Just finishing my masters course, Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society. I now understand the importance of 21st century technology more than ever.
Successful completion of this course has given me the confidence to integrate new technologies that I had no knowledge of. Yes, facebook is considered blogging but creating my own blog scared me to death. Not only have I created a personal blog, I participated in creating a group Wiki and I orchestrated a podcast survey. These are important skills to incorporate into my curriculum. Not only in my professional career but also in my personal life I find myself everyday questioning how technology has changed my life and what my child or student may expect in the future.
My knowledge of the teaching and learning process has been deepened my by understanding that educators today must be facilitators of learning. The information can be in a textbook or on a screen, however as educators we need to instill skills that demonstrate how to find information. Students are considered digital immigrants or digital natives. I teach middle school, which is basically composed of digital natives, teaching tools, must include the 21st century skills. Lessons must be designed to enhance innovation and problem solving skills. Hall Davidson said it best when he said, “Start where the student are, take them where they haven’t been before.”
I have changed my perspective from being teacher-centered to learner-centered by integrating 21st century technology with current lesson plans. Assignments are more students self-directed. I’m in the background to observe and offer suggestions when needed. I feel it is my responsibility to teach them a few new skills along with enhancing their critical thinking skills.
There are several ways to continue to expand my knowledge of learning, teaching and leading with technology. The first being is to continue to expose myself to technology by attending seminars, continuing my education and through practice. Observation is a very powerful way to expand my knowledge also. The website, Partnership for 21st Century Skills offered a wealth of information. Through my classroom discussions I have gained many great suggestions so networking would be an additional way to expand my knowledge base.
By the end of two years, I hoped top have successfully meet my two goals for transforming my classroom environment. First, I would like to add blogging to my 7th grade curriculum and pod casting to the 8th grade curriculum. I’ve already created a checklist of items they need to be addressed with administration and parents. The topics for a wiki or blogging would be subjects such as Internet safety and cyber bullying. My class is dedicated to technology and not a core subject. Though I already have ideas on how to incorporate core lessons with technology. The second goal would be to create staff blogg where we can share technology ideas and other ways to enhance the learning process of our students.
This course has created a “thirst” in me. After the first week, I felt that I was in over my head but as the assignments went on, I couldn’t get enough. There was a point when I was having technical issues with a blog. Through a blogging help site, I was able to resolve the issue. This is the self-sufficiency I want to teach my students. I want to be an expert now. Did I mention, I struggled the most with this class, however, this was my favorite class so far.
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