Customer Reviews

Using Technology in the Classroom (6th Edition)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a long-time educator and newbie teacher/librarian who will be responsible for helping other teachers integrate technology into their classrooms, I've been hunting around this summer trying to find a book to hone my skills on wikis, podcasts, blogs, RSS feeds, etc. Not just how to set them up, but how to use them in the classroom. I had hopes this book would be it. Unfortunately, it was far too basic. It explained what each of the technologies (and many others) are--just in case you didn't know--but left this reader fairly clueless as to how to actually get started. Or with any ideas how to use the technology once I WAS up and running. The book does give a PLETHORA of wonderful websites (hence the 3 stars), and provides a DVD and online web resource for practicing the technologies. Still, Will Richardson's book (see link) was infinitely more useful and practical--and a whole lot cheaper! Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms

This was a required text for a course on Technology in the Classroom. I realize everyone is at different levels, but this book was ridiculous. Printed in 2005 and intended for college students and teachers, it actually spent pages defining terms like "keyboard" and "word processor." I find it hard to believe that the target audience could possibly be ignorant of this information. The book was condescending and useless. I've never resented spending money on a textbook so much in my life.

I felt the book did a really good job at following the objectives it set out in the beginning in terms of helping the audience (new teachers, veteran teachers, parents, and school administrators) understand the how important technology is needed in education. I felt the language used throughout the book was easy to understand and follow and very reader friendly. I say this because throughout the book, when a new word was mentioned, there was a definition to assist with understanding. I felt this very help for me as well, because often times I would hear or say this term but not really know what it meant.
I really enjoyed how the authors included real life examples in many of the chapters showing how technology is used in the classroom.

One criticism I have of the book is that I found the book to start of a bit slow over the first four chapters. My expectation was to get straight into learning how to use technology in my classroom, but there was some information in the beginning chapters (such as the history of the computers and very brief discussions of applications) that I thought could have been in the appendix or should have received more attention (such as the discussion of using spreadsheets).

In conclusion, I believe the book had a lot of good and relevant information. I would recommend this book to teachers, school administrators, graduate students in the field of education and educational technology, and technology coordinators. I also believe some parts of the book could also read by parents.

I expected something a bit more helpful than this classroom textbook on the history of technology in education, and its, "oh yeah, last minute," ideas for using technology in specific classrooms. Unfortunately, I paid for this, and will have to use it, but, luckily, I didn't pay full price for it.
If you want a history of technology in education, (and in in general), this is the book for you. If not, keep looking.