Relection on Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society

I can't believe eight weeks are already over. Looking back, it seems like this class was just beginning and I was asking myself how I was ever going to get through it. The thought of creating my own blog and podcast, among other things, seemed so daunting. I had never done any of these things before and I thought they would be a lot harder than they actually were.

This course has helped me develop so many new skills that I am excited to bring into the classroom. I love the idea of using blogs as discussion formats and plan to use both them and wikis in my class as soon as I can. Although I still have more to learn about them, I now feel comfortable enough to implement them in the classroom and continue learning as I go along.

Along with learning about new types of technology, I have gained a deeper understanding of the learning process as well. One of the first things we discussed in the course was the difference between using technology to do things differently and using it to do different things (Laureate, 2008a). When I first heard this, I was completely clear on what it meant. However, I quickly came to understand the difference. Many teachers use technology to do things differently, like using a SmartBoard to give notes instead of the blackboard or giving a PowerPoint presentation instead of a regular lecture. They are doing the same things they have always done, just in a different format. Technology becomes truly powerful and meaningful when we begin to use it to do different things, things we had never done in the past, like setting up a blog to have discussions with people from other parts of the country/world or having the students create their own podcast about the topic we are discussing. Activities like these encourage the students to be actively involved in their learning, which leads to a deeper level of understanding (Richardson, 2009).

This class has also helped me to become more learner-centered. I have come to realize the importance of teaching things that are relevant to my students lives outside of school (Cramer, 2007). Students will not be interested in learning about topics they think have no relevance to their lives, so as educators, it is our responsibility to demonstrate how what they are learning can be applied to things outside of the classroom. As educators, we must meet the unique needs of our students as 21st century learners (Nussbaum-Beach, 2008) and one of these needs is to be actively involved with their own learning. Teachers need to move away from the belief that teaching equals direct instruction and come to terms with the reality that their role is becoming that of a facilitator (Laureate, 2008b). Prensky said, "We can no longer decide FOR our students; we must decide WITH them."(2005). I love this quote because it is so true and it reminds me that students not only want to be involved with the decisions about their education, but they expect and often times demand it.

I plan to continue expanding my knowledge of learning, teaching and leading with technology by continuing to experiment with new types of technology and ways to integrate them into the classroom. I will take advantage of any workshops my school district may offer in these areas and I will initiate discussions with my colleagues about how they are using technology in their lessons.

One long term goal I have is to integrate technology into as many of my lessons as I can. I plan to start slowly so it does not become overwhelming, but I would like to have some aspect of technology in nearly all of my lessons within the next few years. I think the biggest challenge in this will be using the technology to do different things, rather than just doing things differently with it.

Another long term goal I have is to integrate a classroom blog for my students use. I would like for them to be able to discuss classroom topics as well as current events with students from other areas and gain an understanding of how what they are learning is both similar and dissimilar to what other students are learning. This may be difficult because I do not know what my district's policies are on blogs. I don't know of any other teachers that have used them, so this may be something new for the administration.

Overall, this class has been a wonderful experience and it has been one of the most useful education classes I have taken. We not only learned theories, but we learned actual ways to apply them in our classrooms. I gained a lot from my peers and seeing the ideas and lessons they developed as well as the many insights they had.


References:

Cramer, S. (2007). Update your classroom with learning objects and twenty-first century skill. Clearing House, 80(3), 126-132

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008a). The Emergence of educational technology [Motion Picture] Baltimore: Author

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008b). The Changing role of the classroom teacher: Part 1 [Motion Picture] Baltimore: Author

Nussbaum-Beach, S. (2008). No limits. Technology & learning, 28(7), 14-18. Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/articles/8466

Prensky, M. (2005, December). Listen to the natives. Educational Leadership, 63(4), 8-13

Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wikis, podcasts and other powerful tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press

Podcast

I created a podcast for the first time this week for my class at Walden University. I interviewed several students to find out what their thoughts were on technology at school and at home. Listen to it and let me know what you think.

http://www.podcastmachine.com/podcasts/1483/episodes/6907

21st Century Skills

Over the past few days I have spent some time looking at the Partnership for 21st Century Skills website (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/). I found the site both informative and useful. I had no idea that an organization like this existed. On their website they state that their mission is to "Serve as a catalyst to position 21st century skills at the center of US K-12 education by building collaborative partnerships among education, business, community and government leader (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/). What surprised me the most was the states that are already participating with this site as P21 Leadership States. I would have expected large states with major metropolitan areas to be leading this initiative, but that is not the case. South Dakota, Wisconsin, and West Virginia are among participants, to name a few.

The site was easily navigable and I especially liked the "Articles of Interest" section. I could easily see new and relevant articles as well as discussions and videos. I also liked the section on 21st century student outcomes and support systems (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=254&Itemid=120). I agree with the framework they illustrated and I found the graphic easy to understand. I liked how the user can click on each separate area to get finer details about what each category should encompass. I did not encounter anything on the site that I disagreed with.

I think this site implies what many of us already know, technology must be implemented in all classrooms, in various and creative ways. Students require these skills to successfully enter the workforce and it is our responsibility as educators to ensure that our students acquire these skills before leaving high school. As a contemporary educator I will be expected to bring these skills to my students. Depending on the district I ultimately end up working in, I may or may not have the support and funding I need to do this. Either way, it will still be my responsibility to bring as much new technology to my students as possible, sometimes using creative means to make sure my students get what they need.

Reference:

http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/

Classroom blogs

Although I do not have a class of my own yet, I am certified to teach high school biology. With this in mind, I have been thinking about ways I could incorporate a blog into my (hypothetical) classroom.

One idea I thought might be interesting for the students would be during the ecology unit. Part of the the unit focuses on invasive species. In New York state these include the Gypsy moth and a Purple Loosestrife, among many others. I would like to have my ninth grade biology class set up a blog describing different invasive species, where they are found, what they look like, where they came from, etc... They could even include pictures. They could then post their ideas about how to control some of the pests. Ideally they would get comments both on their ideas and from people in other areas sharing their local invasive species. In this way the students would see that invasive species are a global problem, most often created by us. It would be interesting for them to see if some of our native plants and animals are considered pests in other parts of the world (rabbits in Australia?) and it would also give them a broader sense of the impact we are having on our environment.

I think this blog activity would benefit the students because it gives them the opportunity to use technology to do something different (Laureate,2008) not just something they normally do but in a different format. The opportunity to communicate with students around the world is invaluable and something I believe most students will get excited about. 97% of students feel that the use of technology is important in education (Richardson, 2006) and blogs are a great way to use this technology to benefit the students and to do something different than what they are used to.

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer).(2008). Program Two. Evolution of technology and pedagogy.[Motion Picture]. Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore: Author

Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Getting There...

Well, over the last few days I have been exploring more blogs and viewing some of my peers' blogs. As a graduate student at Walden University, my class is creating their own blogs so it's been fun and informative seeing what everyone has created. I am getting more comfortable with the whole blogging experience, I just signed my blog up for an RSS feed and I'm pretty sure I did it correctly, so that was a big step for me!

First time with a blog

Earlier this week I had my first experience with blogging! I was a little intimidated but decided to give it a try. As a new teacher I am exploring different things I can use in my classroom even though I am just substituting right now. I thought it would be good to get ideas so when I do have my own classroom I will be ready to go. I have heard of blogging becoming more popular in classrooms and I think it is a great activity for students. I am hoping to be comfortable enough with them by the time I get my own classroom to use them.