The standards for students set out a series of goals which every teacher should have in mind for effective use of technology in the classroom. What is missing though is a real world guide for how these goals can be implemented and what age groups are appropriate to begin to implement technology. Also, socio-economic factors are missing, because there still are a number of underprivileged families who do not have computers at home.
When I take 8th graders to the computer lab, in addition to having to keep sure they are on task, I have to manage other considerations such as who can sit next to each other. I also have to deal with a filter at school which sometimes removes very useful information from the internet which may need for their research. It is frustrating, because in technology, you can sit down and plan out a lesson which you think will be just marvelous, and then you are stopped dead in your tracks by some minutia which you have not thought about ahead of time, such as a school filter that blocks out sites students want to access. I guess at the end of the day I approach technology with an open mind, but I am always ready to be burned by it. It's always good to have a Plan B when teaching, but when teaching with technology, you need a Plan C and D too, because you never know what surprises may pop up.
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