How instructional technology is viewed in the classroom (July 7 class)

1. One thing I found interesting about our activity of listing technologies that we would like in our "ideal" classrooms is that everyone seemed to interpret classroom technologies somewhat differently. While I read the request as what sorts of information technologies I would like (i.e. computer, office suite, calculators, etc.), other students viewed classroom technology more broadly. For example, in our discussion, one student prioritized having air conditioning and heat in the classroom. I founded it insightful that I took for granted having practical technology, even though I would surely prefer my students be at room temperature than have a high-tech projector and pen drive, for example.

2. Another issue I took away from the July 7 class was some skepticism about some of the longer term projects we will complete. In particular, I wonder if there will be some redundancy with our mentor apprenticeships and the class's field internships. I have a joint appointment in math and economics, and one of my mentors (economics) uses quite a bit of high technology in his classroom, and I anticipate learning a majority of instructional techniques with technology through him. Thus, I appreciate having the tech workshop alternative to this assignment, but many of the workshops overlap with cognates I have to complete in the fall semester.

3. My third comment resulting from the first class is related to this blog. I wondered if it would be a burdensome and tedious task to maintain a blog regularly, but as I am writing, I find that I'm actually enjoying the opportunity to reflect on the content and aims of the course. It is helping me recall and organize my thoughts on instructional technology, as well as my feelings about the 504 class in general. I think it will be interesting to track my reflections in earlier blogs as the class progresses. I imagine my thoughts may become less cynical!