I recently read an article entitled 10 Ways to Get the Most out of Technology and it motivated me to back up my words with action. I can't preach "Technology in the Schools" and certainly not "1:1 Handheld Devices for all Students" if I'm not using the very technology I claim to support. I finally broke down and got myself a smartphone last weekend. WHAT TOOK ME SO LONG? I don't know how I ever lived without it!
I continually find myself resistant to change and clinging to my old ways of doing things. I waited until 2005 to get a cell phone and it was late 2008 before I sent my first text. I had convinced myself that I didn't need them because I had lived without them my entire life. That's ridiculous! I realize this is normal, but I'm frustrating myself. Technology is amazing and I'm not being as productive as an individual or as useful as an educator if I don't break this pattern.
I recently discovered dropbox.com. Another piece of technology I can't believe I ever lived without. It allows me to have important documents and other files on any device - including my new phone! Once I begin teaching, I hope to have technology be such a huge part of the teaching and learning that occurs in my classroom that I will ask, "How did schools function without it?"
