Tech analysis

Alexis Kalitzky

Technology Use Analysis

TCH 401 Spring 2016

Personal Technology Use: I am constantly using technology in my personal
life. If I forget my phone at home when I leave I feel lost without it. I feel
like my phone is my life line because it has so much information on it that I
constantly use.

I use social media such as, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. I use
technology to read books in my free time, manage our family calendar, pay
bills and manage our bank account, research information I am unsure about,
scheduling appointments with doctors, taking classes, and entertaining my
children when we are out in public and they need something to occupy them
while we wait.

Personal Technology Use: I decided to use “The Five Stages of Technology Adoption”
to determine what category my personal technology use falls into. My personal
technology falls within the category of implementation and confirmation on “The Five
Stages of Technology Adoption” connected to Rogers Diffusion of Innovation theory. I
definitely fall within the Early Majority in the Adopter Category these stages.

Instructional Technology Use: As I reflect on my technology use within my
classroom I definitely feel very unsure of myself in this area. I always feel like I
am not comfortable using technology and have trouble using new types of
technology because I don’t like to be out of my comfort zone. I use technology in
my classroom that I am familiar with as well as trained in and stick to that unless I
learn about something else from a graduate class and then try it out when I know
more about it. I try to use technology in my classroom throughout the day. I use
SMART notebook a lot to create and implement lessons for LA, math, science,
social studies, writing, and calendar and weather. My SMART notebooks are very
interactive and the students definitely are able to run the classroom using our
SMART board lessons. I also use Skyward, Pearson Success Net, YouTube, Book
Flix, Tumblebooks, ESGI, and Discovery Education in my classroom on a regular
basis.

Instructional Technology Use: I decided to use “Eight Stages in the Teacher
Technology Journey” developed by John Spencer to determine what stage I fall
into for my technology use within my classroom.

When I first started at my school in my district I had a lot of technology training
from my librarian. She was always up on the forefront of any new technology that
was available and was always sharing those new ideas with our staff. She created
a binder of technology resources for us to use in our classrooms and it has helped
me along the way. When I first got my SMART board I decided to become SMART
certified so that I was familiar with my SMART board in my classroom and was able
to use it affectively. Our district has a great technology leader and is always
willing to help us if we have a problem with any technology in our classrooms. We
are able to fill out a help desk ticket if we need anything fixed with our technology
within our classroom. Overall, I feel like I am supported within my technology
endeavors within my classroom by not only my district but by my teachers at my
school as well.

Instructional Technology Use: “Eight Stages in the Teacher Technology Journey” by
John Spencer.

As I looked through the stages I feel at some part in my teaching career I have
identified with most stages. I use technology in my classroom that I am familiar with
and have used for a long time. I am hesitant to try new technology within my classroom
for fear of failure as well as for time sake. If I don’t have the time to really figure out
how to use a new technology tool than I won’t spend the time doing it. I feel like there
is so much on a teacher’s plate now a days that it makes it hard to try new technology
without the professional development opportunity and time to implement it. When I first
got my SMART board in my classroom I was in the “experimentation” stage. It took me
a while to feel comfortable with the technology and when I started to play around with
the technology I become more comfortable and moved into the “substitution” stage,
where I began using technology for everything. There are days where I am in the
“disillusionment” stage because technology can be frustrating and takes up way too
much time to integrate and use within the classroom. Overall, I feel as a
kindergarten/first grade classroom teacher I fall within the middle categories of
Spencer’s technology stages and am constantly moving between them throughout each
year. I am hoping after taking this class I will be able to try and use new technology
tools within my classroom to use to their full potential, such as students using it more in
a more creative and connective way, which would fit within the “transformation” stage.