Technologically challenged....

Ok guys....here's the thing. It's been a while since I have posted and this week in my Applying Technology in the Classroom class we have an unrequired optional blogging discussion assignment. I figured that I would just write a post about the class and everything going on in it here instead of creating another blog to neglect forget about :) As most of you already know, I am in no way the next Steve Jobs, Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg. Technology is something that quite frankly baffles me and I tend to stay away from anything too complicated. Yes, I have an iPhone and can somewhat navigate the world of blogging, but other than that I repel technology. Really. It runs the other way. This class was bound to be a challenge. I mean, it has the words "Applying Technology" in the title. Regardless, I decided to keep an open mind if only for the fact that it is a required class. Right off the bat I knew I was going to be in trouble. There was language that I had never seen before being used on a daily basis in our assignments! I can sign and I know French, but this was intense!! We learned about Web 2.0 (if you don't know what that is look it up, it's pretty awesome) and how to apply it in the classroom. Ok, here is where I ran into trouble....I have a degree in History so it's no surprise that I tend to like things from the past. I spent a summer working in a museum with artifacts and things from many years ago. It was a leap to go from looking at old letters and such to having to create an online Wiki. To me, the art of writing is dying. We can look at letters and accounts from hundreds of years ago but anymore all we do is send a text message or an email that we delete a few days later. There's no record that we were actually here, but that's a different story. Back to my point....Web 2.0 is basically different programs that you can incorporate into your classroom to enhance the learning experience of your students. Now, what would I use to enhance the experience of a history class you ask? Well, Skype is a Web 2.0 tool that can be used in any classroom but could REALLY help out a history teacher. How? I'm glad you asked. Let's pretend that all of you are students in my American History class in some high school somewhere...let's say Valley Park High School. Valley Park utilizes SmartBoard technology so that will work out great :) Instead of boring you with a story about an artifact and showing you a PowerPoint or a few pictures Skype would allow me to Video Chat in a curator from the Smithsonian Institute (time permitting on their part of course) to talk to you about the Hope Diamond or the Air and Space Museum. You see where I'm going with this. Or instead of having you read about the Holocause in your textbook I could video chat in a real survivor or show you a clip of a speech from someone that survived on SchoolTube. Another tool that I was really skeptical about at first was WebQuest. Seriously....has anyone ever heard of this? It was definitely a first for me. You create an online scavenger hunt for your students. It's actually kind of cool. So is Symbaloo....ok, so I don't despise ALL technology. I guess what I'm saying is that I actually learned quite a bit about how to bring things to life in my classroom and that's something important in history. Many students just think that history is something they don't have to worry about. It happened long before you were born so why should you care, right? I'll tell you why....history happens every single day. What happened hundreds of years ago still has an impact on our lives today. If women's suffrage had never happened and women's lib was just a fad I probably wouldn't be writing about any of this anyway because I wouldn't have the choice to teach or do whatever I wanted to do with my life. While technology may make it easier for some things, I still strongly believe in reading a book to find an answer....and I'm not talking about reading a book on your iPad or Nook or Kindle or whatever else. I'm talking about actually READING and searching through artifacts to find what you're looking for....you never know what you're gonna find. So in closing, I guess technology isn't all bad and I know I'll use some of it in my future classroom, but I also know that adventures can't be had behind a computer screen or on your phone/tablet or whatever else you're using. You have to get out and see the world because, believe me, you don't know what you're missing!