The need for new technologies

Today’s class was about new technologies and how we apply them in the classroom to motivate and stimulate the students.

I am fascinated by new technologies and I enjoy learning how to use them although sometimes I spend a great amount of time doing so.

I have worked with IT and I am always keen on learning more about them although I do not describe myself as native in new technologies.

Iñaqui explained to us how to use two types of digital blackboards by two different manufacturers:

e-beam and smartboard.

After Iñaqui’s explanation, I now would like to see the real "Mackoy" so I think I’ll have a look at one working when I get a chance.

Iñaqui talked about the use of blogs in the classroom and digital blackboards.

I love new technologies but I must admit that technical details are not always well explained or easy to understand in the manuals. Therefore, you need to know the basics to understand how to use them and what to do if a problem arises.
You have to be able to sort it out too. This is the difficulty I see but as professionals as we are, we will need to anticipate a plan B and possibly even a plan C when something goes wrong.

In my professional life so far I have dealt with technical problems and I strongly believe that the rule of thumb is to find out the root of the problem. For this reason, it is important to remember all you did from the very beginning in order to find the solution to a technical problem. This requires patience, which is not always easy to have if you are surrounded by thirty or more students. Although these days you may encounter that some of your students may know more about technology than you do and who knows, this may also be an opportunity to develop other skills in the classroom.

Moreover, continuous training is required in order to keep up-to-date with new technologies and if this is the price to pay to keep motivating our students, so be it.

Having said this, are we all ready and motivated to keep up with them?

Time will tell but these days we cannot live without them, they now form part of our daily lives and it is going to stay that way. Therefore, we need to have an open mind and try to accept them as a support tool for our lessons and not as a teacher replacement.

They can be a complement to our jobs and not a threat. They can be expensive and they risk being obsolete very quickly in a short amount of time but its use and the results obtained by the students can also be very rewarding for a teacher, so let’s stop being afraid of them and use them effectively!