Course Reflection

Before taking part in the Understanding the Impact of Technology, Education, Work, and Society course at Walden University , I felt that I was pretty "computer literate". I mean, I can throw together a great powerpoint presentation, as well as use a SmartBoard to teach my students interactively. That's more than other teachers at my school can say. As I progressed through each of these past eight weeks, however, I learned that I was just using technology to do the "same old thing in a different way". There is a whole new world "out there" that teachers must be in touch with if they are to lead their students into the 21st century successfully.

As a result of this course, I now have the knowledge to utilize technology effectively in my classroom. I understand the importance of having students collaborate with not only those people within the four walls of the classroom, but with people globally in order to gain a deeper understanding of the content that is being taught. As we read about in an article titled "Partnership for 21st Century Skills", students will spend their adult lives in a multitasking, multifaceted, technology-driven, diverse, vibrant world. We must equip them to do so.

As technology has increasingly developed, the face of the classroom has undergone a major makeover . As I listened to Dr. Thornburg explain a classroom of long agao where the teacher was the source of knowledge and the students tried to soak up everything they could from him/ her, I realized that times, indeed, have changed. The teacher's role has significantly changed from source of knowledge to mediator of knowledge. There are endless sources available to today's student. As a teacher, I will need to be attuned to the latest technologies if I expect to be able to prepare my students for the technological world around them. I will have to move away from the teacher-centered classroom of today into the student-centered classroom of tomorrow.

I plan to take the information that I have gained through this course into my classroom. In fact, I have already been able to begin a blog for our grade level where parents and teachers can interact with one another. There are links there that the students can go to for educational games too. Because I am teaching a first grade class, I am teaching them only the most basic skills, but I am excited about what the future holds for my class.

I would like to transform my classroom environment into a place where students are comfortable with technology. I'd like to create an environment of self-sufficiency. Even though I am teaching young children, I envision a classroom where they are working collaboratively on computers creating wikibooks and updating our class blog. This is a goal that I have set for my class. I plan to get my students actively involved with technology as soon as possible. Sadly, there is nothing I can do to get the school to provide the resources we need to effectively incorporate technology into the classroom. I am in the process of trying to get a grant. I am using evidence from this course as persuasive evidence of the urgency for 21st century skills for our students. Hopefully, it will work.

As this course comes to an end, I realize that in just eight short weeks I have obtained a wealth of knowledge. I am excited about taking my students forward into the 21st century with the skills they will need to be successful and productive people.





Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). Twenty-first Century Skills.[Motion Picture] Baltimore: Author

Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (n.d.). A report and mile guide for 21st century skills. Washington DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/images/stories/otherdocs/p21up_Report.pdf

We've Come a Long Way, Baby!

Gone are the classrooms of "yesteryear" where the closest thing to technology was little wooden balls attached to a metal bar to aid students in their mathematical calculations. Today's classrooms are filled with technological gizmos and gadgets that would have made our great-grandparents think they had stepped into a "space-age picture show" had they ever entered the doors. This is just a short video that I put together of just how far we have come. Hope you enjoy!

21st Century Learning

As I navigated throught the Partnership for 21st Century Skills website, my first reaction was "Oh my gosh! What does all of this mean?" But then as I perused a little more, I found that this site was inundated with resources that provide educators the opportunity to introduce the elements of 21st century learning. If I am honest, I am not surprised that my state of Georgia was not one of the states who are taking the 21st Century Skills initiative. It is evident in the shortage of technology in most of our classrooms. In order for Georgia to become a P21 Leadership state it would take a commitment from our governor, Sonny Perdue and chief state school officers showing that our state plans to revise standards, create assessments, and implement 21st century skills professional development programs. I would like to encourage Governor Perdue to consider this possibility.

I found the site to be user-friendly, however being a lower elementary teacher I didn't find very many resources for introducing younger students to 21st century skills.

As I read over the six elements of 21st century learning, the first two - a) emphasize core subjects, and b) emphasize learning skills- are elements that have been around probably since the dawn of teaching. But, as I began contemplating the other four, I realized that we are far, far behind where we should be.

The third element of 21st century learning is "use 21st century tools to develop learning". Most of the teachers at my school do not even know how to use the tools themselves, so the students are definitely not being connected to this element.The fourth element is "teach and learn in 21st century context". This means that we must teach our students through real-world examples and include them in interaction outside of the four walls of our classrooms. We must get them involved with skills such as blogging, wikis, and podcasting if we are to effectively prepare them with 21st century skills.

The fifth element is "teach and learn 21st century content". Of all the elements, I'm afraid this is the one that we are farthest from achieving. According to this article, the ideologies of 21st century content is global awareness; financial, economic, and business literacy; and civic literacy. These are not topics that are of utmost importance in most schools across America. It is essential that we find a way to integrate these concepts into our curriculum if our students are going to be equipped for the life that faces them as adults.

The final element is "use 21st century assessments that measure 21st century skills". Okay, maybe THIS is the one we are farthest from. It is imperative that students' assessments should measure their knowledge of the elements of a 21st century education. This is FAR from the case at my school. I imagine a day in the far future where there will be no more "bubble tests". Why not assess students by allowing them to communicate their knowledge with technology?

The implications for my students and I as I read about the initiative of states other than my own to implement programs such as the 21st Century Learning are that my students are going to be far behind and less tech saavy when they become adults. Granted, they interact with technology in their personal lives everyday, but it is my responsibility as a teacher to teach them to interact in a responsible and educated way. Georgia's reluctance to embrace the importance of preparing our students for the 21st century causes me great concern.

www.21stcenturyskills.org/

Blogs in First Grade???

"Nothing is impossible as long as you
put your thinking cap on!"









Well, I have been getting excited about how I could use blogging in my classroom this year. I know there are endless ways! In fact, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Tools for Classrooms offers a variety of uses for blogs in the classroom, but I'm a little worried about using it in a first grade classroom. I have been a fourth grade teacher for the past several years and I just found out that I will be teaching first grade this year. So, as I sit here contemplating possible uses...this is what I have come up with:


I could create a classroom blog called "Koneman's Kats". The tiger is our mascot so I thought I would "cutesy" it up a bit. On our blog I could create a place for my students to practice their dolch site words. By clicking on the link I would provide them, they could practice their words by interacting with the flash words that blink at four second intervals. They could also just read the lists without the flash activity. I could also provide them with review activities and a way to play math games.

For the parents of my students, I found a really good site called The Parents Guide to First Grade that could provide some very useful information for them. I think it would be a great way to keep my parents informed of events that are going on in our classroom. It would also be a very useful way for parents to interact if I provided a way for them to do so.

My "techno" wheels are turning. I'm sure that I will come up with some very useful ways to use blogging in my first grade classroom. My kids might even surprise me with their knowledge of technology.

Wikiflick and Webpod? Huh?

"Hi, Honey! How was your day at school?" asks Mom as she sits at the kitchen table with her daughter Caitlyn who is enjoying an after-school snack.

"Oh, Mom! It was awesome! We have this really cool teacher this year. She doesn't even have books in her room."

"What? No books? Well, how in the world are you gonna learn anything if you don't have any textbooks?" Mom was seriously contemplating calling this "really cool" teacher as soon as this conversation was over. She wanted to find out what was happening to all the tax dollars her family pays so that her daughter can get a good education.


"Oh, Mom. Books are great, but we are in a new age. We are making new advances in technology everyday", Caitlyn happily explains to her dumbfounded mother. "In fact, today my friends and I talked to some kids all the way in Australia. We have a class weblog and we even posted some cool stuff on Wikipedia too. When I finish eating my snack I've got to start working on my WebQuest. I haven't decided yet if I am going to use the Flickr site to help me create a virtual field trip about our state or if I'll just record a podcast. Which one do you think I should do, Mom?


Not wanting her daughter to know that she had absolutely no idea what language she just used, Mom confidently replied, "Oh, I don't know, Honey. I think that a wikiflick might be nice, but that webpod thing sounds pretty interesting too. I'm sure you'll do a great job no matter which one you decide to do. Now, would you mind driving to the store and picking up a gallon of milk?"


As Caitlyn stands to take her plate to the sink, she giggles loudly,"Awww, Mom! You know I'm only in the second grade!"


Other than the mother asking a second grader to drive to the store, this scenario surely takes place in kitchens across America on a daily basis. Children as young as preschool are more technologically advanced than many adults. Today's classrooms are moving from pen and paper to laptops and various wireless gizmos and gadgets. Instead of reading about a speech made by a famous politician, they can now watch it on sites like YouTube. They can even re-create the speech and post their own video on YouTube.

As I watched a video for one of my online classes the other day, I had to chuckle as I listened to the professor tell about how everyone was just so astounded by the invention of the blackboard. In most of today's classrooms the blackboard is just as extinct as the tyrannasaurus rex. Then I realized that when my daughter is my age, she will be chuckling at how astonished we were by our "technology". What's even more awe-inspiring is when I consider what the classrooms of my grandchildren will be like. Will there even be classrooms anymore? Will there come a day when students can just stay home and learn everything they need to know from the screen in front of them? Anything's possible, I guess.