Thoughts From Egbert

As I was reading our class textbook Supporting Learning with Technology by Joy Egbert, there were several portions of the reading that really stuck out in my mind. When Egbert began discussing the physical contexts necessary for supporting technology-based learning, I was picturing my own classroom. According to Egbert, the location of the technology within a classroom can greatly determine how often that technology will be accessed and used. Over the summer I moved classrooms from one end of the hall to the other. All of the classrooms in our school are equipped with Smartboards and projectors and when they were installed, the individual teachers got to decide where they would be placed. In my old room, I choose a large wall that could easily become the focal point of my daily instruction. In my new room, however, the Smartboard is placed on a small wall that is difficult for all students to see when they are sitting in their desks. The result is that use of the Smartboard requires movement for both me and the students. I am already noticing that I am not using it as frequently as I did in my old classroom!