Individual Technology Assessment

I use technology every day in my fourth grade classroom.  Basic items like student computers, my laptop, and the television, are accessed without a second thought.  All of these communicate needed information to me and my class, and our school environment would be greatly different without the ease of transmission they provide.  The daily use of these tools, the simple and seamless integration in to my everyday classroom is a strength I possess, although very elementary in the technological hierarchy.  This is to be the foundation for my future success in creating a classroom that is integrated with all of the technology available!

Also at my everyday disposal are an interactive whiteboard, document camera, and projector.  These are not utilized daily, and that is my greatest weakness.  I have amazing technology that I had to test for and write a grant to have in my room, but there it sits some days, lonely and sometimes a little dusty.  I am perfectly capable of using these items, have taught several other teachers how they work and little things that make learning more fun, but the effort to use them myself comes across as a greater hassle than the benefit of their functions.

I am more than aware that I need to step up my use of this technology that so many others would love to have.  I've already started the process of integrating them more efficiently by rearranging my room so that it is more user friendly, and the cords and paraphernalia that come with the components are not an impediment to us all.  Through the course of this semester I will use what I learn in my new graduate classes to create a more technologically innovative and productive classroom...to boldly go where, well, many people have already gone.