The following are some lessons that I have learned using technology:

What Has Worked

• I have learned that technology should be used for teaching because it can easily enrich the instruction with audio/visual elements.
• It can also be used to help the instructor reduce preparation time as previous presentations can be altered for subsequent teaching.
• Technology helps with the pedagogy of teaching because PowerPoint presentations make presenting instructions for classroom activities quick and easy. They also make it easier to prepare lessons that cater to different learning styles. 
• Using technology can produce work of a higher quality.
• Technology helps me and the people with whom I work and teach by helping us to teach better and to learn better.
• Class presentations are easily shared among instructors and studied at a later time by students.
• A wise use of PowerPoints’ custom animation features combined with the use of PowerPoints’ highlighter and pen functions during a presentation can help focus learners' attention on important points.
• Inserting pictures, audio files, and links to other websites in the presentation helps to maximize the presentation's potential. Links in my presentation often take our class to other websites for illustrating examples.

What Has Not Worked

• Preparing presentations and websites can initially be time consuming.
• Sometimes planning to use chalk is more effective than preparing an elaborate PowerPoint, but the two styles can be combined.
• Improper use of technology can be boring for the students. For example, PowerPoint presentations which are poorly prepared, filled with colors that overload the eye, or that are poorly delivered will frustrate students’ learning and students will soon lose interest in the presentation.
• It takes time for instructors and students to learn to take advantage of some technologies.

Suggestions

• Sometimes you can just copy and paste previous slides and formatting and then alter them to save yourself time.
• You can teach yourself new tricks by using the help menus in the programs you are using, by talking to colleagues, or by experimenting.
• You can tell if your teaching has been effective by watching the students' reactions and listening to their responses to your questions during class. You can also ask them for feedback on your use of specific technologies in your presentation to gauge your effectiveness.
• Students often take some uses of technology for granted, but they also often appreciate the effort made to use them.

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