There's Nothing Special About Technology

A couple times in the last week I was asked how I use Technology in my classes and with my students.  Each time I was asked about Technology and or Technology Tools with a capital "T."  I got to thinking about it, and I realized that I incorporate technology with a small "t."  I mean that it's not something separate, or special, or  different.  I don't need to announce: "Now we are going to use Technology!"  It's just a part of every aspect of my classes.

I don't teach in a computer lab, and I don't really have access to bring my whole class to a lab regularly.  Despite that, here are ways that technology was a part of my classes last week:

We discussed Success after viewing videos of the Panyee FC and this guy asking How Bad Do You Want It?
To introduce a unit on cultural identity students first tried their hand at Sorting People by race.
Then students logged into our class Moodle Forum to discuss their identity.
After reading in the book (paper book) stories about Eva Hoffman and Elizabeth Wong, students viewed interviews of both of them online.
I showed students a fun way to expand their vocabulary with Visual Thesaurus.
I tweeted this poster of the the only 12 1/2 Writing Rules You'll Ever Need.
Students reviewed comma usage with this Purdue Online Writing Presentation.
Students read about the news on the KQED Mobile New Blog project, and then checked a mobile news app on their phones to share a current headline.

I used my cell phone's timer app when we did 1-minute timed readings, as well as connected it to the room's speakers to play an NPR interview I had downloaded.  Most days I also had my laptop plugged in and projected so that I could show student writing samples, and online activities and resources they would be doing at home.  I snapped a few photos of students interviewing each other with my cell phone and recorded a model interview with my flip camera.

Of course in between all that, I responded to their emails, commented on their forum posts, added assignments and deadlines to our online class calendar, and updated our Moodle class site.

I like the idea of technology being fully integrated in my class and students seeing that it's just a typical part of learning.  This article also got me thinking of even more everyday ways to model technology to students.  Let's face it:  technology is nothing special to our students, and it shouldn't be that special in our classes either.