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