Relfections on Technology

Reflecting on technology and its advancements is very nostalgic for me. Looking back at how technology has changed really makes me reflect on my life as a whole and how I have progressed as a person. Over the years technology has changed in numerous ways. Since I was in elementary school, computers have been around. The ability of those computers however is no where near the abilities computers possess today. Looking back I can remember in the first grade going to computer lab once a week. The computer lab was the only central area where a large amount of computers were grouped together to allow for the whole class to get on at the same time. There were no computers in the actual general education classroom. The computers used were Macintoshes and the floppy disk was just that, floppy. These floppy disk were very large and black and the games that we played on them now seem so outdated. I remember a game in particular called Oregon Trail. Odd as it my sound, new technologies such as a social networking site called Facebook has an online interactive game called Oregon Trail that you can play with your actual friends instead on avitars on the game. At the time just being able to get on a computer was so amazing.
In the second grade, accelerated reader was becoming very popular in my school. The ability to take Accelerated Reader test on the computer made reading so much more fun. We as students received immediate feedback on our test to see our scores and would receive points based off the grade level. With these points we were able to shop at the AR store and purchase prizes with our points like money. In a sense it was a form of a token economy to reinforce reading.
In the third grade I had an opportunity to write an essay for a contest. The most amazing thing I remember was the fact that the computer I was using had a screen like a computer but printed out like a type writer. This device however, did have spell check. That was the first time I was introduced to a new function on the computer other than just playing games and taking AR test. The following year in the fourth grade I became the secretary of student council and was spending a lot of time in the library. Loving the library so much, pushed me to become a library aid. While being an aid, part of my tasks was entering the card catalog into the computer system to allow for the books to be checked in and out electronically.
A few years later in sixth grade, my mom bought my sister and me our first computer. It was smaller and the abilities were more advanced, still though very outdated by today’s standards. The computer had the ability to type on word processor, and the ability to access the World Wide Web! This was my first encounter with the internet. After entering middle school, teachers assigned papers that were to be typed, but not mandatory, because not everyone had the ability to access a computer and teachers were not going to punish the student for not having a computer. In my seventh grade computer class, my teacher Mr. Cannady thought before we could ever turn the computers on, it was important to understand the functions each part of the computer played. So we as a class learned how to build a computer given the parts. This way if there was ever a problem in the future with a computer we owned, we could use critical thinking to figure out what was not working properly. After the course of building the computer the class was introduced to new software that that made the computer do what the dictionary defines it as, “a machine that stores and organizes data.” Over the next few years of middle school, I was really introduced to the wonders of technology by producing a television news show that students watched in the mornings to receive announcements. The final computer class I took in middle school taught me how to use a Mac and a P.C. to make movies to use as the television show. The technology at my fingertips was almost overwhelming. The advancement of technology from my elementary ages to my middle school days was so drastic. Now I was being taught how to use PowerPoint, Excel, Microsoft word, I-Movie, and the internet to aid in oral and visual presentations.
High school really opened my eyes to the advancements of technology. I was accepted to a Technology Magnet High School. The school opened in 2000, and at the time was the first of its kind to open in the United States. Reflecting form elementary school to just high school really shows how fast and innovating technology is and how it has progressed over the years. Every classroom in my school had a smart board. This was the first time I was introduced to a smart board and remember thinking “how amazing is this!” The teacher was able to present the content of the lesson in a PowerPoint and was able to draw on the smart board and make additional notes all while the computer would be automatically saving them. This was a great feature for students who were absent. At this technology school each student was fortunate enough to have a desktop computer in front of them in every classroom. Each student had there own email address and this forced students to communicate electronically, not only with other students and faculty, but with parents and others from outside the walls of the school. Upon implementation of the email policy, over the years new rules and regulations were put in place to avoid distractions during the course of class. Graduating from a technology school made me think I knew so much about technology. That was until I started to attend Auburn University and began taking this class, Utilization of Instructional Technologies for Educators.
Upon entering this class, the very first day I felt overwhelmed hearing all kinds of new terms such as a Voicethread, an instructional architect, and integrated lesson plans. I am, however, able to reflect more on the impact technology is going to have on my teaching career now because of all the new ways I have been introduced to it through this class. Understanding how everything began and seeing technology used the way it is today is just amazing. The advancements made with the internet and new programs available on the internet is breathtaking to that little first grade student I was some fifteen years ago.
My learning has been affected drastically for the better with all the new advances in technology. By being able to access PowerPoint’s online form school and being able to search for things I do not understand on the internet, puts the world of knowledge at my fingertips. This is an advantage my grandmother never got to see as a teacher. I believe with all the advancements in technology thus far, my abilities to be a good teacher have grown to make me a better teacher. There is no telling what new ideas and innovations inventors will come up with in the future because it seems to me now where else do they have to go! Undoubtedly whatever new technologies inventors come up with, I am sure will only benefit me as a teacher. In the future using all these strategies I was taught with and modifying them to be able to be understood for my special needs children will greatly benefit my students. No matter what needs my students have, they will be living in a technological world and it is imperative that I utilize technology in my teaching strategies to help them succeeded in life. Technology will also play a major role in my future teaching career because of the assistive technologies my students will be using for themselves to help better a sense that is weakened by their disability, like cochlear implants for hearing impairments, or a Dinovox for students with autism. The world is full of possibilities because of technology and I feel the world is full of opportunities for my future special needs students because of the advancements in technologies. Technology will give my future students advantages in areas that they would not have if not for the wonderful inventions of all the assistive technologies. Technology helps make disabilities abilities for so many people.