Students enter the classroom with a wealth of knowledge when it comes to using technology. Teachers today are working with students that are digital natives, meaning students are fluent in the digital language of computers, video games, and the Internet (Prensky, 2005).
Teachers need to know about the newest technology and how to use it in the classroom to make learning more meaningful for today’s students. Also, it is important for teachers to learn how to incorporate twenty-first century skills into the curriculum to prepare students for the workforce they will enter as young adults.
The course Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work and Society has helped me to learn how to create and use student blogs, wikis, and podcast for classroom instruction. Prior to this course, I did not know what a wiki was let alone how to use one in my daily instruction. Also, by creating a wiki with other class members I learned how easy it is to collaborate with colleagues around the world to create a finished product for assessment. Learning how to make a podcast helped me know how to create and upload a podcast and the importance to have students create real artifacts that will reach a global audience (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008). Creating blogs for students will help to give all students a voice in the classroom and expand learning past the walls of the classroom by reaching a worldwide audience (Richardson, 2010). My technology skills as a professional teacher are stronger now that I have learned how to use some of the web 2.0 tools that are available online at no cost for an educator.
I feel I am already taking the first steps towards expanding my knowledge of learning, teaching, and leading with technology by continuing my education in a program developed for integrating technology in the classroom. Also, I will continue to learn more about each web tool as I use them in my classroom with my students.
The first goal I plan setting for myself is to create more assignments that will utilize podcast and wikis. Teaching Science and Social Studies allows me to give students assignments that require research about the standards that need to be covered in fourth grade. Students will be able to take ownership of their own learning by researching and collaborating together by using wikis and podcast. I would be able to change my role from a lecture type teacher to more of a facilitator as students work on the assignments and need assistance along the way. The one obstacle I might run into is all students may not have computers at home to work on these types of projects. My plan would be to collaborate with the computer teacher to incorporate the podcast and wiki with the students’ computer time. The second goal I have is to create an environment that is student-centered not just around projects but the total learning process. I find myself sometime just giving students notes instead of letting them find the information on their own. One obstacle I may run into is not having enough time for students to find information or answers on their own. One solution may be to start the year off with teacher notes. However, as students learn how to locate the important information limit the teacher notes until they are finding all the information on their own.
After looking over the checklist from week one, I noticed a few changes in my classroom practice that are for the positive. First, students are now going to be able to create artifacts that will reach a much wider audience than just the classroom. Also, the web tools I have learned about will enable me to create lessons that will allow students to use different types of technology to create, share, and present information. Finally, the course has reinforced the importance of group work and students collaborating together to work on assignments. The communication and interaction skills students learn in group work are skills they will need in the future.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore: Author.
Prensky, M. (2005) Listen to the natives. Educational Leadership, 63(4), 8-13.
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. 3rd ed. Corwin.
