For my final assignment of EDUC 6710: Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society, I am to write a reflection blog post. In all reality, this is been my favorite course thus far in my master’s coursework. I have learned about many new tools, engaged in valuable discussions, and completed many 21st century activities of which I had no previous experience.
In what ways has this course helped you to develop your own technology skills as a professional teacher? For the most part, I would consider myself to be extremely advanced regarding technology. I am a digital native to reference Marc Prensky’s Digital Native, Digital Immigrant Theory. I grew up with technology as it was introduced, and I am one who has become extremely dependent on technology. I have taken many classes and courses where I am bored, flying through activities that I knew how to complete already. I have even submitted work to have the professor tell me I should be teaching the course, rather than taking it. With that being said, I am always hesitant when I begin courses involving technology. Throughout this course, I have learned many new skills and resource that have aided in developing my expertise. The activities have been challenging to me and have encouraged me to research these new resources and find ways to implement them within my classroom. In what ways have you deepened your knowledge of the teaching and learning process? Before this course, when I thought of 21st Century Skills, I only thought of technology. Through this course, I have developed a better understanding of the other components of 21st century skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, flexibility, initiative, and social skills. With this knowledge, I have tried to find ways to implement these skills along with technology into my daily classroom activities. I am constantly trying to find ways to create project based learning scenarios to develop skills that my students will use when they reach the work world. In what ways have you changed your perspective from being teacher-centered to learner-centered? As mentioned above, I have shifted from direct instruction to more project based and collaborative learning in my classroom. In the past I have had them work in collaborative groups many times, however, they were simply completing a task together. I feel this is very different in that students are not able to create their own understanding and explore freely. I recently attempted to transform my classroom to a learner centered environment within my habitat unit. Rather than teaching my kids about habitats, I had them work in groups to research habitats and develop presentations to share with the rest of the class. This has assured that my students are engaged at all times by having them create their learning, make choices, teach others, evaluate their own performance, and work collaboratively to hold each other accountable. In what ways can you continue to expand your knowledge of learning, teaching, and leading with technology with the aim of increasing student achievement? In order to continue expanding my knowledge, I plan to continue visiting the P21 website (http://www.p21.org/our-work/p21-framework) to ensure that I continue implementing ideas that challenge students and foster a learner-centered and collaborative environment. I have enjoyed reading some of the blog posts within the site that share ideas from classrooms and how other teachers are implementing these skills into their classrooms. Set two long-term goals (within two years) for transforming your classroom environment by which you may have to overcome institutional or systemic obstacles in order to achieve them. How do you plan to accomplish these goals? One goal I have for transforming my classroom is obtaining devices to create a 1:1 student technology ratio. I am constantly working to complete grants through Donor’s Choose to obtain funding for this technology. I already have 6 iPads and would like to continue by attaining 18 more for a class set. I also have 2 touchscreen laptops, and I would like to acquire 4 more so that when we do group work, each group could have access to a laptop. Donor’s Choose works off of a point system. You receive points by completing grants and then following up by posting pictures and submitting thank you notes. To accomplish my goal, I will complete follow-up steps as soon as possible after receiving funding to ensure that I receive points and can upload my next project without experiencing any downtime between projects. My second goal is to teach my students about our class blog so that we can transition to it being a student blog rather than a teacher blog. I would like to implement a question of the week for my blog where students can respond by posting. I would also like to have student showcases where they actually write the blog posts, rather than me writing them all. This would require me to set up accounts for each student to comment. I believe to accomplish this goal, I would do better by beginning the year with this practice rather than trying to implement it with only a few months to go. I could see this working by having students create their accounts with their parents as they come in on registration day. This would ensure that their parents are aware of this practice and also involve them in the process. My goal is to put this into action by August 2015. I will definitely have to make sure I have all ipads and laptops readily available at registration so that I can attend to multiple families during busy times of registration. Refer to your checklist from Week 1. Have any of your answers changed after completing this course? I feel that the performance indicators that have been impacted and changed the most are the following: · Design learning experiences that require students to formulate questions for inquiry and engage in real-world problem-solving activities. · Enable students to take responsibility of their own learning by providing tools and resources that allow them to mange their own learning goals, plan learning strategies , and evaluate their progress and outcomes. As I mentioned in the beginning of my reflection, this course has been my favorite thus far! The content and resources have been meaningful and applicable. The course has challenged me and have made me eager to transform my classroom to meet the needs of our 21st Century Learners. I also wanted to share a meaningful infographic I will save and use for setting goals for myself. I originally came across it on Pinterest, but linked to a blog I have found most interesting: “Hooked on Innovation”. The blog goes into much more detail about each component, but the graphic is amazing in and of itself! (http://hookedoninnovation.com/2014/09/03/21-things-every-21st-century-teacher-should-do-this-school-year/)
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My dream is to create a 21st Century classroom that encourages collaboration, integrates technology, and promotes thinking deeply.
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