Our Children Need Your Help!

Dear Room 206 Parents,

Welcome and thank you for reading about our efforts to bring better technology into the classroom. Our wonderful and supportive PTA is looking for ideas on how to raise money so our children can receive more current and better technology resources that will improve the learning environment in the classroom. We need your help! Please help support the PTA; if you have any fundraising ideas or would like to volunteer to help the PTA, please contact Betty at newtechnology@gmail.com.

There may be some parents who are saying to themselves, "I don't want my child to play games in school while he/she is supposed to be learning" or "Don't kids have enough technology in their world already with a computer, cell phone, and video games?" In order for students to be competitive in the 21st century job force, they must be technologically prepared. "With the anticipated increase of technology related careers in the future, educators must prepare their students by using technology as a teaching and learning tool"(Molnar, 1997). When schools utilize education technology, such as Smart Boards, students are more engaged, more motivated, and more excited about learning; it also allows for teaching multi-modalities, which helps meet the learning style needs of the students.

There are several different educational technologies that would be beneficial to our classroom; however, the two main technologies that would be most beneficial to everyone in the classroom is the use of an Interactive Whiteboard (SmartBoard) and iPads. The SmartBoard, http://smarttech.com/, can be used for a multitude of activities; such as: save lessons to present to students who were absent; use the built in maps to teach continents, oceans, countries, or states and capitals; present presentations created by student or teacher; graphics and charts with ESL learners and special education students; these are just a few of the many ways to use it. The iPad, http://www.apple.com/education/apps/, has numerous apps that are education specific and are interactive lessons or can be used as study aids. There are personal organizational apps, collaborative/visualizing thinking apps, creativity/multi-media apps, art, math, English, science, humanities, news, and numerous others. 

We would really love for parents to get involved in our PTA and in our fundraising efforts to get technology into the classroom. The PTA, the administrators, teachers, and all school staff believe that it is of ultimate importance that we do everything we can to enhance the learning environment of our children as they truly are our future. It will take all of us working together to ensure that this happens. Please feel free to post comments, questions, and suggestions on this blog and share it with others. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to a great school year.  

Sincerely,

Ms. Heidi Galvez

References:

Molnar, A. (June 1997). Computers in Education: A Brief History. T.H.E. Journal. Retrieved May 12, 2012, from http://thejournal.com/articles/13739_11

DISCLAIMER: This blog is an assignment for an educational technology course at National University. It is not a real fundraising blog.