I have reached the end of my current course: Understanding the Impact of Technology of Education, Work, and Society. Now it is time for me to reflect on what I’ve earned throughout this course & explain the impact it will have on my students.
Part 1: In what ways has this course helped you to develop your own technology skills as a professional teacher?
Throughout this course I have learned how to use several new types of technology to benefit my student’s education. One new technology I learned how to use and create is a classroom blog. Richardson (2010) explains from a teacher’s standpoint blogs are a “place to publish the course curriculum, syllabus, class rules, homework assignments, rubrics, handouts, and presentations” (p.21). I am planning on starting a classroom blog at the end of our first semester. My blog will be student run and student managed. This will give students a sense of ownership and motivation to do their best because everyone else on our team will see their work. Blogs are also a great way to reduce the amount of copies students receive each year. Assignments can be posted on the blog rather than being printed out and copied for students. Blogs are a great place to share student work which allows the other students and parents to see what is happening in our class on a day to day basis. In the end a classroom blog will increase communication while allowing students to practice using their 21st century skills.
Another technology I was introduced to was a wiki. Richardson (2010) explains wikis as, “a Web site where anyone can edit anything anytime they want” (p. 55). The only wiki I was familiar with before this course was Wikipedia. Students already knew that anyone can write and edit what anyone writes on Wikipedia. They know that if they take information from Wikipedia that they need to make sure it is accurate. I have to admit that I was a little scared to participate in creating a wiki. To my surprise it was very easy. Once you figured out how to link the different pages back to the home page it was very easy to add your information and edit other’s postings. A wiki would be beneficial for students to use when they are working in a larger group to complete a project. Students could easier communicate back and forth through the wiki while they were at home and could come to school the next day ready to continue with their final product. It is also very easy for a teacher to see which group members have been posting and which ones haven’t. This will require every member of the group to pull their own weight. I now feel confident introducing and assisting my students in creating wiki’s.
The last new technology I was presented with was podcasting. Richardson (2010) explains, “what you need to create a basic podcast: a digital audio recorder that can create an MP3 file, some space on a server to host the file, a blog, and something to say” (p.113). I was nervous about creating my podcast for this class but luckily it was very easy to do. Once you find the equipment you need and figure out what you want to say, you’re good to go. I wrote a script for my podcast so I knew actually what I was going to say. Students will get to practice their writing and editing skills while writing a script for their podcast without even knowing it. Podcasting would take a little more class time to complete but once the students get use to the process they can easily do them at home as homework.
Part 2: In what ways have you deepened your knowledge of the teaching and learning process?
I do believe the majority of today’s students are digital natives. Prensky (2001) explains that today’s students “represent the first generation to grow up with this new technology. They have spent their entire lives surrounded by and using computers, videogames, digital music players, video cameras, cell phones, and all the other digital toys and tools of the digital age” (p.2). Since today’s students have grown up in such a different time than many of their teachers it is our job to learn the newest and latest approaches to teaching digital native students. Dede (2010) describes millennial learning styles as, “learning styles that are based on how media shapes how the student learns”. Student’s millennial learning styles will vary depending on the student’s ability and time spent using different forms of media. Digital natives exhibit these learning styles without even thinking about it. These students are able to multitask while completing their homework. They have the ability to be chatting online to friends, listening to their iPods’ all while writing an English paper.
Levy and Murnane (2006) explain that students need to master two skills to be successful in the future’s workplace: expert thinking and complex communication. Expert thinking involves the ability to solve new problems when there is no rule or pattern to follow. These are the types of problems computers cannot solve because the answer to the problem has to be developed and the computer cannot do that on its own yet. Students future jobs will depend on technology and the more students use and understand technology the better they will be prepared for the workforce. The second skill students have to master is complex communication, which is the ability to interpret information in a way that others can understand it. Students can easily find the answers to their homework assignments online but they do not truly understand the information. Then it is the teacher’s job to present that same information in a way the students can understand and apply it to different situations. These two skills can be easily taught and integrated into any subject matter. It is important to challenge and engage students in their learning experiences, rather than just always present the information right to them.
Part 3: In what ways have you changed your perspective from being teacher-centered to learner-centered?
Now that I understand that today’s students are digital natives I understand that they learn differently. Students now longer respond to being lectured at all day. It is important to challenge and engage students in their learning experiences, rather than just always present the information right to them This class has also reaffirmed the need for class assignments and projects to be authentic and meaningful to your student’s lives. Cramer (2007) explains when “students engage in this type of authentic instruction and assessment, they must learn how to locate, organize, evaluate, and think critically about information” (p. 128).It is very easy to turn a new unit into a student lead project. Give students the main learning goals for that unit and have them go onto the web and find the information, create a PowerPoint presentation of the information, and then present it to the rest of the class. This way students are learning from one and another, while the teacher is facilitating it all. Murnane (2006) explains, “that schools need to teach the subjects currently in the curriculum in a way that enables all students to develop the type of understanding and communication skills needed for the future” (p.59).
Part 4: In what ways can you continue to expand your knowledge of learning, teaching, and leading with technology with the aim of increasing student achievement?
One way I plan on staying up to date and expanding my knowledge of learning and teaching is to continue with the last six classes to earn my Master’s degree. I believe teachers always need to stay current on the latest teaching methods and theories in order for their students to be successful. That is why I think it is a great idea that teachers have to renew their certificate every few years depending on their state. This way teachers are introduced to new ideas and theories they may not have even been exposed too otherwise. Another way I can improve my technology skills and ability to use technology is to become buddies with our schools technology coordinator. This way I am privileged to knowing about all the new technology my schools adapts or is going to adapt in the near future. I need to sign up for any trainings my school offers relating to technology. This way I will learn how to operate all the different types of technology and hear ideas on how to implement them in my classroom. I will continue to listen to my students and their stories of how technology has helped them achieve their learning goals. Students have experience and practice using all types of technology and they have the ability to each other new skills. Students can learn a great deal from each other and any opportunity I can provide them to teach a concept or idea to the rest of the class I allowing them to teach each other.
Part 5: My Long Term Goals:
1. I would like to transform all the major 7th grade science units that I teach into student-centered projects over the next two years. I will closely collaborate with the other two seventh grade science to develop a central learning question in which the whole unit can focus around. Students will be given the central question at the beginning of the unit and will use the remainder of the unit to discover and answer that question. Students will spend time researching and discovering the knowledge needed to master that unit concept. My job as the teacher will be a facilitator rather than the disturber of the knowledge. I will try and plan as many lessons involving technology that I can. Some potential problems that I may encounter while trying to accomplish this goal is lack of technology and lack of time to properly plan student-centered lessons and units. I will try to book the computer lab, check out the laptop cart, and use all the other technology devices I have available at my school when they are not being used by other teachers. To overcome the lack of planning the seventh grade science teachers will take advantage of all the professional development days and our planning period during the week to accomplish this goal.
2. Another goal I plan on accomplishing within two years is learning how to write grants and applying for them in order to purchase technology devices for my classroom. I will talk with other teachers in my building and use their experience of grant writing in my favor to help me write the grants I want to apply for. I will spend time researching and looking for grants to apply for. Then when I do get a grant I will talk with my students and discuss what technology they would like to have in our classroom to assist with their learning. Hopefully by applying for grants I can develop relationships with technology companies and gain access to more technology devices or resources for my classroom.
Part 6: Revisiting the checklist from my first week of class
The majority of my answers to the checklist have stayed the same. I feel very confident in my ability to support my student’s use of their 21st century skills. I incorporate technology in some aspect everyday in my classroom and I learned several new types of technology to use in classroom through my time in this class. My answers have changed in the developing technology skills for the school and workplace environments area. This class has reaffirmed the necessity of using technology in my classroom and I have learned several new ways to incorporate it into my teaching. Through our class discussions I have heard many firsthand accounts on what works with students and what does not when it comes to incorporating technology into your teaching. I have learned several new ways to incorporate technology into our everyday activities from other teaching sharing ideas on what they do in their classrooms. I feel more confident with my knowledge on 21st century skills and how those skills need to be mastered in order for students to have successful futures. I have shared many of the ideas and modeled what I have learned with the other members of my team in order to benefit my students. I will continue to promote technology throughout my class and stay up to date with the last classroom technologies.
REFERENCES:
Cramer, S. (2007). Update your classroom with learning objects and twenty-first century skills. Clearing House, 80(3), 126–132.
Dede, C. (2010). “ In The Changing Work Environment Part II” [Video file] Laureate Education, Inc.
Dede, C. (2010). “Millennial Learning Styles.” [Video file]. Laureate Education. Unkown.
Levy, F., & Murnane, R. (2006). Why the changing American economy calls for twenty-first century learning: Answers to educators' questions. New Directions for Youth Development, 2006(110), 53–62.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5).
