Digital Blog B

When I become a teacher I want the satisfaction that my students have learned new concepts and will have a hunger to continue to learn. I could not imagine putting in all of that effort to have a student drop out. In chapter 2 of “Transforming Learning with New Technologies”, says it talks about how more than two thirds of a high school said they were bored throughout the day. I was in high school a couple years ago so I can say that that was an accurate statement. The text also states that a key reason for dropouts is because classes were not interesting or engaging enough. On this  Prezi are some facts about dropouts. Technology is a way for students to be engaged with their learning.  Technology is not the only idea to have kids stay in school. Having a friendship with a teacher can be helpful, it will make that student look forward to class and if they have no one at home to support them, that teacher will. I am not saying that if a student dropped out that it would be the teachers fault, the student has a huge role in that as well. If school was something to look forward to then I know there would be less absences and better grades. A way to do all of that can be technology, role models and simply having a fun lesson in class.

            I am surprised about the lack of knowledge of some teachers when it comes to technology. There are reasons for that. Some teachers just do not have the time in their busy schedule to sit down and learn all this technology. Other reasons consist of the school not having money, also there are a lot of teachers out there who think that they have been teaching a certain way for so long that why would they need to change their ways. I can see where they are coming from if they have been effective with their students. On the other hand, students are growing up with technology and that is what they want in the classroom. They are use to it so they think that is how they learn in a more advanced way.

 

            The concept that I found to be important is the National Educational Technology Standards(NETS). In the text, “Transforming Learning with New Technologies”, the definition for NETS is “A broad vision of schooling that features technology supported learning environments for every student”. I was happy to read that there are people out there trying to have the educational world use technology. They want students to be directly involved in learning. I agree with that and maybe one day there will be an advanced system that will be change teaching.

            In conclusion, School is very important, and hopefully one day there will be no dropouts. Technology can do so much for students and teachers. For teachers to use technology though they need to be trained, that is up to the school. There are some teachers still using their own way and I do not want to put them down. Statistics just show better results when it comes to engaging students with technology.

 

Resources:

11 Facts About High School Dropout Rates. (n.d.). Retrieved September 10, 2015.

Maloy, R. (2011). Transforming learning with new technologies. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon

Technology in Teaching and Learning. (n.d.). Retrieved September 10, 2015

The National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) - What We Should Know and Be Able To Do With Technology: Article 5 of 8 in Series. (n.d.). Retrieved September 10, 2015