Technology Teaching Philosophy As a person, student, and writing instructor, three major influences shaped my development. My parents taught me to be inquisitive, to question everything. The third grade helped shape that curiosity and inquisitiveness into a heuristic. When I learned what were called “The Reporter’s Questions” at the age of eight, I found the driving force that would keep me asking and learning: Who? What? When? Where? Why? And How? Lastly, every job I worked—from teaching writing to flipping burgers—made me realize how important it is for students to use the tools they may encounter when going into the job marker or even into other courses. When a student finishes one of my writing courses, I hope to have imparted the necessity of an active and analytical mind as well as aided in the development of their relationship with technology.
Incorporating technology into the classroom helps students become more familiar with the types of tools that are available to them as students, employees, and citizens. When students better understand how to use such tools as Dreamweaver, wikis, Google docs, or even understand the importance of emailing, they become more adaptable to their future environments as well as expand their skill sets. In the writing classroom, these technologies can be utilized for research, collaboration, drafting, discussion, and peer review. Ways in which I have and/or plan to incorporate technology in my classroom to encourage analytical and reflective thoughts include keeping a weekly blog post, collaborating via wikis, analyzing websites, and giving presentations with Flash or PowerPoint.
These technologies, as one can garner from the above examples, supplement the act of composing, supplement the act of analytical thought. For instance, I encourage constant reflection not only about the course materials but also the course itself. Getting the students to ask themselves why blogs are important to know about or how they feel when they use wikis or where they run across such technology reinforces the practice of inquisitive thought. Hopefully, students leave my courses with more confidence in them selves as writers, thinkers, and active participants in their daily lives.