Technology in the Classroom

The article “The Instructional Power of Digital Games, Social Networking, Simulations and
How Teachers Can Leverage Them," really struck me on why incorporating technology into the classroom is so important in a way that I hadn't thought of before. The article mentions that utilizing technology in the classroom is so crucial because it provides a bridge between the way in which a child learns in school to the way in which they are engaged at home. I had known that there were many benefits to teachers using technology to reach their students (increased engagement, UDL, learning the tools of technology, etc.,) but hadn't really thought about matching the classroom to a student's life at home until now.

While this article, along with the others given in this week's readings, provided lots of useful information on the benefits of exposing students to the online world, I still struggle with the element of safety and responsibility when it comes to managing a class. Klopfer describes different classroom settings in which the students employ various digital pathways (games, social networking, etc.), as well as the necessity for collaboration; and Richardson lists valid reasons for why students benefit from online exposure (helps them develop and understanding of how it works, builds social skills), however there is little mention of actual classroom management during students' online work. I think it would be really interesting to see the process from beginning to end of how a teacher incorporates technology -- how he/she preps approaches the school, how he/she preps his/her students beforehand, how the students are trained to use the technology, how the teacher supervises during online/digital work, and how the work is monitored over time.

I would be very interested in potentially taking on some of the ideas from these articles, but it would be helpful to see how one goes about it.