Educational Philosophy and Technology in
the Classroom
Teaching high school is a privilege with huge rewards. However, teaching curriculum alone  is not enough.  Education for today's world must include technology as a tool for solving complicated problems and completing quality projects.  Students need technology skills in school but they also need technology skills that will help them compete in job market as they enter the world of work after school, whether they choose to go to college or not. Students will add technology skills to their prior knowledge and the connection between them makes for a quality education.
My personal educational philosophy is  "constructivisim." I believe students  build on prior knowledge as they progress through school. Connections between this knowledge and the world are possible when students draw on and build on prior knowledge. Students develop a deeper  sense of self and satisfaction when they can tap their knowledge about life and their personal and cultural experiences and connect it to the content in the classroom.
Technology : a valuable tool students can use to solve complicated problems and produce quality projects. Technology in education makes quality education accessible to all, including ELD students.  Access to and training in the use of technology allows students to make connections between school and the world outside. Students can and will perform far above expectations  when they have the proper tools to do so.
1. Investigation: My personal educational philosophy is constructivism because I believe we all add 
    knew knowledge to what we already know. I believe this is how we grow and mature as individuals.
    In education, curriculum for each grade is based on knowledge students gained at the previously
    grade. Thus, as students, they are adding to what they already know.  This is also inclusive of ELD
    students who come to American schools with little English language ability. They bring what they
    know about life and what they learned in their own country's schools to the new school and begin to
    build on that previuos knowledge which also helps them develop language skills in English.
    Technology, as I stated above, is an integral part of the world and should be an integral part of every
    classroom. The technology sites I visited proved that technology belongs in the classrooms if we
    want students to be prepared for the world.

The following websites provided help in clarifying my educational philosophy:

http://www.becal.net/lc/policies/management_styles.htm
http://edweb.sdsu.edu/LShaw/f95syll/philos/phintro.html
http://radicalacademy.com/philapplied2.htm
http://www.msubillings.edu/shobbs/educational_Philosophy.htm
http://www.fact-index.com/p/ph/philosophy_of_education.html


2. Engagement: I drew on information from the websites listed above and and used that information 
    to develop my own philosophy. Gathering information for this helped clarify what I believe as well
    as helping me improve my own technology skills. One of the biggest obstacles in the research for
    this page was finding links to sites that contained useful information and that worked.


3.  Reflection: Looking at my goals for teaching this year and examining my educational philosophy, I
     know I want students to use technology to build on the skills they already have. Since technology is
     not limited to computers, I would also like to add a video element to my curriculum so students can
     learn how to use a video camera and a  computer in combination to develop presentations and
     lessons for the class.  Students need practice using the keyboard but get bored if all they do is type
     papers. Creativity is the key to helping students gain authentic learning while mastering the content.
     Many students are turned off to learning because textbooks are boring. Computers, video cameras,
     and power point presentations as well as hyper studio present interesting possibilities for students at
     every level of development. Furthermore, developing these types of lessons and allowing students to
     take charge of their learning while building on what they already know, satisfies my philosophy of
     constructivism in the classroom. 

Please click on the link to access page two. edphiltech page 2  edphil.html
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