As my course comes to an end:

This course has taught me many things pertaining to technology. I have known for awhile that technology played and was going to play a big part in our students and the future of our students, but I never realized how much work it is to incorporate technology into the schools. During our podcast assignment, when I was interviewing my class I was surprised at how much my students used technology and what they used it for, and how they all thought that our school does not offer enough technology for teachers or students use. This course has encouraged me to research and explore the different technological advances that I can incorporate into my physical education classes. When I saw how much technology impacts my students lives and how much of a vital role technology will play in my students future, I want to learn and do all I can do in order to help my students feel success in their future lives and careers.
I have also thought of how I can teach my students in a way where they can learn the best. All students are not the same and most are not able to learn from textbook, lecturing, and testing. Students need interaction and experience in learning a new skills or standard. It is important that students figure things out by themselves by using many different resources and the teachers role is more of a guiding figure to assist students in their learning of the skills or standard. As I interviewed my students majority of students said they wish teachers would let them research the material and learn it the way they can learn best, and the teacher is there as a guide or assistant in helping students when needed.
I have always believed that teaching should be student centered, rather than teacher centered. As teachers we are trying to teach and touch the lives of our students and should want to do anything we can to help our students reach success. If we teach where the teacher is the center of the teaching then many students are not going to respond well. In the world today there are so many distractions that prevent students from learning during the school day, and if a classroom is student centered, I believe this will allow the students to stay focused and interested in the material being taught and that the students will gain more from the lesson. In my school many of my students have been brought up to believe that to achieve anything they must do it by themselves and work at something to achieve that goal. I believe this applies to the classroom as well. All students learn differently and it is important to accommodate for all the learning styles of your students.
I believe that one way I can stay up to date with technology and make sure I am doing all I can to help my students is to attend workshops and other classes to improve my knowledge of technology and incorporating that into my teaching. I also think that the teachers of my school, we all need to work together and help each other out to stay up to date on the advances of technology and implementing the 21st century skills. We need to especially reach the older teachers because they are usually set in their ways and again have the philosophy of “it is not broken so why fix it?” We need to help these teachers out because many of them are resistant to change. It is important that schools and even the county all come together to ensure that students are getting to best education for them to be successful in life.
Two long terms goals I would like to aim for would be implementing more technology into physical education and another goal is for me as an educator to become more knowledgeable and up to date on the advances of technology. Some obstacles that I can see I would face is the implementing more technology into my physical education classes. Students love coming to physical education because it is a chance to let their hair down and relax. Most students are not going to like the idea of going to a computer lab maybe once a week instead of participating in physical education. I can see it taking a good deal of convincing my students that it is going to benefit them and help them in the future. Students come to P.E. to play, not to work. That is one of the biggest obstacles I can see myself facing.

Technology Use among Teenagers

The following is a podcast which includes student interviews and demographics of one of my classes. I chose my 8th grade class which had 31 students in the class. I asked them numerous questions about technology and how they use technology. I also asked them their opinion of how well our school does with implementing technology and if enough is offered. It was a great assignment and I thoroughly enjoyed interviewing my students and seeing how much technology plays a role in their lives.


http://schools.bibb.k12.ga.us/16602091194944950/podcasts/browse.asp?a=399&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&c=69714