It’s hard to believe this summer has already come to an end! The time has passed quickly but upon reflection, I have gained much from this course. Reading all of the discussion and blog posts was far more profitable than the required readings and videos. I really enjoyed learning from my peers and sharing with them. Reading their stories and lesson plans gave me great ideas to use in my own classroom as well as confidence to keep my goals reasonable and not get overwhelmed trying to learn it all at once. With my IT background, I expected much of this coursework to be old hat. Surprisingly, I gained a lot of new experience with tools that were unfamiliar to me and challenged me to look at technology in new ways. From a business perspective, I had always asked the question “what can this technology do for me?” but now I am asking “what can I do with this technology?”
In this course I developed technology skills I am excited to bring into the classroom. I am particularly interested in using blogs as discussion forums for my social studies classes to debate open-ended questions, ethics, and historical events. The podcast technology was new to me but I picked it up quickly and feel comfortable sharing it with my students. It opens up a lot of opportunities for synthesis of information and collaboration among students. I am looking forward to writing lesson plans with a podcast or video as the students’ final product instead of an old-fashioned poster. I hope the students are excited to work with the new media as I am! Although I am less comfortable with the wiki format, I would also like to incorporate wikis in my classroom as a forum for students to share relevant web links and regular literature reviews.
Early in this course, I considered what it means to use technology to do things differently and to do different things. (Laureate Education, 2008a) My approach to the teaching process is altered by this statement. I have to consider the learning goal and select the tools most appropriate to the goal. It isn’t as simple as replacing a lecture with a PowerPoint presentation. Teachers have to be able to do things differently to meet the needs of our students in an increasingly connected and digitized world community. Technology should not replace good instruction but should be integrated into the curriculum in a way that provides students opportunities to achieve learning goals in meaningful ways. (Keengwe, Onchwari, & Wachira, 2008) My knowledge of teaching and learning is focused on how to serve my students with these opportunities and to do it using as much technology as possible, both in my instruction and through their activities.
The discourse about how teacher attitudes need to change from a teacher-centered approach to a student-centered approach does not intimidate me. (Keengwe, Onchwari, & Wachira, 2008) As a newly licensed teacher, my approach began as student-centered so I do not have to alter my attitude. I was taught to prepare standards-based lessons with the learner in mind: their abilities, their preferences, and their learning styles. I understand the change in attitude may be threatening or unfamiliar to veteran teachers but I think I have an advantage because as my classmate Alison posted in a discussion on this topic, new teachers can “design our lessons to incorporate technology and be student-centered … right from the beginning” instead of revamping old lesson plans which could “be a daunting task for even a motivated educator.” (Driekonski, 2009)
I want to continue to expand my knowledge of learning, teaching, and leading with technology. My aim is to increase student achievement and to encourage their mastery of what Dr. David Thornburg calls 21st Century skills. (Laureate Education, 2008b) My students will have to know how to ask questions, find answers, evaluate the information they locate and synthesize it into something new. I must keep pace with them! I have to ask questions and find answers about what tools are available. I have to evaluate the technology and synthesize it into new lessons that not only cover content, but also foster critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, and creativity. My students and I have a very similar task before us. I will continue my graduate studies in technology, participate in online communities, and share what I learn with my colleagues. Through these efforts, I hope to grow in my skills so that I may help my students grow theirs.
If I ever get a teaching contract, the neighborhoods near me are not very well supplied with technology for teachers or students. Many of the students do not have computers or internet access at home. Part of the challenge for me will be to expose students to a variety of technology with limited resources. One of my long-term goals is to design lessons that reinforce basic skills like saving files, formatting documents, doing online research, and blog posting. I would like my students to feel comfortable using the computer for more than just social networking. I know some of the students I spoke with for our podcast assignment in this course did not first identify the computer as a learning tool, but a social tool. I am not confident that jumping right in to more complicated things like wiki etiquette or splicing sound bites will be a morale booster for some of these disadvantaged students and I don’t want to discourage them. I want to make sure they are all on solid footing before I introduce more creative projects. Even if I have to use my computer and a projector to model some of the skills in an environment without adequate computer facilities, it will serve them to see it in action.
My second long-term goal is to start using GoogleDocs. I had not heard of it until my classmate Christina mentioned it on a discussion board for this course. (Mills, 2009) I am really excited to try it. It is a good way for students and teachers to share work and the student only needs an email address to sign up. Students can then access their work anywhere they have internet access without having to keep track of a jump drive. I can make comments and answer questions electronically while students are working in school or remotely. Several students can access a group project and collaborate using GoogleDocs, too. The biggest obstacles here are that I have no student community to work with on this right now and internet access in some schools and families may be limited. I am planning to create some dummy email accounts and practice using this tool so that when I have a chance to introduce it in a classroom, I will be prepared. With regard to the limited internet access, I am going on faith that students will always find a way to get online, even if it is at the local library. If this generation of digital natives can always find some way to check their facebook accounts, they’ll find a way to get their history essays to Mrs. DeCrane on GoogleDocs.
References:
Driekonski, A. (2009, August 15). Hi Carrye! Message posted to http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=3505179&Survey=1&47=5647515&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1
Keengwe, J., Onchwari, G., & Wachira, P. (2008). The use of computer tools to support meaningful learning. AACE Journal , 16 (1), 77-92.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008a). Program one: The emergence of educational technology. [Motion picture]. Baltimore: Author
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008b). Skills for the 21st Century [Motion picture]. Baltimore: Author
Mills, C. (2009, June 29). Exploring new mediums. Message posted to http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=3505179&Survey=1&47=5647515&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1
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