Technology Autobiography

My experience with technology began "fairly" early in my life. When I was six my family bought an Apple Macintosh personal computer. I learned how to use my computer by spending countless hours during childhood playing on it. The games and programs on my Macintosh were quite primitive in comparison to today's computers, but at the time they seemed like something from an episode of Star Trek. From that point on I would always possess a personal computer.

My elementary, middle, and high school had computers, but often times they were only utilized for recess or word-processing. Nonetheless, during school I became involved in the Student Technology Leadership Program and spent a great deal of time after school participating in that program. The program had its strengths and weaknesses. It taught me a great deal about navigating around on a computer, but the program was only available to to members of the gifted and talented program.

As a teacher I feel that implementing technology in the classroom is imperative in preparing students for future careers and life. It can be very difficult for Social Studies teachers to implement technology because of financial limitations and the nature of the content, but technology can be used t enrich the instruction.

Computers can be used in a Social Studies classroom through a variety of ways. They can be used for online research such as web quests or researched essays. They also can be used to create projects, such as digital stories and online blog discussions that can help students learn material more effectively.

There are some obstacles in utilizing technology in instruction. Many underprivileged students may not have access to computers at home and long assignments that require the use of technology can put that student at a disadvantage. Therefore, when there is a student-centered technology assignment the teacher must give enough in-class time for the students to complete their work.

Technology is now a major player in the global economy and in order to prepare students to compete in the job market we must make them familiar with the latest technological innovations and the challenge for teachers is finding a way to incorporate those innovations into their curriculum.