Course Reflection

Course Reflection

The following dialogue is a reflection of my learning throughout the graduate course entitled Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society.  In this reflection I will address the ways the course has helped me to develop my own skills and knowledge in the area of technology, teaching, and learning in a more student-centered environment.  I will also address the continued expansion of my knowledge and skills, as well as goals for ensuring long-term success in the integration of technology into my classroom.

Over the past seven weeks I have been exposed to many new and exciting concepts which have added to my knowledge and skills as a computer teacher.  The course has helped me develop three skills that I had not previously considered utilizing at the elementary level.  Creating podcasts, exploring blogs, and the utilization of wikis were skills that were familiar to me; however, I did not feel I had the expertise to teach them effectively.  The insight gained from Dr. David Thornburg, Dr. Christopher Dede, Will Richardson (2010), and my fellow classmates has given me the knowledge and confidence to begin integrating more collaborative technology into my current teaching practices.

The course has deepened my knowledge in the learning process of today’s digital natives (Prensky, 2001) and has also heightened my understanding of how technology is effecting the rapidly changing working environment.  As the purpose of education is to prepare our students for the “real world”, which is evolving at a much faster rate than education, teachers must be willing to utilize the digital skill set that learners bring with them in order to help develop their skills in a way that is meaningful and relevant to their futures – not our pasts.        

Doing different things rather than just doing the same things differently (Thornburg, 2004) is a phrase that has stuck with me throughout this course and has helped to reflect on my own teaching practices.  Because of this I now think about my own lessons and activities in a more critical way.  I now ask myself:  Is what I am teaching going to help my students to create work that can be shared with others or will it just be done and forgotten?

In order for my own teaching practices to evolve and become more student-centered I must be willing to give the students more control in their own learning.  The notion that the room revolves around my own knowledge has become obsolete.  And to be perfectly honest, I am happy to see it go.  As society and technology rapidly evolve, it becomes impossible for any one person to keep up with all the latest information.  However, in a student-centered environment, one can model how to find the new information thereby allowing the students to gain new skills, while learning to think for themselves.  My attention could then be focused on teaching students skills needed to evaluate and process the vast amounts of information they are accessing.

As a means of continuing to expand my own knowledge of technology integration into the classroom I will continue to seek out professional development focusing on utilizing technology to increase student achievement.  In conjunction, I will broaden my learning communities to include more global conversation, and deepen my research in areas of weakness. 

To assure the transformation of my classroom environment, two long-term goals have been established.  The first goal is for every fourth and fifth grade student to become competent in the use of email as a tool for collaboration.  The largest obstacle has already been overcome: getting all the email accounts set up through a safe and monitored provider.  A second formidable obstacle is time.  As I currently teach over two-hundred fourth and fifth graders, finding the time to address each student’s needs individually will prove challenging.  To overcome this obstacle I will be grouping their emails by grade section, thereby creating smaller more manageable groups.  My second long term goal is to incorporate more virtual learning into the classroom.  Many of my students are already fascinated by AVATARS and sites such as Second Life, webkinz, and Poptropica.  Dr. Christopher Dede called this multiuser interfaced learning the Neo-Millennial Learning Style, whereas learners engage in more collaborative experiences rather than individual learning (Dede, 2010).  This goal will allow my students to learn in an environment that promotes collaboration, complex communication (Levy & Murnane, 2006), and is familiar to them and their unique skill sets as digital natives.  The main obstacle in utilizing virtual environments is finding environments that are suitable and safe for elementary level learners.  To overcome this, we will seek out monitored sites that provide students with a modest amount of protection and continue giving learners the skills and knowledge needed to stay safe while engaged in complex communication.

In referring back to the technology checklist from week one, I found that the four categories checked “sometimes” are the same four areas in which I have gained the most knowledge: student collaboration, better facilitation, better communication, and furthering my own professional growth.  Staying current in new and evolving technologies will be essential for me and my students if we are to succeed in the rapidly changing world of today.  By integrating more collaborative Web 2.0 activities into the curriculum and allowing students more responsibility for their own learning in a student-centered environment, I hope to give my students the opportunity to grow, learn, and thrive in todays’ digital world and tomorrows yet to be defined global society.  

References:

Levy, F., & Murnane, R. (2006). Why the changing American economy calls for twenty-first century learning: Answers to educators' questions. New Directions for Youth Development, 2006(110), 53–62.

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5). Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/pqdweb?index=1&did=1074252411&SrchMode=2&sid=1&Fmt=6&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1296434139&clientId=70192

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Thornburg, D. (2004). Technology and education: Expectations, not options. (Executive Briefing No. 401). Retrieved from http://www.tcpdpodcast.org/briefings/expectations.pdf

Profiling Today's Digital Natives

Profiling Today's Digital Natives

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSUD9P8PIas

The term “digital native” was first used by Marc Prensky in 2001 as a way to describe students born into the digital age.  Dr. Thornburg, also provide several characters of a digital native stating that a typical 8-18 year old student is exposed to approximately six hours of technology each day.  Hall Davidson suggests that all of this early exposure is changing the way students learn and communicate.  In order to be more effective, teachers must be aware of how their digital natives are learning outside of school so they can better accommodate these new fast forward thinkers. 

The purpose of this podcast is to determine the level of digital usage and student attitudes toward using technology in different situations.  In the following podcast you will hear highlights of student responses to six technology related questions.  The students participating in this interview consisted of; one fourth grade male, one fifth grade male, and one fifth grade female.  Parental permission was obtained prior to recording this podcast.  I found that although my students were born into the digital age, they have not yet acquired all the characteristics of a true digital native.  Therefore, I must adjust my teaching strategies to accommodate for the varying levels of academic knowledge as well as the varying levels of technological knowledge each student possesses.

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Program number 14: Debate: Digital natives and digital immigrants [DVD]. Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Program number 13: Today’s Students [DVD]. Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Prensky, M. (2001a). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5). Retrieved from http://www.hfmboces.org/HFMDistrictServices/TechYES/PrenskyDigitalNatives.pdf

Partnership for 21st Century Skills

For this week’s posting, I would like to introduce a website called P21.  The Partnership for 21^st Century Skills (P21) is a national organization that advocates for student learning to include more 21st century skills in order to keep up with the fast paced changes taking place in the world today.  Their web site provides resources, tips, and tools to help administrators, teachers, parents, and community members keep up with the latest technology research and trends.  The teaching of the 3Rs and 4Cs is an integral part of this organizations philosophy.  As shown in the figure above, the core subjects (3Rs); reading, writing, and arithmetic are the foundation on which the related learning is built.  Historically this has been the case for most educational systems.  However, P21 goes on the core subjects to include the 4Cs, critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity as skills needed by all students to be successful in 21^st century. 

Other research helps provide validity to P21’s philosophy.  The publication, Characteristics of a Globally Competitive Workforce identified three foundational skills very similar to the 3Rs and 4Cs proposed by P21.  Their research supports the notion that students will need Basic Skills similar to the 3Rs, Thinking Skills as with the 4Cs, and Personal Qualities as it relates to life skills. 

While exploring the P21 site I was struck by the number of resources available:  In particular Route 21.  Route 21 is an area within P21 that allows teachers to locate specific standards, lesson plans, and videos to aid in providing 21st century skills to their students.  Once logged in, teachers can browse resources by support system, subject, or even skill.  By placing all of these resources within Route 21, teachers are able to quickly and efficiently locate and utilize the information available.   

Although this is an excellent site, one concern I have with P21 is a possible conflict of interest when dealing with business partnerships.  Although not naive about the fact that it takes money to foster change, businesses tend to promote their own agendas in an effort to increase their bottom line: future sales.  As an example, Dell and Apple are both supporters of P21 and each has their own agendas and platforms biding to be utilized in the expansion of technology across the nation.  Will these large international corporations influence which technologies are promoted and placed into classrooms?  If so, will the influences be beneficial to the educational system and students or to the companies selling the technology? 

If the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills continues to grow and partner with more states, every student and teachers will be drastically affected.  School districts will no longer be able to ignore the digital world closing in around them.  District administrators, principals, and teachers must go beyond the status quo and begin to look toward increasing funding, professional development, and exploring more 21^st century assessments in order to prepare our students for the state of their future, not just the state test.  P21 is a great place to start this dialogue. 

References

Bates, R., & Phelan, K. (2002). Characteristics of a globally competitive workforce. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 4(2), 121.

Utilizing Blogs in the Early Years

Teaching ten classes of first and second graders in the use of technology each week, the thought of using blogs was not really a consideration due to limits in reading, writing, and typing ability.  However, after doing some research and speaking with colleagues, I have developed a fun and exciting way to introduce blogging into the curriculum.  Our first grade students already engage in a reading and writing program utilizing Billy Bear.   Billy Bear is a stuffed bear which rotates through all the first grade classes.  Billy Bear goes with his assigned class as they travel to support classes, the lunch room, and even the bus.  When the teachers pick up the students they leave a Billy Bear post-it note describing what he learned in class that day.  As students move around the school each day they reflect on what Billy Bear learned by reading his notes.  It is my intention to take this lesson one step farther by building a blog for Billy Bear (http://adventuresofbillybear.blogspot.com), and have each class submit posts to the blog on a weekly basis. 

The purpose of this blog will be to introduce students to blogging technology at a young age in order to get them accustom to reading, thinking about, and developing responses in an virtual environment. Students will work with their teacher, peers, and me in order to construct the weekly posts about Billy Bear’s adventures.  The blog will give students the opportunity to showcase their talents in a safe and meaningful way.  Students will be encouraged to use photos, drawings, and illustrations along with their writing in order to convey understanding for the younger non-readers who may visit the blog.  Billy Bear’s blog will be open to the public so families, community, and our older students may access the information and offer filtered comments.  Blog safety (Richardson, 2010) is an important element in protecting our students and faculty.  In order to protect privacy, only first names will be used in the weekly posts, parents and student will be given clear expectations of what to expect on the blog, and the Acceptable Use Policy will be reviewed to deepen their understanding of proper web etiquette.     

Once Billy Bear had been to ten of the first and second grade classrooms, he will begin taking on new adventures outside the school.  He may attend field trips, overnight stays, or weekend visits. Upon returning Billy Bear’s guardian will provide a detailed posting for discussion and comments. 

Reference

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Tux Paint

As an elementary school computer teacher, I am always on the lookout for innovative technology that can make learning meaningful and engaging for my students.  A few years back a co-worker showed me one such technology called Tux Paint.  Tux Paint is an open source drawing program for students of all ages.  The program is free to anyone and can be run on either a PC’s or MAC computer.  The software can be downloaded at http://www.tuxpaint.org.  I have used the program on both platforms and the main difference seems to be in the clip-art selection.  The PC version has a more extensive library of clip-art than the MAC version. 

Once installed the program allows students from Kindergarten up to create original and interactive art work, illustrations, shapes, and diagrams.  Their work can then be uploaded to the gallery sections of Tux Paint’s website for peers, parents, and family to share.  The program encourages student to interact with their creations by adding sounds to the visuals and effects.  When students click on a dog in their picture, the dog will bark.  This feature can add a whole new dynamic to a student's learning.

For me this program has been very easy to integrate into my lessons.  It is very student friendly and easy to get the students started.  It only takes a few minutes to install and within five or ten minutes your entire class can be exploring all that this drawing program has to offer.