Reflection  –

Technology in Work, Society, and Education

            Over the course of the last eight weeks, I have begun to transform my theory about how students learn and what they need to know to be successful beyond the classroom.  In the first week of this course, I thought I had a technology-rich classroom.  Now, it is clear to me that I had only scratched the surface of what it means to utilize all the many ways technology can be integrated into the classroom.  I want to be the courageous educator who works with students to explore the power of 21^st century tools with the intent of empowering my students to be lifelong learners and active shapers of a world we cannot yet imagine (November, 2007).   Many students explore the technological world without realizing the implications of what they are doing.  I am determined to create an environment that supports my digital natives’ needs while teaching them the necessary academics, critical thinking skills, and how to use technology ethically.

            21^st Century Learners need to be given opportunities to expand their critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity skills in an environment where it’s safe to take chances and make mistakes.  Although students are digital-natives and tech savvy, they don’t know how to think critically about the information they use (Miners, 2007).  One way to encourage my students to push through the challenges of learning how to learn would be to teaching them how read Web pages and search engine results.  Throughout the first month of school, I envision taking a question my students have about a particular topic and showing them by thinking aloud how I would filter through the results and information on the website.  I would repeat the modeling of this skill until my students begin to demonstrate the skills on their own.  Students will use search engines throughout the rest of their lives and by developing their critical thinking skills at such an early age, will only set them up for success in their future. 

            Collaboration over a shared project is something that my students struggled with this last year.  I tried many things last year to help my students gain positive experiences in working with others, however, many were simply not interested in the projects.  I have seen in my students their need for instant gratification and rewards but am often reluctant to it to them so they learn how to be intrinsically motivated (Prensky, 2001).  I see now that my students need the gratification to feel successful in the classroom.   With this in mind, I am setting two goals for two technology-based, collaboration projects.  First, I will be setting up a classroom blog to encourage exceptional thinking and clear communication.  A blog gives students an opportunity to read, think, and respond, in writing to events and issues that are important for them to understand (Miners, 2007).  To ensure that all of my students can find success in using a blog, I would expect all students to respond to the blog as a part of our literacy block at least once a week.  Initially, students will create one post as a group and eventually, post as an individuals.  Secondly, I want to deepen my students’ interests in science and expand our use of technology by using wikis instead of tri-folds for our science fair projects.  I will show my students how to use and create wikis throughout the first half of the year and by January, have students begin creating with a group.  As we move to small groups, then partner work, and eventually individuals, students will critique and offer suggestions to each other.  Knowing they will be creating for an audience, will deepen their motivation as students are deeply motivated to produce outstanding artifacts when they are creating for others instead of creating for a grade (Laureate, 2010).  The accomplishment of these two goals will give my students a vast number of authentic opportunities to collaborate and critically think about the content in 4^th grade.  

            The technology skills I have gained as an educator will allow me to effectively develop responsible 21^st Century skills in my students.  I am confident that I will be able to infuse technology throughout the curriculum so that it fits with my students’ learning styles.  I know that throughout my future courses at Walden I will continue to expand my understanding of technology and all that I can do with it in my classroom.  I have also reached out to my principal for support in the coming years and accountability for the goals I have set for myself. I am completely excited for all the possibilities and skills technology can offer my students!

 :)  Katie

Resources:

Laureate Education, Inc. (2010). Designing curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Miners, Z., & Pascopella, A. (2007). The new literacies. District Administration, 43(10), 26–34.

November, A. (2007). Banning student “containers.” Technology & Learning. Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/article/banning-student--containers-/44387

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5).