Engaging students has to be teachers first priority. If students aren't engaged it won't matter how creative and thought out their lesson plan was because the students won't retain any of the information. Hope King (2015), is a teacher and blogger and an expert in creating fun and engaging lessons for students. Her lessons are so engaging that I wish I could have been apart of them. A lesson that she talks about in her blog was called "Spy Headquarters". Technology was used in multiple ways throughout this lesson to engage the students in what they were going to be doing. Mrs. King turned her whole room into a spy headquarters as a way to engage her students in a summative lesson on analyzing non-fiction literature. My favorite piece of technology used was when the students walked in the door of the classroom. Before they could enter they had to be "cleared" by security. Mrs. King used an app on her iPhone that was called Finger Reader. There are also countless other apps that could be used that serve the same purpose. When each student walked up they put their finger on the iPhone and their fingerprint was scanned. They were then allowed to enter. I thought that this was such a fun and creative way to use technology to engage students before they even stepped foot through the door. During the lesson Mrs.King used the smart board in her classroom to play background music for the students to listen to while they worked. This music helped set the tone for what they were doing and helped to take the whole lesson to the next level. From this example of using technology to engage students you can see that you don't have to incorporate a million pieces of technology in the lesson to make it effective. Using different forms of technology in moderation and in ways that best support the lesson is what should be happening in classrooms everywhere. 
One of the best things about the 21st century is that technology has grown in tremendous ways. In classrooms using an overhead projector was the extent of how teachers used technology to enhance lessons. Ashley Wainwright (2015), discusses different ways technology can be used in the classroom that helps enhance the learning experience for students. If you are in an older grade where students know what Twitter is you can use this social media tool as a way for students to work together. They can create academic twitter accounts that the teacher can monitor and use them to respond to class discussions, post questions or to help each other out. Not all social media is bad and if you use it in the right way it can help enhance lessons. An idea that I really liked was using video conferencing in the classroom. Video conferencing allows students opportunities to have virtual guest lecturers from far away places and a way to interact and learn from students from other states or countries. Podcasts is another technology tool that Ashley Wainwright suggested using in the classroom. She suggested using podcasts as a way to make sure that students have material they can review from lessons that were particularly challenging. It can also be used as a way for students to get a quick idea of what they missed during the day if they were absent. I think that if a teacher is going to be absent using a podcast to review information students need to know and having the substitute show the students is a great way to use technology to help enhance students learning. 
Teacher Kathy Cassidy (2015), showcases how teachers can use technology to extend learning beyond the classroom and school walls. Mrs. Cassidy created a classroom blog that is different than most blogs you see teachers post. This blog has a side bar that lists the blogs of every student in her class. They created a class blog together and then each student created their own individual blog that that is linked to the class blog. Having students create their own blog page outside of the class blog is a way to help extend learning for students. Each student has access to their own blog page that they can update inside or outside of school. On the students blogs they have videos posted of their learning. These videos do take place in school but the idea of using videos to showcase learning can be used when students aren't in the classroom. They can then use their blog as a way to show other students in the class what they have learned outside of school. When looking at this class blog I also thought that students can still use their own individual blogs in following years if their teachers don't have them create new ones. They can still update it to show what they're learning in their new grade and students from their class the year before can read all about their old classmates new learning adventures. The teacher can also use the blog as a way to communicate with students during school breaks. She can check in with them on the blog and update them on what she has been learning while away from school so they can still feel connected to school even on long vacations.
As you can see there are so many great examples about how to properly use technology in the classroom as a way to engage, enhance and extend learning. With the times constantly changing and technology advancing each year there are more ways teachers can use this technology to bring learning to the next level. Whether you use apps to engage students before a lesson, use Twitter as a way for students to have class discussions or use blogs to take learning out of the classroom technology plays a vital role. If you use technology in the right way you can help students see just how fun learning can be.
References
Cassidy, K. (2015). Brady's learning. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
King, H. (2015, June 25). Elementary shenanigans. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
[Untitled image of a quote]. Retrieved from http://mscassidysclass.edublogs.org.
[Untitled image of twitter bird]. Retrieved from http://www.securedgenetworks.com/blog/7-Fun-Ways-to-Use-Technology-in-the-classroom-to-enrich-learning.
[Untitled photograph of teacher being a spy]. Retrieved from http://www.elementaryshenanigans.com/2015/06/spy-headquarters-creating-engaging.html.
Wainwright, A. (2015). 7 Fun ways to use technology in the classroom to enrich learning. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
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