WHY AM I WRITING THIS BLOG?

This blog is intended to be a place for me to summarize and clarify my thoughts and ideas related to the use of technology in the classroom. From my observations, it seems that this is a polarizing topic. Some teachers are "true believers" who feel that technology is destined to revolutionize education. They embrace it with gusto.  At the other end of the spectrum are the "naysayers" who feel that the ills present in our current education system have no relation to the use (or non-use) of technology. There are obviously many shades of grey between these admittedly simplified extremes. I think of myself as embracing ideas contained in both modes of thought. I admit to having a bit of the "naysayer" in me. Actually, I think of it more as being reticent to change any classroom method I have found to be useful over my teaching career. The students in my classroom have only one year with me and, if I try something that doesn't work, they will bear the cost. That being said, I also believe that technology has the possibility of improving or even eventually revolutionizing education. Be it ultimately a revolution, an evolution, or much ado about nothing, my objective in this area is to take seriously the idea that technology might be able to change my classroom methods for the better, while simultaneously maintaining a posture of healthy skepticism. As new technologies emerge, I plan to study them seriously and employ any that will likely offer my students a better learning experience. For example, I am considering flipping one of my Regents Physics sections next year (2015-2016 school year). I have been thinking about and researching this idea for a few years now, and it seems that the time may be right for a small scale implementation. This will probably be a topic for multiple future blog posts. Anyway, as I said at the beginning of this post, I hope this blog will help me (force me?) to elucidate my thoughts. I welcome any comments as this journey unfolds!