Blog Post #12

An assignment that I think we should have to do in EDM310 is to compare teachers that we've had growing up by their technological literacy. List one or more teachers that have been creative with the technology their school provided (whether the new or old technology) and talk about how the use of technology helped you to do better in the class, or if you feel it didn't help at all. Then, talk about a teacher you had that was not technologically literate at all and your learning experience, and talk about whether or not you learned better with them, or with the teacher who used technology.


I never really had teachers who efficiently used technology until high school. It may be because in Elementary school, we didn't have all the cool technology that we have now. For middle school, it probably was just a basic fact of not having enough money in the budget to buy the newest stuff. For this assignment, I am going to compare two history teachers that I had in high school.

My 11th grade history teacher (I can't remember her name!) used a smart board to teach with. Whenever we took tests, she had these nifty things called "clickers", and we would each be assigned to our own. She would give each student a test, and then as you read each question, you click the letter on the clicker to answer with. If it received it, on the smart board it would blink green and show the next number. If you had to go back and change an answer, there were buttons on the clicker that would allow you to do that. It was a very "green" way of taking tests, and also it eliminated cheating. If someone were to try, it would be very difficult! In that class, I actually learned a lot! I always had trouble paying attention in school, and I could never focus enough to read the chapters in textbooks. Whenever I had this class, I found that her use of technology really helped me to focus, and overall I did great in the class.

In 12th grade, I had a history teacher that was very monotone, and he taught using a chalkboard. He gave us a ton of worksheets that never seemed to make sense to me. They never fully related to the notes that he gave us, and I had a hard time paying attention. Obviously, I did horrible in this class. I know that this example is not very good considering he was monotone, so I will use one more! My 10th grade history teacher was the same way. He wasn't really monotone, he just gave us a lot of bookwork. He had a whiteboard that he wrote notes on, but it was just very hard to pay attention. Both of these classes were just extremely boring to me! There was nothing interesting, whatsoever about them.

I think that I learned more in 11th grade than I did the entire time I was in high school! My theory is that it was because my teacher was not afraid to use technology. She was always experimenting with the smart board, and it was really entertaining to watch. It caught your attention and didn't let go! The other two teachers were the opposite. My theory about them is that they were afraid of technology. If they just had of tried to incorporate it the least little bit I really think it would've helped! There are some teachers that are just so good at teaching that they don't have to use technology to get their students' attention, but if they threw in just a tad of technology, I think that they would be that much better!