As
the end of this course approaches, I would like to reflect on the impact it has
had on my teaching. This course has
really introduced me to many new ways to add technology to my teaching
repertoire. I have learned how to create
a blog, about RSS, how to use an RSS aggregator, how to create wikis, and
podcasts, as well as other ideas on effective uses of technology in the
classroom. Although many of these were
things I had not heard of until this class, I now have a better understanding
of their capabilities and how to use them.
I
learned a great deal about 21st Century Skills through our reading
assignments and videos, however, I truly valued the experiences that had us
manipulate the technology to really gain a better understanding and to make
connections on our own. Without these assignments I probably would not
have set aside the time to truly figure out the components of a class wiki, or
how to subscribe to feeds to get information without countless hours of
searching. These activities were not
easy but I loved the feeling of truly learning meaningful content to enrich my
students’ learning experiences. I have
even implemented the use of websites I found while reading blogs for this
class, a class wiki project that focused on March Madness data, and
Edmodo. Each and every week I was
invigorated by the topics we were assigned in this course and I brought that
excitement into my classroom as I introduced my students to these incredible
learning tools.
Although
I am known in my school to integrate technology as much as possible (I’ve been
known to “hog” the mobile labs or computer labs on a regular basis and the tech
department eventually decided to just let me house the mobile lab in my room
since everyone knew it would always be there), I did not fully understand which
skills I should be incorporating into my lessons. Everyone seemed to use the lab to make pretty
posters or publish writing, and although these are valuable ways to create
final drafts, I always felt there had to be other ways or reasons to use the
lab other than simply researching or typing a story in Word, but didn’t know
where to look for guidance. Although my
classes often went beyond the basic computer use, I was hungry for a guideline
to help me focus on the necessary skills I needed to help my students develop
instead of trying to cover everything. I
was thrilled to read multiple articles assigned in this course that focused on
21st Century Skills and technology standards. These resources helped me to realize that 21st
Century Skills doesn’t just mean using technology on a regular basis, it also
includes skills such as inventive thinking, effective communication,
prioritizing, planning, and managing for results, effective use of real-world
tools, and global awareness (Partnership for the 21st Century, N.D.). They also helped me to gain a better
understanding of which skills are necessary for my students to master in order
to be fully prepared for the next grade.
The
statement that stood out to me time and time again was, “It’s their
after-school education, not their school education, that’s preparing our kids
for their 21st-century lives-and they know it” (Prensky, 2008). Students are so eager to use technology that
they carry it everywhere with them. As
soon as they have a free moment, they pull out their mobile device and “play”
or “mess around”. But it is this time
that they are learning truly beneficial skills that will help them to be
successful in our technology filled future.
They are learning various shortcuts, how to change settings to customize
it to their liking, they are communicating with others around the world, they
are problem solving, and most of all, they are engaged. They are driven to use and master this
equipment, and this equipment is the key to making learning meaningful and
interesting to our students. We need to
find ways to incorporate these new, invigorating technologies into our
classrooms on a regular basis. “Educating
or evaluating kids without these tools makes no more sense to them than
educating a plumber without a wrench” (Cramer, 2007). However, we must be careful about how we plan
to use technology in our lessons, Bull and Bull argue that, “Using technology
to teach the same topics in fundamentally the same ways that could be taught
without technology does not strengthen students’ learning and belies the
usefulness of technology. Furthermore,
using technology to perform tasks that are just as easily carried out without
technology may actually be a hindrance to learning” (Bull and Bull, 2003). The truly effective use of technology is one
that strengthens core content while allowing students to do things that would
not be possible without the technology.
Many
of the articles we read closely related the teaching of 21st Century
Skills to the Constructivist Approach.
My teaching during my undergrad (while volunteering in classrooms and
working as the head teacher at the university’s day care) closely resembled the
Constructivist Approach. However, my
teaching changed slightly once I landed my first teaching position and was
handed a teacher’s manual (or 8 for that matter). I’ll never forget the uneasiness feeling I
got when I was expected to use the teacher’s guide to get my lessons. The person who wrote that book did not know
my students or their capabilities, so how could it meet their needs
academically? As time went on and I was
forced more and more to use the teacher’s manual, I started to lose a little
bit of the spark that had drawn me to teach in the first place. To overcome this I’d throw in a lesson or
two, created based upon my class’s interests while focusing and developing
skills mandated by standards. These
projects rejuvenated me and my class (I had the same kids 3 years), and were
the learning experiences we all still remember and value. As a result, my goal is to become more of a
facilitator and let students play an active role in leading the learning
experience.
This
year my teacher’s manual is sitting on a shelf near my computer covered in
dust. Sure, I pull it out at times to
learn other strategies to introduce a skill or to get a feel for which topics
relate closely to one another at times, but I prefer to create lessons based
upon my students’ interests and abilities.
Just recently my classes were busy talking about the basketball game the
night before and spouting out statistics of various teams. I was amazed by the amount of data they had
memorized when some have a tough time simply getting their name on the their
paper. I used the knowledge from this
course to create a class wiki project that focused on March Madness data. Students researched, recorded, compared,
calculated, made predictions, corrected predictions, and collaborated during
this activity. Suddenly using data that
was important to them they were eager to learn how to change a fraction to a
percent, and how to divide using decimals instead of just getting a remainder. They focused on place value as they compared
field goal percentages and finally, they understood mean (average) and how to
calculate it! This task not only got my
students engaged but it made me excited to go to school each day as well. I was eager to see what new information they
had found, new connections they had made, to listen to their discussions, and
to learn WITH them as we utilized wikispaces for the first time.
I
find my best teaching experiences have been created working as a team with my students. We create projects together and discuss how
to make certain topics relate to our educational standards. We truly make a great team and I love getting
the opportunity to learn from
them. Our students bring a great deal of
knowledge with them when they enter our classrooms. “Encouraged to share their expertise,
students can be a teacher’s best resource for suggesting better access to
technology, defining the kinds of technology that teacher should be using in
the classroom, and showing teachers how they can use specific hardware and
software tools to teach more effectively”
(Prensky, 2005).
“Today’s
teachers have to learn to communicate in the language and style of their
students. This doesn’t mean changing the
meaning of what is important, or of good thinking skills. But it does mean going faster, less
step-by-step, more in parallel, with more random access, among other
things” (Prensky, 2001). By embracing these new teaching methods we
will find that students are more engaged and in charge of their learning. We will spend less time trying to motivate
them accept why they need to learn something and more time allowing them to
apply their skills. To keep current on
these changes in teaching I will continue to collaborate with other professionals,
I will visit blogs that contain relevant information to improve my teaching
practices, and I will continue to seek out professional development. The past two years I have had the opportunity
to travel our state to visit other schools to see how they have incorporated
technology. My favorite part of these
trips is talking with the students to get their real (and very honest) feelings
about the various technology skills or programs they are using.
My
goal is to develop and incorporate more technology in my classroom. I would love to find gaming applications that
require students to use various math skills to master the game. With the vast amount of gaming software and
resources on the web I’m sure there must be something created already, it’s
just a matter of finding one that meets my students’ needs.
Another
goal I have is to create real-life applications that incorporate technology and
the math skills I’m mandated to teach.
“Students need to learn academic content through real-world examples, applications
and experiences both inside and outside of school. Students understand and retain more when
their learning is relevant, engaging and meaningful to their lives” (Partnership for the 21st Century,
N.D.). To accomplish this I will
continue to search the web for activities but I will also collaborate with
other teachers and even business owners in our local area to develop tasks that
are meaningful to the students and strengthen their understanding of core
content and 21st Century skills. (There’s nothing more upsetting
than spending hour upon hour “creating” a new project to hear, “Oh, so and so
does the same project!”)
During
the first week of this course we were asked to complete a checklist to assess
our technology integration practices. This
week we revisited this same checklist and although some of my ratings are still
the same, I now have the resources to incorporate technology more frequently in
my lessons. Two of the goals I have had
all year, developing more activities that require student collaboration to
accomplish a task, and designing learning experiences that require students to
formulate questions for inquiry and engage in real-world problem-solving
activities are still goals I will continue to work on, however I now feel I
have a better idea of how to incorporate technology into my classroom and I
have a better understanding of how to collaborate with other teachers to find
already created tasks that I can tweak to my liking. One practice that has increased during this
course is my use of digital tools to collaborate and communicate with students. I often use my webpage or email to
communicate with parents or to simply make information available to anyone who
accesses it but through out wiki project and Edmodo I have begun corresponding
with my students more often about projects.
This feature has been great for the student who was out of town for a
funeral, for the shy kid who doesn’t want to speak up in class, and even for
the student who waited until the last minute and needed some guidance on the
lesson into the wee hours of the night.
I
could go on an on about the numerous things this course has taught me. At this point I really feel it has been the
most beneficial of all of the college courses I have ever taken. Not only did I get great feedback and ideas
from Dr. Calvin, but I also had an opportunity to work on a project with my
classmates. The wiki project allowed us
to get to know one another and learn from one another as we worked to complete
the project. I truly value my
classmates’ opinions and experiences as they have helped me to improve my own
instructional strategies through our class discussions. I leave this class with much more knowledge
than I started with, and I feel reinvigorated once again.
References:
Bull, G., & Bull, G. (2004). The digital disconnect: A
recent Pew study. Learning and Leading with Technology, 31(4),
28–31.
Cramer, S. (2007, January). Update your
classroom with learning objects and twenty-first century skills. Clearing
House, 80(3), 126–132.
Partnership for 21st Century Skills.
(n.d.). A report and mile guide for 21st century skills. Washington DC:
Author. Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/downloads/P21_Report.pdf
Prensky, M. (2001a). Digital natives,
digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5).
Prensky, M.
(2005). Listen to the natives. Educational Leadership, 63(4),
8–13.
Prensky, M.
(2008). Turning on the lights. Educational Leadership, 65(6), 40–45.
