First Grade TECHNOLOGY Essays - Smart Devices, Distance Education

First Grade TECHNOLOGY Essays - Smart Devices, Distance Education First Grade TECHNOLOGY Technology The amount of technology that is used for teaching at a first grade level is phenomenal. In the first grade class I observed they used technology in almost every subject studied. Technology was used in English, Spelling, Science, Social Studies, Mathematics and Art. These children are more technologically literate than many adults that I know. One of the first technologies I encountered in the classroom was the computer based instruction center. At this center the children could pick from a range of programs used to teach spelling, math, science or social studies. At times the students were allowed to choose their own field of study and at other times they were directed to a specific topic such as science or social studies. The website we used was called brainpop.com and there was specific lessons available covering the holidays and the winter season. We would play a movie online and the kids would listen through headphones while cartoon figures told the story of Thanksgiving and the pilgrims or some similar story. A CD play with two sets of headphones was another use of technology in the classroom. Students would do a guided reading using reading books to follow along with a narration of the story. Although this technology isn?t exactly ground breaking the students really seemed to enjoy learning to read when guided by th e narrator. The most impressive technology used was the SMART board. The SMART board is a large interactive whiteboard developed by SMART technologies. The SMART board uses a PC and a projector to display on a whiteboard which acts as a huge touch screen. The interactive whiteboard accepts touch input from a finger, pen, or the keyboard. In our class the students practiced spelling, math and writing using the SMART board. This technology is very new to this class so Mrs. Friedrich was still learning the capabilities of it but the possibilities are huge. Plus the SMART board was definitely the favorite of the class. The interactive features kept the children?s interest although there was quite a bit of playing done. The SMART board is still new enough to the children to be exciting whereas the computer is now just