Journal 9

Fitting the Pieces Together

By: Patricia A. Yost

Integrating laptops in the class room is a fantastic idea. There are so many ways for teachers to incorporate the lesson and in quicker time. Students can watch little clips of movies that get straight to the point of what the teacher is trying to make so that there is not two days wasted on watching a movie. Teachers can have the students look up online resources and research that they need to work. Teachers can also have all of the assignments and lessons on the laptop. This helps teachers stay organized and keeps all of there documents in one spot. Lots of teachers come to school everyday and have their hand full of papers and books. But if everything was done on laptops they would be carrying on bag instead three or four. Even kids, Kids walk around everyday with a 20-30pound book bag. To help keep their load light, a laptop will help a lot. Students taking notes would be a lot easier because students who have messy handwriting can read their notes and so can the teacher. I am not saying though that everything should be on a laptop. It shouldn’t. I think a good amount can though. I think that is important to stick to old school of ways of doing assignments too, so that students do not only rely on technology. When I mean old school I mean a pen and a paper. Laptops will help the schools move up in the world of technology. I thinks it is pretty promising that we are head in that direction.

Question/ Answers:

Q: How do we make the technology not a distraction to students?

A: Students will be give specific instructions of when they can have free time on the laptop. Teaching them to deal with it now will help keep them more focused and successful with technology.

Q: What about the students that cannot successfully learn on a laptop. All studetnts learn information differently.

A: The best way to help the students that do not learn as easily on a laptop, we can have alternate ways for them to learn. But it is very important for us to still have students work with laptops to help them get comfortable and ease them into it.