Thursday, January 25, 2018

A NEW WAY OF LEARNING


By ERIN WILSON

Technology has been taking over many of the classrooms at Washingtonville High School.  From chromebooks to smartboards, there is usually some type of technology being used allowing students to learn at the push of a button.

Technology is something that people use on an everyday basis.  Whether it is in the classroom, or on cell phones, people use technology to help them with almost anything.  According to  The Independent, an online British newspaper,  “There are officially more mobile devices than there are people in the world.”

ERIN WILSON FOR THE WIZARD WEEKLY
In the classroom, technology has certainly proven to be a dominant force. In a study done by EdTech magazine, it was noticed that “74 percent of educators surveyed said that technology is key to helping them expand on classroom content; the same percentage said technology is a motivational tool; and 73 percent said it helps teachers respond to different learning styles.”

For the past week or so, an extraordinary class at Taft Elementary School has been using technology to enhance their knowledge on arctic wildlife, but more specifically, penguins.   Led by their teacher, Mrs. Yager, this first grade class has been using endless amounts of technology, allowing the children to learn even more about the whimsical creatures.  While studying wildlife, students used programs such as Zearn, Google Slides, and HyperDoc.  Lauren Stone, a first  grader in Mrs. Yager’s class, stated,  “I learned that a penguin’s wings are like boat paddles, which makes them super fast.”  

Because of all of the research being done, the students in Yager’s class are now able to distinguish between nonfiction and fiction, especially because they learned about a cartoon penguin named Tacky right before they started their technological expedition. 

Students read a story about Tacky the penguin
It is no surprise to learn that technology is only beginning to expand.  Mrs. Yager believes that “using technology helps students learn skills that they will use their whole lives and be ready for real life situations.”  She goes on to discuss how, “the students are gaining knowledge from instructional materials created by me so they can take more responsibility for their own learning.” 

Technology is not only helping out classrooms around the world, but also students of all grades inside the Washingtonville community.  There is an unlimited amount of possibilities when  it comes to technology, and classrooms are truly taking full advantage of that. 


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