
are not involved in as much social interactions. Because of this shift in technology and its
involvement in childrens lives, classrooms need to adapt and move with the progression of
society through incorporating technology in beneficial way. Teachers must learn how to
incorporate technology in a way that will enhance their learning and keep the students interested
and involved. Technology can be a great resource and tool in the classroom; however, it should
not replace the teacher in the classroom, it should be a useful tool. It is important to find that line
between too much technology and not enough.
It is important that teachers learn how to effectively utilize technology into their
classroom. Just because teachers use technology in their classroom does not mean that they are
incorporating it effectively where it helps enhance their learners needs. From pervious
experiences in the classroom, I have seen multiple ways that technology was incorporated. Some
ways worked really well, while others were not effective at all. Technology in the classroom
must be interactive and be stimulating for the brain. If the teacher just uses YouTube videos to is

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the students in front of with songs about sight words, they does not mean they will learn through
these videos. It just means they are watching TV while in school; the students will just memorize
the lines from the song and sing along absentmindedly. These videos also replace the teacher.
Instead of the teacher singing these songs themselves to the students or actually teaching them
the sight words, they are just hitting a play button and allowing technology to teach for them.
People do not need a degree or even have to be a teacher to press a play button.
Teachers must learn how to incorporate technology into the classroom without replacing
themselves. Having a list of sight words up on the SmartBoard and having the students race to
see who can find the sight word first is a much better way to incorporate technology into the
classroom. SmartBoards are great ways that a teacher can incorporate technology into the
classroom. There are many interactive games and activities that can help get students up off their
bottoms and interacting with their learning. They can look up the weather for morning meeting
on the board, they can move things around, write on it, and even use it as taking attendance and
saying what they want for lunch.
In Constructing on Constructivism: The Role of Technology, the authors focus on the
constructivist framework when involving technology in the classroom. The constructivist theory
states that learning occurs when learners are actively involved in constructing knowledge
through past and present experiences. The main focus is to make sure that technology is
interactive and that students are actively involved with the learning. Constructivism also builds
on previous knowledge and experiences and with technology now, students use computers and
other technological devices in their everyday life. By incorporating something that students use
in their life outside of school will help show them a connection between what they learn in

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school and their lives outside. After a study, the authors discovered that those teachers that
incorporated technology through the Constructivist theory showed great increase in learning and
benefitted not only the students but also the teachers. The teachers that chose not to utilize
technology using this theory saw no benefit with using technology in their classroom and
decided to not include technology into their classroom. This study and findings help further
emphasize the importance of how technology is adapted into the classroom and the importance
that the best way to incorporate technology is through interactive and engaging ways.
In order to incorporate technology into a classroom successfully, the teacher must be
willing to learn and grow. It involves time, patience, and a positive attitude towards technology,
which can be hard for those teachers that have been teaching for a long time and already have
their set teaching method. As Roberto Aldunate and Miguel Nussbaum state that the technology
adoption process directly correlates with the teachers attitude toward technology and how early
and quickly they adapt reflects in their ability to utilize technology fully and successfully. Many
older teachers who have been in the profession for a while are set on sticking to what they know
works, so their attitude towards technology will show in their ability to use or not use it and how
well students are able to learn and grow through it. Even if a teacher has a set method that has
worked for years, it is still important to include some changes and improvements so the teacher
does not get bored and keeps their passion for teaching. These little changes can just be slowly
incorporating technology to help connect more with the students. This is why it is important to
make sure teachers are educated on all the different aspects and benefits of technology in the
classroom environment. Joan Hughes also discovered that the results of how well students were
learning through technology were solely based on how well the teacher was able to interpret the

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technology. Teachers who were lacking knowledge of technology and motivation were less likely
to integrate technology in a beneficial way for the students to learn. If teachers are able to learn
and see results from technology adaptation, then more would be on board to learning to integrate
it.
In conclusion, technology can be an asset in the classroom if utilized correctly or it can
be a hindrance. The beneficial uses of technology in the classroom base solely off the teacher and
how willing they are to learn and expand their classroom. Taking the time to learn how to best
use it in the classroom can make all the difference. If a teacher is not willing to learn how to
incorporate technology in a useful way, they are not going to want to include it in their classroom
and this may impact their students growth and learning. It is important to incorporate technology
into the classroom, as our world becomes more and more dependent on it. Students are going to
need to know how to use different technologies when they grow up and if they learn about them
through the classroom, they can make a connection to technology and learning. They will utilize
the learning games and ways they learned through technology at home and further their learning.
Technology is hard to avoid in todays world and can be a great asset to the classroom
environment.

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Works Cited
Aldunate, Roberto, and Nussbaum, Miguel. Teacher Adoption of Technology. Computers in
Human Behavior. 3rd ed. Vol. 29. Elsevier, 2013. 519-524. Print.
Hughes, Joan. (2005). The Role of Teacher Knowledge and Learning Experiences in Forming
Technology-Integrated Pedagogy. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 13(2),
277-302. Norfolk, VA: Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education.
Nanjappa, Aloka, and Grant, Michael M. Ph.D., Constructing on Constructivism: The Role of
Technology. Electronic Journal for the Integration of Technology in Education. 2.1
(2003): 38-56.
Owens, Sandra J. "How Teacher Attitudes on Technology Adoption Promotes Social Change in
the Middle School Classroom." Order No. 3404074 Walden University, 2009. Ann
Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.