Blog Post # 12

    Children will enter our classrooms from different backgrounds and different learning abilities and styles. Our job as their teachers will be to educate and inspire them regardless of their abilities and backgrounds to become creative and productive. Watch Constructivism, Inclusion and Technology. Respond by writing two or more paragraphs following the requirements in Writing a Quality Blog Post about the benefits of technology for students with below grade level abilities and some ideas you have of using technology in your classroom to help them learn.

Response:

    This video begins by showing a traditional classroom and asks, “What is wrong with this picture?” The video goes on to ask, “If we all face the same way, do we all have to learn the same way?” This clip highlights the benefits of technology in positively affecting the learning process of students with different learning styles and abilities; after all, everyone learns differently. “Technology adapts to any age group, any learning style or any culture.” There is no separation when using technology; everyone can learn to use it. “Technology allows for more seamless integration of differently-abled students.”

    With the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, classrooms have become integrated with students that have learning abilities that are below grade level. These classrooms are referred to as “Inclusion Classrooms.” The No Child Left Behind Act discourages self-contained ability grouped (resource room) classrooms. Instead, it promotes mainstreaming students with IEPs (Individual Education Plans) into regular classroom settings to be placed among their peers. Oftentimes, these inclusion students feel inferior to their peers because they are not functioning at the same level as their classmates. But, the use of technology in the classrooms puts all students on “equal footing.” As an inclusion paraprofessional in a local middle school, I am able to see first-hand the positive effects technology can create for students that struggle academically. Smart Boards, laptops, videos, robotics, etc., allow all students to learn and work collaboratively with each other. Disabilities become almost “invisible” as everyone is engaged in learning. As a result, all students gain a sense of pride and self-worth in their accomplishments. As a teacher, I plan to have my students actively engaged in the lessons with the use of Smart Board interactive programs. I would also like to use laptops regularly for research, word processing, web quests in content area, and review games. Technology is an important part of our classrooms. It is a way that allows all learners to prepare for their future – a future of success.