My classroom technology experience

This is our reality now, technology is consuming our children's and student's lives.

Everyone knows that technology is evolving every day. However some might not know that technology in education is growing and becoming integrated into everyday activities in the classrooms. All throughout my education in Elementary, Middle, and High School I've used technology. I went to public school in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Wellesley Public Schools specifically has a plan to intergrate technoology so students and teachers alike can learn and grow with our ever changing society.

Technology in the Wellesley Public School System

My first interaction with technology that I can remember was in Elementary School. I remember using AlphaSmarts! Most people probably have no idea what these are because there have been so many advancements since them. AlphaSmarts are keyboards with a small screen that are used to type assingments. After finished typing we would connect the AlphaSmart and the computer together with a cord and print out our paper.

These dinosaur "laptops" were the beginnings of my experience with technology!

We also used over head projectors. These were easier than chalkboards because chalk boards were messy and created dust.Teachers used these to write assignments or problems, and it was easier for the whole class to see. Or a teacher would pass out overhead projector sheets and students would answer problems on them, then present them to the class. This helped students learn how to present in a way that was fun to do and gave them public speaking skills. These also made it possible for the teacher to sit down facing the class and teach them instead of turning their back to them while writing on the board, which is always a concern for teachers with classroom management..

My Elementary School also had the Mac book carts. A cart with about 25 Mac books that a teacher could check out for a certain time for the students to do assignments on. I remember we as kids were so excited to use computers. It gave us a feeling of importance and independence.

In Middle School the amount of technology I experienced increased respectively. We still had and used the Mac book carts. We also now had computer labs that we would go to occasionally if the teacher reserved it. Often it was for research on a project. Another form of technology I used in Middle School was the Elmo. This was a more modern and advanced form of the over head projector. This allowed the teacher and students to place a book or paper under the camera and it would reflect it onto the board.An image of whatever was on the board could be captured and uploaded online for students to review afterwards. I remember using this when sharing homework. Students would put their papers up and the class could see their work.

The Elmo is a direct advancement from the over head projector and shows exactly how fast technology is evolving.

In High School there were "Mac labs" as well, rooms filled with 20-30 Apple computers. In High School we went there for research often as well. As High School students we were starting to use technology more and more. Almost everyone had a cell phone and a laptop. Teenagers are more likely to research a topic online than go to a Library and look at books. Teachers need to realize their students strengths and if they are always using technology they should use that to their advantage. In High School all of our essays had to be typed and printed for the teacher. This is a form of technology that students need to know; how to format a document correctly and all the bells and whistles to make a project look top notch.

In High School we also had SMART Boards. These looked like white boards but could be interactive with the computer, students, and teachers. The screen on the board is the computer desktop and the specific Notebook application was used for the SMART Board. Teachers could use these boards for everything in a lesson plan. After writing something on the SMART Board with specific colored pens a document could be saved. These SMART Boards could then save what was done on them and be uploaded online for students to review later, or if they missed a class they could print them out.

These SMART Boards are one of the newest pieces of technology for the classrooms. As you can see they work for all ages and grades. Elementary to College aged students can interact with the SMART Board for a variety of subjects and activities. Students can come up to to the board and write answers down, make diagrams, write sentences and much more. They are easy to use and help engage the students in a fun and interesting way.


Children younger and younger are getting personal computers and playing online games, surfing the web, and spending hours on the computer. Children and teenagers are becoming more advanced in technology than their parents and this is causing censorship problems. Because student aged children are so technology oriented with; cell phones, Mac books, ipads, ipods, and video games, educators need to realize this and use this to their advantage. Most typical students in any grade of school would rather use technology to learn than sit in a lecture or read a book. Therefore educators need to be knowledged and creative when using technology.

There are always new gadgets coming out for technology and the Internet is expanding every day. There are so many ways you can use technology in the classroom and here is a site with some activities and ideas to get you started!

Ways to use technology in the classroom