New Technology in the Classroom

One of the things I look for in new technologies is the ease of use. If the site is too complicated, I won't be as likely to use the site. The better destined the website is, the more likely I am going to be able to use it. I also am willing to pay for sites that are more user friendly. The paid sites usually have less advertising and are easy to use. I look for this especially in teacher resource sites like Discovery Education, lesson planet and edhelper.com. Another site I love to use is Promethean Planet. They are collections of resources that help teachers in the classroom. I use these sites because they are very easy to use and provide key resources that allow me to bring new ideas to my classroom. If a site will take a great deal of time to learn, I am less likely to use it. These classroom resource sites allow teachers to collaborate to create great resources and lesson plans.

Along with teacher resource sites, I also am always on the lookout for new technologies to use with my students. One site I evaluated and used recently was edmodo. I learned about the site a while ago when I was long term subbing in another district. When I was checking out the site, I found it extremely easy to use. Another question I have to answer is how secure and safe is the site for use with my 8th grade students. Can they access inappropriate material? Can they themselves post inappropriate material? If I feel at all a site isn't secure, and if it would be easy for students to abuse the website for non academic purposes, I won't use it. Edmodo has a moderation feature that allows me to approve every post on edmodo. If a student gets off topic, I can deny the post. I also have to make sure the website provides a strong educational value to the project. One of the common themes in Web 2.0 is collaboration and the ability of the students to be interactive. I believe that is important to creating new student centered activities so I always look for ways for new technology to be interactive. Edmodo is also social site. The students loved the social aspect of it and they love any website that allows them to interact and collaborate on ideas. With any new website, I also have to see if I am allowed to use it. I always ask the head of technology in my district first to see if the site is allowed. I also have to evaluate the educational value of the website and if the students will use the website to learn and not just purely to have fun.

Ease of use, easy streamlined design, educational value, security features and interactive features are the factors I evaluate the most when looking a new site to use in my classroom.