Technology in the Classroom

Technology can be used in so many ways in a classroom. Teaching as a reliever in NZ, I have had the opportunity to see how technology is used differently in different schools.

In some schools the extent of technology use is playing games, be it maths games or spelling games.   Don't get me wrong, I think these games serve their purpose - providing an alternative learning style for  those students who have difficulty developing their maths and spelling skills the traditional way, it's all good if you ask me.

I have also been the relief teacher in a classroom where the students each have a laptop computer.  The majority of their work is completed on the computer.  When asked about this style of learning the students were all very polite and confident in their answers.  Most enjoyed the using the technology and the level of trust they were being offered as being a part of this programme.

Another student felt that it was pointless spending a lot of time and putting in so much effort for an assignment which in his opinion, the teacher would only look at it for 5 minutes via document sharing program - "My Portfolio".  Another student when asked to get on with his maths told me, he didn't need to, because no one was going to check that he had completed it. As with any form of delivery some students will respond to it better than others.

While teaching full-time in the People's Republic of China I was afforded the opportunity to try out different forms of delivery with my range of classes, this was borne out of necessity rather than pure interest.  Some classes had a number of student who were almost fluent in speaking English, all had students with very little understanding of the English language.  Those students were unable to answer questions such as 'What did you do this weekend?' Some didn't understand the question, others were not confident enough to formulate the answer.

The school classrooms I was teaching in while living in P.R.China were equipped with a teacher's computer and projector, but the internet was not available on this computer. The computer and projector were useful for using visual clues, powerpoint presentations, video and audio clips. I was able to download most of the things I needed in the classroom using my computer at home, although some websites were blocked due to censorship in P.R.C.

To keep up the interest level of such a range of students I had to keep my lessons varied and inline with the Western Australian Curriculum. The students were often required to write or speak about topics for which they didn't have a lot of background information on, as the course was based on passing the Western Australian Certificate of Education.

Even though these were a very expensive schools (by Chinese standards) to attend, no computer laboratory was available and no internet to the teacher's computer, researching famous Australians and celebrations such as ANZAC day could prove difficult.  However, most of the students were technologically savvy, and 90% had the latest technology cellphones/smartphones.  In most cases the use of these phones was discouraged in the classroom. I was able to attain permission to allow the students to use their phones in the classrooms, as the school had wi-fi internet access for the administration offices, soon these cellphones/smartphones became an invaluable learning tool.  (For those students who did not have access to such phones, I was able to print off information or provide them with enough time to find their own information during the weekends on their home computers.)

We are so fortunate to have different technological devices and programmes available to us in this time, which creates pathways to learning that may not have been available in the past.