Literature Review, Classroom Technology

Course Objectives met through this review:

1.      Demonstrate the understanding of how technologies can effectively promote student learning.

2.      Reflect upon and demonstrate effective use of digital tools and resources.

In Classroom Technology by William Day, he writes about the importance of utilizing technology in the classroom and the effectiveness of certain listed technologies. Day makes a point of explaining how for two decades educational institutions have been spending millions of dollars on technology without a clear purpose or a goal in mind. He reflects on a mindset of schools that believe just by putting technology into a classroom the students are benefiting from it when what they really need is to interact with it.

To reinforce this goal he explains how a must in classroom technology is an interactive whiteboard. This allows students to interact with each other and their teacher and enriches the learning experience overall.

This reading pertains to course objectives because it is demonstrating the understanding of how technologies can effectively promote student learning and it reflects upon and demonstrates an effective use of digital tools and resources. Technology is a crucial component of current day education and Day does an excellent job weighing the pros and cons of specific technologies in his article. For example, he discusses that laptops are a great tool for students to use during class because it allows them to take notes and bring their work home. However he explains that smaller, lighter, netbooks are a much better upgrade because they are more portable for a smaller individual like a middle-schooler. (Day, 2010) If I was a teacher using this article as a point-of-reference I would be even more motivated to use technology in my classroom. I would heed his advice in utilizing an interactive whiteboard and create lesson plans around class participation with the whiteboard.

What I found most interesting about this article is Day’s emphasis on netbooks over laptops. This article was written 4 years ago and due to the ever moving pace of technology netbooks have seemingly gone extinct. In their place a consumer has access to Chromebooks which are Google’s take on the netbook running their own custom operating system. I would be curious to see a revision of this article taking Chromebooks into account as they are a departure from the norm. Overall, this article is a good baseline for sharing the importance of technology in the classroom with someone. Day demonstrates and discusses the benefits of each piece of technology and I feel that the possibilities are endless.

Works Cited

Day, W. C. (2010). Classroom Technology. American School & University, 43.