Education 6710 was my introduction into this world of technology and learning. Podcast, Wiki’s, Blogs…all words that were familiar to me, but the question was how to use them. As Will Richardson stated in Blogs, Wikis and Podcast and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, “these tools have considerable relevance to state and local core content curriculum standards, and there is much reason to believe their implementation in schools will better prepare students”(Richardson, 2008). I saw how powerful thee tools could be, and was determined to use them in my classroom. After all, my students are tech savvy, according to Miners and Pascopella, students spend twenty-seven hours on the Internet at home per week, they only are spending 15 minutes at school (Miners & Pascopella). It is my job as their educator to balance these scales and integrate this necessary tool into our curriculum. After creating my blog, I found that it was not nearly as difficult as I had originally thought, and my mind was quickly thinking of all the great things I could do with my students using this tool. I have currently set up a classroom blog, where they can post their original work, check on assignments and ask questions and get opinions from their classmates. So far, it has worked well, and I see it developing into much more in the future. The students love it, and have taken ownership, reminding me to check out their work, and update our blog. It has also been beneficial in my area with snow days and flu days taking a tool on attendance with the writing test looming ahead. I feel we are not behind in our writing, thanks to our classroom blog, as the majority of my students have Internet access. I know our blog will continue to evolve, as both my skill and knowledge improves, as well as the student’s role and involvement.
The Podcast was my most challenging assignment; to start with it was a comedy of errors. As Miner and Pascopella stated, “technology should open new doors to students, not limit them.” I kept telling myself as I erased, re-recorded and tried to link the podcast to my site. By continuing to open the door, through all the trials and errors, I learned, along with my students, that the best way to learn was through persistence. They saw me making mistakes and continuing, and they saw that perseverance really does pay off. Although our podcast was rough, and certainly not what I expected it to be, nevertheless it was completed. I also learned through our podcast that public speaking and speech should be added to my lesson plans.
Through these experiences one thing became clear to me. While I was not the most technological savvy person, I could learn and become a teacher where technology was successfully integrated into their classroom. I see the benefits how having these tools and to be an effective teacher to today’s digital natives, “it still comes down to providing students with relevant and exciting content” (McHale, 2008). This is my goal.
“Our students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach” (Pensky, 2008). This statement confirms my commitment to continue to grow as a teacher who embraces technology. I have partnered with the technology instructor at school, and we have found several wonderful sites in which the students can edit, grade as well as critique other student’s essays, which has proven to help tremendously with their own writing. In order to increase my student’s achievement, I will continue to develop new ideas, implement them, refine them and most importantly, to educate myself in order to better educate my students. Ironically, last week we received our new teacher evaluations and one of our goals is integrating technology into our classroom. I volunteered to help our technology director conduct mini sessions on this topic. For me, to do and teach is the best way to learn. I also plan on attending a learning retreat this summer, which specifically addresses using technology for writing in the classroom. I will continue my technology education, because I have seen the value to my students, and added benefit of their enthusiasm over this type of learning. Students who are enthusiastic and engaged naturally are more successful.
My long-term goals include incorporating more collaborative/group projects into my curriculum. As stated, these collaborative efforts are the way of the future work force, gone are the days of working solo. This will again prepare them for future positions. Today “successful businesses are looking for employees who can adapt to changing needs, juggle multiple responsibilities and routinely make decisions on their own”(Partnership for 21st Century Skills). By having students who are comfortable and confident in this learning environment my classroom will be a stepping-stone to their future success. I will implement this though designing lesson plans that are conducive to collaborative learning. By using Wikis and Blogs, these group projects will also expose the students to the benefits of collaborative learning. By simply shifting from journal writing, to posting on a blog, I am giving students an opportunity to connect technology into a technology learning experience.
My next long-term goal is to give more thought provoking and discussion questions. I firmly believe that students need to develop their critical and analytical thinking to a greater degree than they are currently. By giving students an authentic audience is one way to gain their interest (Richardson, 2009). By having lessons that the students see the value in, they will be more likely to engage and participate in class. With the incredible amount of information at heir fingertips, it is important that the students be able to objectively look at the material and critically analyze it, rather than to take it at face value. By tying this lesson into a carry-over lesson in life, it will benefit the student now and in the future. I plan on integrating this into our research project, to teach the students what is reliable information and what is questionable and where to find the answer. This can be done as a current events project as well, taking our lessons from the headlines of the paper. Another source is by watching the different news stations, and looking at the different “spins” each has. This was particularly true in last year’s lessons, and I would like my students to be able to get to the truth, or the bottom line, rather than just thinking that because they read it on the Internet or saw it on television it was true. I plan to take clips from various sources and have group discussions on getting to the facts. This will bring both the critical thinking as well as responsible use of technology into my classroom.
As with any new plans, the first stage is to implement it. Through reflection and modification, I hope that these two goals will be a part of my lessons and will be integral t the success and learning environment of all of my students.
Resources
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). [DVD]. “The changing work
environment, part 2”. Baltimore, MD.
McHale, T. (2005). Portrait of a digital native. Technology & Learning. Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/article/4572
Miners, Z., & Pascopella, A. (2007). The new literacies. District Administration,
43 (10), 26-34.
Prensky, M. (2005). Listen to the natives. Educational Leadership, 63(4), 8–13.
Prensky, M. (2008, March). Turning on the lights. Educational Leadership, 65(6), 40–4
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
- Submitted on 02-28-10 1:33 PM PST
- ID: 126021144
- Word Count: 1395 13%
