Staci Ortega

missstacisclass.weebly.com
EDU-225
January 30, 2015

Entry 1: Technology to Support Communication

Technology in the classroom is important for communications between faculty, parents and
students as well as the community because it allows parents and students multiple avenues of
communication as needed. It can allow students to access homework or lectures away from
school as well as parents to ask questions of teachers as needed to assist their childrens learning.
To ensure that students get the most from their education and are prepared for life in society,
teachers must embrace and even evolve the communicative technology that is used today.
Technology to Enhance Communication
Cellular phone in the classroom: Most people prefer to communicate by text message. Having a
cell phone in the classroom allows parents to text if someone will be missing class or needs
something sent home with them. In a classroom setting it can be a distraction, as a study in
graduate school found that students and faculty agreed that cell phone usage in the classroom
was a distraction that took away from the learning beyond what an apology could cover (Burns,
pg 809). In a special education setting however, a cellular phone can mean sending reminders to
parents and notifying them of accidents as soon as it happens so long as a text message is still
appropriate and the student is not in any danger or injured.

Class website: There are 5 levels of websites according to Making the Most of Your Class

Website by Lemoyne Dunn. There is static, with only class rules and schedules, semi-static
which would be updated a couple times a week as needed, supplemental resource for extended
discussions, integral curriculum where students would be required to access and communicate,
and pedagogical memory where the students are the builders of their own education and work
together on projects and discussions (Dunn, pgs 61-62). In a special needs setting a class website
can contain games and apps for students and their parents to play together.
Video Blogging: This is a fairly new tool in common education settings, but imagine the
possibility of having a special needs child sick at home and you can set them coughing in front of
a computer and allow them to see their teacher talking to the class or leading everyone in a song.
They would be able to maintain their routine as well as get the benefit of resting at home. In
mainstream classrooms at the high school and college level having your lectures accessible
through a secure web client would allow students to further study the material and take notes if
they missed class. In a study done at a university in New Zealand, participants agreed that having
the online class was more flexible, and with video and sound available they were still able to get
to know one another (Gedera, 2014, pg 99).

Email: Open communication is expected in many aspects of life now. Education is no different,
and parents or students should be able to contact teachers with confidence that there will be a
near-immediate response. Having an email address allows parents to open lines of
communications at any time. In a middle school program where teachers were asked to
communicate often with parents, students were shown to perform better and parents had fewer
complaints about the teachers (Reilly, 2008).

Schools in which students consistently practice safe and ethical behaviors dont just
happen (Johnson, pg 24). Internet security is always a concern. In Proactively Teaching
Technology Ethics Johnson discusses 13 methods of teaching internet safety. Most are outdated;
however teaching children that being ethical will reward them throughout their life is still a good
message.
Technology is always changing. What is known now will likely be obsolete in five years.
Teachers must grow with the technology and evolve to be able to provide their students with the
best possible education. Whether it is a class website for additional information or an email
address to communicate with a professor, teachers must use every method available to teach and
communicate with their students.

References:
Burns, S. and Lohenry, K. (2010) Cellular phone use in class: implications for teaching and
learning a pilot study. College Student Journal, volume 44 (issue 3) pp. 805-10
Dunn, L. (2011) Educational Leadership. Pp. 61-62
Gedera, D. (2014) International Journal of Education and Development using Information and
Communication Technology (IJEDICT), Vol. 10 (Issue 4) pp. 93-101
Johnson, D. (2004) Proactively Teaching Technology Ethics. Library Media Connection, 2004.
Pp 24-25
Reilly, E. (2008) Parental involvement through better communication. Middle School Journal,
January 2008. Pp 40-47