Recently the question of why educators should use technology in the classroom has been posed. Well why ever wouldn't you? There are plenty or reasons why one should use technology in the classroom. Any time we are looking for information in our daily lives we go to technology for the answers. Want to know who painted that picture? Google it. Want to know how to work with gold foil? Look it up on Youtube. We use technology everyday, probably even every hour of the day. Why wouldn't this spill over to the classroom? Just last month a student asked me how a boat could rip in half, and by golly I didn't know, but my phone did. Technology isn't the future, it's right now.
Technology can make your job as an educator easier. It may seem daunting at first, or like just one more thing to keep on top of, but it doesn't have to be. Technology enables us to draw from the resources of other teachers who have gone before us. One art teacher in Connecticut has gathered a huge list of resources with helpful ideas and tutorials for using technology in art classes. Her other Pinterest boards are similarly filled with ideas for the art room from classroom management and organization to portraiture and art criticism. It only makes sense to pull from the best of what technology has to offer and use it for the student's advantage.
However just because technology excites kids, does not necessarily mean that they will be learning and growing more. There is a fine line to be walked, but the beauty of technology is that we don't have to walk it alone.