A Learner-Active, Technology Infused Classroom

Wow! Learner-active, technology-infused classrooms are most likely busy and exciting classrooms. I can see that such a class would have to have a well-organized teacher who has exposed his/her students to enough technology in order to complete the lesson without distracting from the main point of the lesson.
Though these lessons could be rather time-consuming (depending on the student's base knowledge of technology), I can definitely see the benefit they would be to each student in the class. Especially because each lesson covers so many learning styles.
A learner-active and technology-infused classroom takes the basics of learning and teaches the student through real-life experience in the classroom and outside of the classroom- by using technology to explore other cultures and regions, or collaborating with another classroom. This kind of classroom infuses 21st century skills into every day learning. The students learn to use manipulatives and real-life examples to solve-problems and to take what they are learning in school at apply it to their world.
I looked over a few unit plans at the site:http://educate.intel.com/en/ProjectDesign/UnitPLanIndex/GradeIndex/#1 and I was very impressed with the clarity of instruction (yet flexibility) and the way the day-to-day lessons did not appear overwhelming (for the teacher and the student).
One unit that I read and thought was very clear in showing a technology-infused and leaner-active classroom was the 'The Great Bean Race.' In this lesson the students are able to be active through the growing of bean plant as teams in the classroom. The students not only learn how to plant and take care of a plant, they also get the joy of every day watching and reporting the growth and maturity of their plant. The students use technology by reporting the growth of their plants with students living in other regions and through reporting the growth of their plants in a newsletter. The students learn in the ares of science, math, and language arts in this lesson by watching and measuring their plant's growth as well as communicating the growth and results of the experiement. This unit is also exciting because it is a race. Who's bean plant will grow to be the tallest?

Welcome to My Blog

My name is Sarah Cole and I am a Junior studying in the Elementary Education/ Bible program at Appalachian Bible College. God placed the desire in me to serve Him full-time several years ago. Since then, He has shown me that teaching well is a very effective ministry that can be used in my own backyard or around the world. He then led me to study His Word at a Bible college in New York for two years, and now His will is for me to study and serve at ABC. My prayer for after I graduate is to live in a foreign country and teach as a ministry. I would not even have to teach children (though that would be my preference), but simply having the opporunity to serve God through educating someone would be a blessing to me. I have a desire to serve in East Asia, but God may lead me to a different place. It is all in His capable hands.
Because I grew up homeschooled, I always was curious about the schools that my friends went to. Two of my grandparents were teachers and I remember the first time I sat in my grandmother's second/third grade classroom, I knew that teaching was what I wanted to do. Now, years later, I see the impact God allowed my grandparents to have on so many lives. I desire to have an impact like that, even if God uses me to impact only a few people.
I think that technology will influence the way that I teach because, especially when I serve in another country, it will allow my students to connect with different cultures and they can learn about the systems and operations in the United States. Technology will also give me the opportunity to prepare my students for living in a 21st century skill driven world. Therefore, if I have the means available, I will incorporate technology into my lessons as much as possible, in a way that does not distract from what the class is learning.