How Technology has affected my Schooling

Technology has always been a big fancy of mine all throughout my years in school, but it never was really implemented. In elementary school I think the only computers in the schools were the teachers and a few in the library. Then again that’s what you get when you live out in a country area. In classes the highest amount of technology that would be used would be the old fashioned light overhead projectors. They would use a light, mirrors, and a clear plastic sheet to project any ink pictures drawn onto it. The only time I was able to use computers was at my own home on fast and fancy dial-up connections.

When I hit middle school we were immersed into a world of hormones and online gaming. “Runescape” was a MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) that every middle school boy had to get into. Every day at lunch time the computers in the library were filled with students signing into their accounts to kill goblins and earn treasure.  We did have moments outside of our medieval world where computers were actually used for education, but this was mainly for tests. This then gave us a poor view on computers and started that split between fun on computers and boring things on computers.

High school was the time that technology truly exploded. Classes were filled with many more computers, projectors, and desk cameras then we had ever seen. Teachers had started using the library’s computers for research projects and writing papers, but there were no major advancements in teaching methods. It wasn't really until college that I would truly use a computer for its full potential in education to keep me connected to my classes and projects.

As you can see technology wasn't utilized for many reasons: money, teacher knowledge, and not enough advancement in the right about of time.  I still wonder today how it could have been best used in the classroom, but I guess that is up to me to figure out how I can use it best when I get to that same position.