Background information:
I observed my first lesson in my first grade classroom at Canterbury with the idea of distributive cognition in mind.
I am at Canterbury from around 8:30-11:30 each day.
From 8:30-11:30 the routine is (usually) completed as follows:
1. Bellwork
2. Morning announcements
3. Morning message
4. Journal entry
5. SuperKids lesson
6. Centers/rotations
Throughout this exploration of Distributive Cognition, the routine above is what I observe every time. Unfortunately, my schedule only allows me to attend the school during this time frame so the lesson’s that I am able to view are limited.
Because of this, I have decided to use the full observation to get a more complete view on the use of technology within the classroom.
This entry will deal with the idea of effects with and effects of technology throughout part of this morning routine.

Entry #1: Effects of and Effects with technology
Technology is used throughout the entire morning in this first grade classroom,
Beginning with morning announcements. At Canterbury a select few older students are video recorded giving the morning announcements. These announcements are then emailed or shared with every teacher in the building and are played on the SmartBoard for their class to watch. For example; everyday the speakers in the video discuss important events, birthdays as well as simple things such as the date and lunch menu. The video always ends with the Canterbury Way saying, in which the students say out loud with the video. There are many effects of this technology and many effects with this technology.
To begin; effects of technology deals with the positive and negative impacts from using specific technology (Salomon, 77) The effects of using this method of announcements, I believe have positive effects. Some of these positive effects are being able to see and hear the announcements every morning. I remember when I was in school students or teachers would announce over the intercom. As a student, we would have to sit quietly in our desk and simply listen. Now, these children are able to retain information in two different ways – through visuals and auditory. This can help them remember important aspects of the day, whether it be events coming up or the lunch that is available. Another positive effect would be in reference to scheduling. When I was younger, we had to drop everything we were doing and everything the teacher was saying/explaining in order to listen. Now, educators don’t have to stop teaching in the middle of a lesson, etc. They can play the video whenever they feel is the best time; when the students are settled in and paying attention, etc.
Another use of technology in this classroom is through their journal writing. When it is time to complete a journal prompt my cooperating teacher will put the prompt up on the board. An example of what would be shown on the board is:
Would you rather eat pizza or tacos?
I would rather eat ______ because …
In this example we will look through the lens of the effects with technology. This deals with the idea of “how does technology help with our learning?” Or another way to view this is “is the technology doing the work for us? or is it a tool to facilitate learning?”
The effects with this technology may hinder their phonemic awareness skills. Though it is helpful the students can continue to go back to the prompt and re-read, the students sometimes will simply copy word for word the text on the board with no attempt to spell these words on their own. This doesn’t help their decoding or letter-sound recognition skills. If the students expand on this prompt they begin to use these skills, but most of the time they will simply write “I would eat tacos because they are good.”
We must also remember that technology does not just mean things like computers, SmartBoards, tablets, etc. As Salomon said “text itself, besides providing a channel of communication, also has long functioned as a vehicle of thought” (75). So the words put up on the board are also a technological tool to help children with their learning.