Reflection

In the most recent course of my master’s program, I learned about the impact of technology on education, work, and society.  My knowledge and skills have greatly increased in the areas of technology and implementation of 21^st century skills in my classroom.  I have learned how to use the Read/Write Web to support learning and how to incorporate other powerful technology tools in my every day teaching practices.

            Prior to this course, I didn’t read blogs for information, nor did I know how to set one up and use it in a classroom.  I knew that several of my colleagues have used them as a means of communication to and from parents.  However, I didn’t know any that used them as a learning tool.  During my course, I started my own weblog and learned how to use them in the classroom to: promote critical and analytical thinking, increase access and exposure to quality information, and combine reflection and social interaction (Richardson, 2010).  When creating the blog, I made it accessible to a global audience.  Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a great tool that brings pre-determined information directly to you.  It allows subscription to news and blogs.  This is a tool that cuts down on wasted time doing endless Internet searches.  My classmates and I also created a wiki.  We had to collaborate to edit and revise information that we wanted to make public.  A wiki is a great tool for teaching 21^st century skills.  Using a wiki requires students to work collaboratively, think critically, problem-solve, and be creative.  It is a simple, yet effective tool.  Another tool that will benefit my students is podcasting.  Podcasting provides a way for students to record information rather than write it.  It is a medium that also promotes creativity and problem solving. 

            Now that I have new tools in my toolbox, I can implement them into my teaching practices.  Taking this course has brought more awareness to the fact that education needs to be more student-centered.  Teachers must work at “doing things differently and doing different things” to support students in a continually changing society that has become increasingly effected by technology (Laureate Education, 2010).  Technology is a way to engage students as well as differentiate to meet their needs.  Over the past several years, I have worked diligently to make teaching in my classroom more learner-centered.  I use a lot of collaborative groups during activities encouraging students to share ideas, knowledge, and skills and learn from one another.  I also encourage my students to develop their own questions, opinions, and projects that promote critical thinking and take their learning to the next level.  The more engaged and responsible students are for their learning, the more successful they are.

            I am continually working to expand my knowledge and skills in the area of technology and the latest tried and true practices for student success.  The more I have incorporated technology and 21^st century skills into my daily teaching the more student achievement has increased.  I have come to the realization that students thrive in an educational environment that supports their strengths and learning preferences and provides opportunities for the students to choose their own learning path.  I have become more of a guide in the process. 

            I have set two long-term goals for transforming my classroom environment.

Goal 1: I will continue to add technology into my classroom in a variety of forms to include blogs, wikis, podcasts etc. 

This goal will require getting permission from all of my students’ parents.  I will also need to get my principal to release the restrictions on blogging sites.  My students need to learn some basic computer skills that will help them along the way.

I will accomplish this goal by using computers, iPads, and Chrome books at least three times per week to enhance my current lessons.  The students will use these tools to complete projects, research, word process, etc.  I will use video clips to introduce and support topics in our curriculum.

Goal 2: I will develop engaging, authentic performance tasks to assess my students’ knowledge and skills in the areas of reading, mathematics, science, and social studies. 

I will use professional development and planning time to create these tasks with the help of my grade level colleagues.  These performance tasks will incorporate 21^st century skills.  Creating performance tasks such as these will require a tremendous amount of time in the beginning.  It will also require the help of others.  Time is hard to come by in our current schedules.  We don’t have imbedded professional development time which means there is very little time available to meet with other teachers.

            As I looked back on the checklist we completed in week one, I realized that I haven’t changed any positions on the continuum as of yet.  I am still in the process of making these changes in my current practices.  However, I now feel more equipped with the tools, knowledge, and skills that will be necessary to do so.  I am very excited to continue to develop my own skill set with technology and help my students to achieve the same.  This course has brought light to so much I did not know and given me practice with many of these tools.  I will continue to learn and advance my skills and knowledge, so I can be a better educator.  I believe that I need to set the example for my students.   

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (2010a). Emergence of Educational Technology. Baltimore,

            MD: Author.

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for

            classrooms (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.