Post #8

I believe that teachers who use technology as a means of motivation find that their students are willing to work much harder to get the reward of technology. This is especially true in younger children, as reward systems generally work better with younger kids. In elementary and middle-school aged kids, allowing them time on computers to play educational games motivates them to get their classwork done quickly and correctly; if the teacher only allows them to use educational games on the computer, then essentially they are getting double the learning. There are a myriad of websites that have fun, educational interactive games for kids to use; there are also many popular apps for iPads and Tablets.

Having a school that provided me with computers or iPads/Tablets for all of my students would be the first challenge to overcome. If my students did have technology available to them, then I think it would be very easy to set up a reward system that allowed them to use technology upon completing their work; I think a system like this would be very helpful in motivating them to get their work done. If my school was not technologically equipped in any way, then obviously it would be much harder to incorporate technology into the classroom as a motivational tool.

A new technology that I have learned about recently is making a Google Survey. I think these are very helpful tools in the classroom because they are an amazing way to get feedback from students (especially when they are anonymous). Surveys can be used to check students' understandings, get their opinion on topics, and see what needs to be improved in the classroom. Learning how to do Google Surveys will definitely be helpful for my future classroom!