Using Technology Effectively in the Classroom

This article was really interesting to read.  In schools right now there is such a big push to get laptops, ipads and other electronic devices.  Schools that don't have these are considered to be behind.  However these schools without technology may not be any more behind than some schools who have all sorts of technology.  It all depends on the teachers.  In schools that have laptops for most of their students there has been many studies done on the effectiveness.   Most schools with laptops saw there scores on tests increase.  But some schools didn't seem to make any gains.  It would of never occurred to me that the reason behind this was the teachers.  It makes sense now that I think about it.  If you have a teacher who does not know how to use laptops or just plain doesn't want to use laptops the students won't be able to either.  If a teacher doesn't incorporate the use of laptops in their lessons, students aren't really going to have a chance to use laptops to help further learning.  So the big thing is we need to train teachers on how to use laptops(technology) and show them the benefits of it.  Many schools districts don't want to take time to teach teachers how to use this technology, but if they would, students would be the ones benefiting in the long run.  I think back to my high school and how some teachers were anti technology.  The problem was that most of them just didn't know how to use this technology.  So they automatically had a negative attitude towards it.  So for school districts that are just getting into the technology phase they need to makes sure they have plans in place to teach the teachers about this new technology.  Technology can equal better tests outcomes for students!