Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Tech in My Placement

When looking into the technology that is present at my placement I found a good amount of things that were available. There are three things though that are used the most in my experience thus far in my placement though. These are computers, laptops, and LCD projectors.

Every teacher at my school is given a Mac Book. It is not their's to keep, but they get to use it for pretty much whatever they want and can take it home at the end of the day. It is unlike when I was in high school. Back then, all the teachers in my school had a desktop computer in their classroom that was essentially theirs. I think the situation at my placement school is much better. With the Mac Books everything is streamlined for the teachers. Instead of having to do school work on a desktop which can't leave the school, teachers can do everything in one place. There are also old desktop Apple computers in some classes, but I have never seen one turned on.

Students have access to laptops as well. These are also Mac Books, but they can not leave the school with a student. They are brought into class when the teacher checks them out and then students can use them how the teacher wants them to. For Example, earlier this week my mentor teacher checked out a laptop cart so that students could write the bibliographies for research projects they have recently completed. In addition to the laptop carts there are also traditional computer labs at my placement. My mentor teacher and I have already taken our classes to the computer lab multiple times, and when we take them it is usually for research purposes. The students really seem to enjoy using both laptops and the computer lab too.

The third major piece of technology that is present at my placement is LCD projectors. I feel that without these the teaching process at my placement might be much more time consuming. I say this because the projectors are used for a majority of lessons in my classes. They allow for easy presentation of content and even provide an easy avenue for bell work because a picture or quote can go straight on the board. Without the projectors the teachers would have to do everything by hand on the board. This would be very hard for me because I am still learning how to write on a white board well. I am actively trying to get better especially because I am left handed. Projectors take a majority of this writing out of the equation though. Overall, technology present in my placement is a big help for day to day activity, and I am grateful for it.

2 comments:

  1. Carl!

    Thanks for tis great post. It seems as though you have a really good idea of what is going on tech wise at your placement. From what I have read, it looks like our schools have a pretty similar level of integration of technology in education. I think that having laptops instead of having desktops is certainly a good thing. It allows the teacher to be able to take their work home with them. Well, I guess that could have its drawbacks as well. My mentor was telling me that she was up until 11:30 one night sending emails and prepping for the next day while lying in her bed. I hope to God that I never end up doing that ! Teachers need their sleep!

    Cheers,

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  2. Carl, Thanks for the great post. Being that we are at the same school, I can certainly relate to what you are talking about in this post. I really think it's cool that all the teachers get MacBooks and that the students have such easy access to computers. In this day and age, it is so essential to have computer skills in order to be marketable to the job market and to best function in our fast-moving society. Like you, I have noticed that the students really respond well to using laptops and using the computers at the computer lab. I think we both know that technology engages students in their personal lives, and I think that the school we're at does a nice job of encouraging the incorporation of technology into the classroom.

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