How Can Technology Support Student Understanding and Building of Knowledge?

Technology can be used to support student understanding and the building of knowledge. In fact it provides students with a tool for inquiry, communication, and construction. Student can use the internet to gather additional information and gain exposure to real-life contexts, all things that text books can not provide. Communication is increased through the use of e-mail, newsgroups, chat, video-conferencing, blogs, and social networking sites allowing interaction with others from far away places. Technology allows various tools for construction. Programs such as PowerPoint, Photo Story, etc. allow students to display their understanding of topics through higher-order thinking skills. I honestly could not imagine teaching without it!