Using the Technology: Classrooms Then and Now

I came from an age of chalkboards and dry erase boards. The mimeograph was run by hand crank to copy our tests in this awesome smelling purple ink. The early printers were loud, slow, and had perforated edges you had to rip off, just as annoying as a spiral bound notebook. When the overhead projector came along teachers could write their notes in marker or print them on clear sheets that could be cleaned and reused. Often a class of tilted heads tried to follow along around shadow arms and smeared words. The highlight of education was when the TV cart was rolled out, and we watched a VHS (then DVD) of an educational Discovery video.

To say the least, we've come a long way baby.

Websites and programs allow students and teachers to share information in a wide variety of formats and inclusion styles. Google Drive allows you to share and collaborate work on documents, slides (powerpoints), and spreadsheets.

Nearly all my son's classrooms have Promethean boards, an interactive whiteboard system that combines a screen with the computer, allowing instant access and delivery of notes, and even interaction with the board through digital pens or multi-touch screens.

https://www.prometheanworld.com/products/interactive-whiteboard-systems/

Students use Noodle Tools for everything from annotated bibliographies to getting feedback on their papers. It aids my son in research projects by making the gathering of information easier to decipher, organize, and share.

http://www.noodletools.com/

Websites like Quizlet and Kahoot uses online games created by students and teachers as study guides to reinforce the content in a more engaging environment. Kahoot even lets you submit your answers through your phone, and the teacher's host computer logs the responses. It's a great way to reevaluate the notes you've taken, and can even search other notes and study guides from others in the same class. Like Wikipedia, there's the chance of finding incorrect information, but a matching game of definitions to terminology is so much more engaging than just glancing over one's notes again.

https://quizlet.com/
https://getkahoot.com/

Colleges are using clickers as a way to get instant feedback from students during lectures, as pop-quizzes can be answered, recorded, and graded live.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/DyeHard/story?id=727409&page=1

There are so many new technologies every day that access our love of technology, and use it to merge the information we need with the flexibility of different learning styles. I'm so impressed with the technology my son's public school has access to, and I'm actually jealous of the innovations I've yet to use.