Blog Post #13

Blog Post #13

“Top ten tips for using technology in the classrooms”

Jose Picardo’s short video “Top ten tips for using technology in the classroom” was interesting and beneficial. What he had to offer in his video wasn’t anything new, since we have been going over a lot of ideas like Jose’s tips in our EDM310 class but, never the less they are still very good tips. His top ten tips are to use video streaming, music, teleconference, interactive exercises, interactive whiteboards, podcast, blogs and wikis, social networks, internet tools and last the use of gadgets. All of these tips Jose has mentioned are what will soon be required in our student’s classrooms. Without evolving with the times and without continuous education, how are we as educators suppose to encourage our students to do the same?

Out of all of Jose’s tips the only tip that stood out to me was his tip to incorporate music into learning. I myself am a big music fanatic and the idea to incorporate music in your lesson plan is a great way to get your students excited about learning. One of the most important things I find about teaching is to encourage students to be creative and to express themselves and with our advancement in technology the opportunity to do so is endless. I plan on using many of the tips Jose referred to in his video, especially the use of video streaming, Skype, blogging and podcasting. As a social science major I understand that once I began to teach I will have a few students who will find what I am teaching to be extremely boring. With the help of technology I now have the opportunity to help those students find the joy of learning by encouraging them to be creative, like Jose said, create a lesson plan to the liking of your students. Had I had the opportunities that many of our younger students have, I most likely would have enjoyed waking up every morning and going off to school.