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