Reflection #2: Technology in Church

What?
About three months ago, I brought my laptop to Sunday School class to show the students a video clip titled, "The Father's Love Letter".  The kids were very curious why I had a computer at church.  "Are we going to watch a movie?!" they asked in awe.  It seemed a very strange and amazing phenomenon that there was technology that we were actually going to use in Sunday School.  I realized that this was the very first time that these kids were about to be taught a lesson in church with the supplement of technology.  No other teachers before me had, and no other teachers in other classes were either.  Simply having technology grabbed their attention and they were eager to find out what the lesson would be about that day.

About two months ago, I brought the laptop to listen to a chapter out of the Bible on CD.  There was hushed silence as the story was told through the speaker.  Quietness means something when you have a group of twelve year-olds.  The integration of technology was working. 

A few weeks ago, we listened to a song via an MP3 recording and then when we practiced the song ourselves, I recorded the students on my phone.  We listened to ourselves to hear what still needed improvement. 

So What?
Yesterday, I brought a poster collage of photographs from their recent Valentine's Day Outreach.  As they looked at the photos and signed their comments on the poster, I realized how important it is to be creative as a teacher and use whatever tools are available.  Bringing technology into the classroom and using it for practical and engaging reasons, draws a sense of respect out of students. 

Now What?
Realizing how CDs, MP3s, recorders, and cameras have impacted the class environment, I plan to continually use such resources to enrich the students' experiences in class.  However, I hope that this sense of respect will not fade away as the integration of technology becomes more routine.  I think that spicing it up regularly by mixing the different resources every week will help, yet part of me worries and wonders how long that technology that works for the classroom today will work in the future.