As a college student pursuing a degree in Education, I have to learn and become aware of all things changing in the classroom. One of the most common changes in the modern day classroom is the use of technology. There are several ways that technology can be used to an advantage in the classroom. One of these ways is with Internet technology. The Internet provides countless number of websites that could advance student achievement. Although the Internet is very useful, I also have many concerns.
My first concern of using Internet technologies is that sometimes you cannot count on the Internet. I can remember in middle and high school when I would be told by my teacher to use the Internet for an assignment while at school, and the school's Internet was down. Sometimes, the Internet is a hit and miss on whether it will be up and running. Another concern of mine is that students will go to a website they are not suppose to. I'm sure that I will do my best to be supervising the student's when I give them an assignment online, but there is always the chance that a student could navigate to a website that they were not told to get on. One of my last concerns with using Internet technologies is that sometimes, the students need to have time away from the computer. It has become a norm for students of all ages to use computers daily. Every once in a while, I feel that students need to take a break and do work on paper.
With most problems or concerns, there is almost always a solution. There are many ways I could ease my concerns of the use of Internet technologies in the classroom. One way is to check before I have the students get online that the Internet is up and running. This way, I can save time if it is not working. Another way I can alleviate my concerns is to try my best to watch what my students are doing on their computers. I could also block any websites that I thought the students might try to access while they are suppose to be working on an online assignment. One of the last ways I could ease using the Internet is to not over use it. I could limit the amount of assignments or activities that require my students to access the Internet. Although I have concerns with using the Internet in my future classroom, I know that there will be many solutions. I am excited to be in the situation where I will have to use my resources, such as this blog, to help me adjust in my classroom.
