Technology in the Classroom
Unlike my time in elementary school, technology played an important role in the classroom. Laptops and IPads were used at every opportunity. The class would research for projects, read books, and play math games to help with their multiplication and division. The most important thing I believe technology was used for was teaching the students how to take a test online. Since all of their SOLs are online, we spent a lot of time getting the class familiar with the format and showing them all the different tools they can use. I never saw a student misusing a computer and they all seemed to know exactly how to work it. There was a laptop cart that generally stayed in the front of the room that the kids could pull out and use if the four computers in the back of the room were all taken. Although a lot of technology was used in the classroom, Mrs. Cupka did not press it on them but rather, gave them options as to what they wanted to do. There was a large bookshelf where kids could read hard copy books and students could request to go to the library and check books to help them with their research. Overall, I found the use of technology in the classroom to be beneficial and helpful to enhancing the students education.