What’s up? I am a 7th grade student. I have 6 computers at home and am on Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, and Skype.

Hi. I am also a 7th grade student. I also use Facebook, but I have to use someone else’s account because my parents won’t let me join. I am not a fan of MySpace because it is not user friendly. I use Skype to communicate with my sister who is in college. Finally, I have a Wiki page and use Twitter.

Hello. I am an 8th grade student. I use Facebook (MySpace is lame), Twitter, and have created a Wiki page for class. However, the majority of the technology I use is on my ITouch and when I play Playstation 3.S#3 is an 8th grade male.

How is technology affecting the learning process?

This doesn’t really look like me, but you get the point.

Technology doesn’t change the way we learn because we have always had it. However, technology provides information faster (like the Internet) making learning easier.

Technology helps learning because when we are out of college and into the working world, there will be all technology. If we have a view of it when we are younger, we will be better suited for life after school.

Technology, such as the Internet, has more resources than say a textbook which makes learning more in depth. In addition, with resources such as online educational games, learning is more interactive.

Are you happy with the level of technology use at your school? Why or why not?

Yes, for the most part, but I wish we could use the computer more. It helps when we’re writing papers and peer editing other people’s papers on Microsoft Word, and even though it is not new, I still like Power Point. I also enjoy photo story when we use it.

I am not happy with our technology use. The county only allows us to get on “kid friendly” site. We should be using more advanced websites. They feel we will be going onto inappropriate sites and doing inappropriate things. They should only punish the bad students. We don’t have a firewall at home. My parents trust me, but the school board doesn’t. Teachers could teach us how to surf online.

ATTENTION The requested web page violates

 Administrative Rule IJNDB:

Use of Technology Resources in Instruction.

I am happy with the amount of technology used. I enjoy the online textbooks. Although they are not interactive, we don’t have to carry the heavy books home, and it is easy to copy and paste definitions. I also like it when teachers let us play educational games.

How would you assess your teachers’ integration of technology into the classroom?

I wish we could use the Internet more on a day-to-day basis than always using our textbooks because the Internet has unlimited information… it is world wide.

I think teachers should use the COWs (Computers on Wheels) more because walking to the labs takes time. Teachers should also use more online activities such as scavenger hunts because textbooks can’t give us all the information on a subject.

I think that many of the teachers who have Smartboards don’t allow students to actually use them. When teachers do this, Smartboards are not any better that whiteboards. I think Smartboards are a waste of money since most of my teachers don’t use them correctly.

Can you provide any recommendations to improve access to and use of technology in your classroom?

Teachers should text or email students homework assignments or upcoming tests or projects. They could put every interested students’ phone number or email address into on group or folder and send out one message to all students.

Teachers should create a Wiki where students can post interesting stuff they find about that subject. For example, in your class (language arts) we could post our papers for other students to peer edit.

Teachers should post our homework and upcoming assignments on Facebook instead of the blog (our school has a blog). Kids get on Facebook because they want to, but they get on the blog because they have to.

Thank you to all three of my students who participated in this interview. It looks like teachers still have some room to improve to satisfy these 21st century learners. However, by asking the “real stakeholders” involved, we can gain valuable insights into meeting the needs of our students.