Teaching with Technology

I am constantly amazed by the many teaching tools that are now available via technology.  There are educational DVDs, computer games, computer instruction programs, and iPad apps. Plus, the countless activities and videos available via the internet.  There are even entire curriculums available completely on the computer!

I hate to admit it, but I have a love-hate relationship with technology as it applies to teaching and homeschooling.  Almost daily, I struggle with the role that technology should play in my girls' education.  I read about the positives and the negatives of using technology to teach. 

The world is becoming more and more technology-driven and in order to succeed as adults, today's children will need to be proficient in its use.

Technology-based instruction can be used to meet the needs of different types of learners.

Children can be active and independent learners via the use of technology.

Technology can allow children to explore information that is unavailable to them otherwise.  

But...

Some research has suggested that "screen time" in the first few years of life actually changes the way that a child's brain is formed.

Technology-based learning does not involve interaction with people, which is an essential skill for success in the workplace.

Technology-based learning is not hands-on in the same manner as traditional learning (especially for Science).

As my child's teacher, it is harder for me to gauge her learning when she is using technology than when she is sitting at the table, working 1:1 with me.

For now, I am just striving to find a good balance between technology-based instruction and traditional instruction that gives my girls the opportunity to learn the necessary skills for their future.  How do you use technology in your homeschooling instruction?

Marla is a former special education teacher, PhD student, and stay-at-home, homeschooling mom of two little girls (ages 1 and 3).  She blogs about homeschooling at Marla's Motherhood Musings and her family's experiences living in Zambia at Our Life in Lusaka.