My Ed. Tech. Experience

Prompt: What  was your Ed. Tech. experience as a k-12 student? Did you do more than just website research? Did things ever work? What was the best activity you did? What about your experience do you want for your future students? What would you not want?

Technology use was minimal throughout my K-12 experience. In elementary school, it was standard to have two computers in the classroom. One for the teacher to utilize and one for the students. More often than not, the student computer went unused. Occasionally, the computer would be used to reward good behavior, but since there was only one for a class full of students it was not used. In addition to the classroom computers, classes did have access to a computer lab. Similarly, computer lab use was minimal because there was one lab for the whole school to use. 

In middle school, there was only one classroom computer for the teacher to use, but most teachers also had either an overhead or regular projector. This made it easier for students to take notes or even watch videos in class. Rooms that did not have projectors often had TVs. Lastly, there was a laptop cart and a computer lab shared by the school. 

In high school, technology was more accessible because I switched to a private school. My school had two PC labs, a Mac lab, and about 30 computers in the library. In addition, the science department had a few laptop carts. Each classroom was equipped with a computer and projector. Some classrooms even had surround sound. Students were also allowed to bring laptops to class from time to time. This made it easier to work on group projects and take notes. 

Until high school, I only used the computers for website research. My sophomore year, I took a class called multimedia. This class was an introduction to basic mac software. We learned how to edit videos and make short films. My senior year, I was able to apply what I had learned because I had to create a thirty minute Gothic film in English. Although that assignment was incredibly stressful, it was by far my favorite activity. When all of the films were completed, we had a film festival and it was neat to see each others creations. 

For the most part, the technology always worked. If it did not the IT department was typically able to resolve the issue in a timely manner. In my future classroom, I hope that my students have a similar if not better experience than I did in high school. I hope to have a projector and access to laptops. I think that they play a crucial role in a students education. I hope that my students do not have an experience similar to my primary education because technology does play that critical role.