What a journey! I have learned so much in a short amount of
time. I have never created a blog, I have never created a wiki page, and I have
never created a podcast. I did these things during this course, and I still
managed to deepen my knowledge of the teaching and learning process along the
way. When I was creating the blog I came
up with many ideas on how to incorporate it into my classroom that supports our
curriculum and incorporates the International Society for Technology in Education
standards as well. The wiki page I found difficult, but with practice and maybe
some more ideas, I can find a use for it.
I think the podcast was great. I
can see them really wanting to create a podcast in lieu of writing a paper. I am also of toying with the idea of using a
podcast as an extension of their learning by posting the concepts of daily
lessons for review, or to get a better understanding of the day’s lesson.
This course also reinforced some of the
skills that I have been using in my class, while also learning about 21st-century
skills that allowed me to take a more profound look into the direction of education
in today’s society. Even though I have not changed every lesson to be learner-centered,
I am structuring more culminating activities to be less teacher-centered, and
take the role of a facilitator rather than a lecturer. With activities at the
end of a unit, students should have a decent background allowing them to
explore and complete self-guided tasks.
This is definitely not the end of the
journey for me. As technology progresses,
so will the use of technology and the evolution of technology. I will continue
to expand my knowledge of learning and teaching with the goal of increasing
student achievement. I will keep up with the current practices through publications
like Tech & Learning magazine for technology ideas, and take advantage of district
professional development opportunities with current 21st-century themed skills.
I would like to establish a couple of goals
for the future. First, I would like incorporate
more Web 2.0 tools in the classroom. I am comfortable with using a blog, but
having the students use more tools they use regularly and integrate them into
the curriculum would be ideal. I would also
like to use more social media sites and alternative posting methods for final
products, like a podcast or a wiki page.
For my second goal, I would like to do more exploratory activities where
the students have to use the Internet for research, and posting their findings
online. This is where I would like to incorporate
a more student-centered classroom. Acting as a facilitator and having them figure
out how to solve problems will give meaning to these lessons and build the confidence
in the students so they can feel like they can function on their own in the
digital age.
When looking back at the checklist from
week one, it is hard to say that many of the items have changed at this
particular time. I see many items that
will change in the future. These changes
will happen primarily because of the lack of knowledge I had to use the tools
necessary for particular skills, or having the resources available to implement
these skills. I would say that my
motivation to incorporate these skills has changed the most. I have a better understanding of 21st-century
skills the students should obtain and I acquired guidance on what technology skills
teachers should be proficient at to better prepare their students for the
modern world.
