Welcome!

Hello Everyone. My name is Cyndi Moreno. This is my last semester at CSUN and I hope to receive a B.A. in English and my Preliminary Secondary Teaching Credential before summer of 2010. I invite everyone to read my blog postings for this course. They will provide insight into my mind and the way I process the academic task at hand. This blog will be my pride and joy for this class and I look forward to what lies ahead this Spring Semester with Professor Wexler.

Media Technologies in the Classroom

I have put a lot of thought into the role of media technology in teaching and I believe that as the time passes it is crucial that all teachers embrace it. Technology is a progressive tool that when used correctly can have a major positive impact on the effectiveness of a lesson. I do acknowledge that in some cases some teachers may use media technology inefficiently, but I believe that if every teacher receives training the their effectiveness will improve. The resources are there for all teachers, they just need to be willing to try something different.

Being in the classroom last semester allowed me to explore the different technologies that were available to me. In one instance, I was able to use the internet to allow my students to hear a slave narrative being read by its' author on the PBS website. This went along with the novel we were reading in class that was written using slave dialect. My students had no idea how a person from that time talked or sounded. In turn, it was difficult for them to read and visualize the novel we were reading. After the students heard the slave narrative they had a greater connection to the novel, the novel was more meaningful to them after that. This is just one instance of what media technologies can offer in a classroom. Teachers should embrace their technology rather than dismiss it or simply focus on one media technology. There are countless other technologies that teachers can use, they just have to search for what works best for them.