Emerging Technological Tools for Teachers

     In an article I recently had the opportunity to read on the Education World website, I was able to learn of several recent advances in educational technology that allow teachers the opportunity to engage more students in learning.  More and more teachers are turning to the field of technology to enhance their teaching styles.

     Elementary to High School teachers use a variety of new technological teaching tools, but none quite as important as the SMART boards.  The SMART boards make the learning interactive for the students.  Students have the ability to hear, read, and touch the SMART board on their way to mastering any topic.  Teachers can save and share their lesson plans with teachers in their own schools and all over the worlds.  The sharing of SMART board lessons allow for teachers to not only potentially improve their own teaching, but to also improve the teaching of other teachers all over the world.  The SMART board is not the only new piece of technology however.  Teachers in many different grades use the technologies that best suits their own students.

      Many elementary school teachers use Kidspiration and Inspiration as educational tools in their classrooms.  The programs are easy to use and allow the students an alternative way to learn and organize information.  It can be useful for character studies, book/movie comparisons, history lesson, grammar lessons, current events, and a variety of other uses.  The software also works easily with the SMART board software to allow teachers to project the creations from Kidspiration/Inspiration on the big screen.  Teachers also reference the use of iMovie as a great technological reference for the lower to middle grades.  The students use the program to make different types of movies, depending the subject, in small groups.  By allowing the students the opportunity to film their own movie, they are further engaged in their learning.  The Flip Video Cams would work well with this.  Many new advances in technology will work well in any classroom if the teacher knows the best possible ways to implement them.

     It is important for all grade school teachers to inform their students in the basic skills of Word, Excel, and Power Point.  All three of these programs can be used beneficially in any grade.  Many may believe that smaller children could not handle some of these programs, but students will surprise you.  Even if it is just introducing them to the basics, it will benefit them.  Students often use Excel for mathematics courses, Word to type English papers in, and Power Point to create a variety of presentations in a range of classes.  Teachers also use all three of these tools almost daily and should be proficient in each of them.

     The technological field concerning education is growing every day.  Teachers and students are becoming better connected through fields such as email programs and software such as Blackboard CourseWeb.  Schools that are fortunate enough to have the funds to have any of the programs mentioned in this blog post should consider themselves lucky.  We are in a technological world and teaching has benefited from it.  Teachers can use technology to engage their students in learning in ways that they could not before.  The Education World Tech Team is a great resource for staying up-to-date on the newest technological resources for teachers.

     Other programs mentioned in the article are:  Skype, Wikispaces, Bloglines (you choose the information you want to read!), and FunBrain (interactive game site).  You can find more information on these items and read the entire ariticle at http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech234.shtml