1. Helping students to learn better!

2. Article 1:
Using Technology to Enhance the Classroom Environment
Article 2:
Learning Designs: An Analysis of Youth-Initiated Technology Use
Article 3:
The Changing Classroom: Challenges for Teachers

3.  This article basically
discusses the
following:
 Classroom setup
 Teacher
involvement and
readiness
 Student
participation
Click here to view article

4.  Classroom setup
 The most basic classroom setup, which allows instructors to use technology as part of their
teaching, is one in which there is a computer, a network connection (either wired or
wireless) and a projection system. This allows instructors to perform demonstrations,
present material, illustrate how to use software, show Web sites, etc.
 Teacher involvement and readiness
 Instructors should spend an efficient amount of time to prepare themselves for whatever is
going to be taught. They should familiarize themselves with their presentation, that way
they can interact with students while teaching so that the information can be learned
better.
 Student participation
 To have real participation and interaction, students need to have computers with network
and power connections they can use in the classroom. For college level students, the best
interaction in a classroom setting where the class is taught primarily using some form of
technology is to bring their laptop to class. That is if the professor allows them.

5. I think that it is a great idea for students to interact
with their professors using technology. Some students tend
to learn better being hands on rather than through lecture.
This is a form of hands on learning that could help students
learn better. In a elementary classroom setting, students
would learn better when you use different forms of teaching.
Just the everyday chalkboard lecture will not work for some
students. This is a way teachers could vary their techniques
for better learning experience.

6.  This article discusses how youth are learning differently than any
other generation, and technology is the cause.
 The article gives a very good example on how the youth are using
different forms of technology with learning.
 Instant messaging in an after school tutoring lab was one
helpful way.
 The students would choose to IM a problem or something
else that they needed help with, and the teacher would
instant message them back explaining in detail how to solve
the problem and/or answer the question.
 That made the students want to interact more and ask more
questions.
 PowerPoint's were used in the classroom setting when the
teacher wanted to present new information.
Click here to view article

7. The article says that
the teachers saw
how the youth were
leading the world of
technology and the
only way to interact
with “their world”
and to get them to
learn better, would
be to use what
interests them and
use it as a source in
teaching material.

8.  I do agree when the author stated
that the youth are leading the
world of technology. It is steadily
advancing in their era. Therefore,
they are the ones that are most
interested in learning all about it.
Most of their parents grew up
without using computers and other
forms of technology. The youth are
most of the time more experienced
when it comes to technology than
their parents. Also, in a classroom
setting, students would pay more
attention when you use things like
PowerPoint, podcasts, digital
scrapbooking, slideshows, and even
video’s.

9.  With the explosive development of the Internet in the '90s and the
enthusiastic embrace of the "information superhighway" by the Clinton
administration, many educators noticed that computers could play a
critical role in teaching.
 Technology delivered an ever-accelerating learning curve which everyone
must keep up with, teachers have begun to see that they must learn to
work differently with their students in order for education to remain
relevant and effective.
 Teachers have to develop the ability to demonstrate how these
technologies can be used for academic purposes and convey the
educational advantages of computers and the Internet to their students.
 The article also discusses how teachers now have to get comfortable with
the new technology that is emerging so that they can use it efficiently in
their classrooms.
 Some teachers often take classes on how to use certain features and
devices in their own classroom.

10. To meet the challenges of an always-evolving high-
tech society, teachers today need to develop
multiple forms of computer and information literacy
to help improve education. This means using
technology in the classroom to illustrate lesson
topics; teaching students how to use the Internet
and information technology to research topics; and
using technology to enhance education outside the
classroom, ideally in ways that involve students in
the learning process. According to the article,
technology is used more by new and younger
teachers. The ones who have taught for many years
and are accustomed to the olden ways, tend to not
use them.

11.  Students are living in a world
now days where technology is
what runs it. If you use
techniques and things that they
are familiar with, they will learn
better. I do understand when it
said that the pace in technology
is very fast, that some teachers
have to take classes to learn the
different ways to use the
technology in their classroom
setting. The number one thing
that a teacher wants is for their
students to learn the material
that they are trying to teach
them. Therefore, you have to
use ways that interest them.

12. Technology in education is a very important factor,
especially in the elementary setting. These three articles
have discussed how important it actually is. Statistics show
that students who interact in an useful technology classroom
setting versus those who do not tend to learn better. I will
use technology in my classroom setting. I know that I was
always a hands on learner, and I would learn better when
the teacher would use different techniques and forms of
teaching. It also made learning fun! You always want the
students to be interested in what you are teaching them
because if they aren’t then most of the time they will not
remember the lesson.

13. DeGennaro, D. (2008, Fall2008). Learning Designs: An Analysis of Youth-Initiated Technology Use.
Journal of Research on Technology in Education , 41(1), 1-20. Retrieved November 19, 2008, from
Teacher Reference Center database.
Douglas Kellner, Ph.D., "The Changing Classroom: Challenges for Teachers," T.H.E. Journal, 3/1/2005,
http://www.thejournal.com/articles/17203
Levine, L. (2008, Fall2008). Using Technology to Enhance the Classroom Environment. T.H.E. Journal,
1-4. January 2002.