Upon reflection of my latest course taken through Walden
University, I realize that I have gained a wealth of new knowledge and skills
that will assist me in preparing my students for the 21st century workplace. Blogs,
wikis, and podcasts are all extremely accessible and meaningful resources that
can be used for collaboration, assessment, and communication purposes. I am
eager to begin incorporating these various technological tools in my own
classroom because I believe that my students will enjoy and benefit from these new
web tools.
To begin, this particular course has helped me to develop my
own technology skills in the classroom. While I have been keeping my own
teacher’s weblog for quite some time and have also required my students to
create their own blogs in the past, I did not make enough use of them to be
considered a valuable learning tool. Now that I have revisited the idea of
keeping a blog and have gathered numerous ideas for their use, I am convinced
that blogs are excellent methods of communication that I would like to
reinstate in my classes. In his book Blogs,
Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, Will
Richardson (2010) provides many interesting ways of incorporating blogs into
lessons. For example, he suggests having students create their own blogs to “complete
class writing assignments” and “express their opinions on topics you are
studying in class” (p. 40). As a language arts teacher, I know there are countless
interesting prompts I can post onto my blog to which students can respond on
their own blogs. Additionally, I appreciate the opportunities for peer to peer
communication that blogs allow. Some students are very shy and may be hesitant
to participate in class. Blogs give all students a voice, and some students may
be more comfortable sharing in this mode. Richardson (2010) writes that a blog
gives these taciturn students “the opportunity to share in writing the ideas
they may be too shy to speak” (p. 27). After gaining more experience with blogs
through this course, I am excited to give them a second chance. In addition to
blogs, I have learned much more about wikis and podcasts, two forms of
technology I have never used before. I will admit that I felt somewhat anxious
about using these tools because I believed that they would be very challenging
and time-consuming. However, I now know that they are both relatively simple
and even fun to use. Creating a podcast and contributing to a group wiki for
this course have proven to me that I can absolutely make room for these types
of technology in my curriculum, and fortunately, I also feel comfortable
teaching my students how to utilize podcasts and wikis.
Furthermore, this course has expanded my own knowledge of
the evolving teaching and learning process. According to Dr. David Thornburg,
some important issues in the world of education today include the changing work
environment, the fact that today’s students learn differently from students in
the past, and the changing role of the teacher (Laureate Education, Inc.). Today’s
changing work environment has an enormous impact on the teaching and learning
process because students need to be prepared in new ways. In “The Changing Work
Environment: Part 2,” Dr. Chris Dede discusses critical skills that our
students will need for the future, including expert decision making skills and
complex communication skills (Laureate Education, Inc.). Therefore, the
teaching and learning process must change in order to address these components.
In fact, there is an abundance of newer skills with which our students should
be equipped by the time they graduate. These skills are called 21st century skills,
and they include critical thinking, problem solving, social responsibility,
leadership, and more. Of course, this changes the teaching and learning process
because teachers now have more responsibility in the classroom. In addition to
the basic curriculum, teachers must ensure that they are incorporating lessons
and activities that teach these necessary skills. Luckily, The Partnership for 21st Century Skills, a national organization, has created a
helpful website for educators to assist them in this endeavor. They believe
that “U.S. schools must align classroom environments with real world
environments” in order to prepare students “to successfully face rigorous
higher education coursework, career challenges, and a globally competitive
workforce” (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2011). In today’s workforce,
these skills are particularly valuable because the job market is very
competitive. Moreover, we are living in an era of globalization and
outsourcing, and many jobs are being given to those overseas. Friedman (2005) writes,
“Globalization 3.0 is not only going to be driven more by individuals but also
by a much more diverse -- non-Western, nonwhite -- group of individuals. In
Globalization 3.0, you are going to see every color of the human rainbow take
part” (p. 2). To ensure that our students have a chance in the global
workforce, we must begin preparing them now. Unfortunately, preparing our
students for tomorrow is not as easy as it once was because young people learn
differently from previous generations. While I had suspected that today’s
students are different, this course’s resources verified the changes that have
taken place in the way students learn. Marc Prensky (2001), informs us that digital
natives, or today’s students, “are all ‘native speakers’ of the digital
language of computers, video games and the Internet” while digital immigrants
“were not born into the digital world but have, at some later point…become
fascinated by and adopted many or most aspects of the new technology” (p.1).
Because many of our schools’ digital natives are being taught by digital
immigrants, there is a divide between the archaic teaching methods of the past,
such as the reliance on lectures, and the innovative teaching styles of today,
such as the use of various technologies. It is my belief that educators must
adapt to the learning styles of today’s students by teaching what they want to
learn, putting their excellent multi-tasking abilities to use, and including activities
that hold their interest and challenge them to use technology in various ways.
Next, while I have always agreed with the philosophy that a
classroom should be learner-centered, I have certainly gained new ideas about
how to maintain this type of learning environment. The teacher should not be
the focus of the classroom. It is difficult to avoid this mentality as our
students are often used to it as well, but the attempt must be made to keep the
focus on students, whether they are working individually or in groups. I think
that a teacher should fulfill a facilitator-like role. Students should be doing
the work on their own, with a teacher available for guidance and support. Incorporating
activities such as class discussions, groups projects, debates, blogs, wikis,
web quests, and podcasts put more responsibility on the students’ shoulders.
Requiring students to complete the work themselves and adhere to deadlines
teaches responsibility and helps to preserve a rigorous, challenging work environment.
Additionally, students learn better when they are completing work on their own.
For example, asking students to complete a web quest assignment about WWII,
complete with photographs; film clips; and timelines; will surely teach them
more about the event than sitting behind a desk; listening to a teacher’s
lecture; and taking notes would teach them. Another learner-centered activity
is the utilization of a wiki. Through wikis, students can collaborate on an
assignment and communicate in a fresh way. In “Spotlight on Technology:
Collaboration through Wikis,” teacher Jeff Houston demonstrates how teachers
can guide students through the learning process and interact with students in
an unobtrusive manner that keeps the focus on students. Also, “more companies
are using social computing tools to aid collaboration and to foster innovation
and growth” (Tapscott & Williams, 2007). Therefore, learner-centered activities,
such as the wiki, are proven to be effective ways of preparing students for their
futures.
While I believe that I learned many valuable things in this
course, I know that my own education is far from over. I may now know how to
integrate blogs, wikis, and podcasts in my classroom, but there are many other
types of technology I have yet to discover. I will continue to expand my knowledge
of learning, teaching, and technology by continuing my coursework through
Walden University. I will take advantage of the professional learning
opportunities that my school has to offer and continue to read scholarly
journals that focus on the teaching of language arts. When new forms of
technology that can be used in the classroom are brought to my attention, I
will do my best to learn about them so that I can share my knowledge with my
students. Additionally, I will listen to my students about the content they
wish to learn and make sure that they are finding accurate, reliable
information on their quests for knowledge.
This course has inspired me to set two goals for
transforming my classroom environment in the near future. My first goal is to
incorporate a technological component into each unit of the curriculum. For
example, during the Shakespeare unit, I could have my students collaborate on a
wiki as part of a group assignment based on social offenses found in Romeo and Juliet. During our reading of The Odyssey, students can create
podcasts that describe how their own virtues compare to those of Odysseus. And
as for blogs, I can require students to post in response to topics that are
relevant to each text that we read together. Unfortunately, in my goal to
integrate more technology, I could potentially run into problems with Internet
access at my school. There is little that I can do to overcome these issues,
but I must do my best to remain optimistic and not relinquish my plans to
prepare my students to be technologically proficient. Of course, as 87% of
today’s students have Internet access in their homes and the rest may use the
computers available after school, I can also require Internet-related work to
be completed outside of class (Laureate Education, Inc.). Next, my second goal
is to remain open-minded and be willing to evolve along with my students. If my
students are 21st century learners, then I want to be a 21st century teacher. I
plan to create exciting lesson plans that engage my students and hold their
interest. I also plan to teach my students as many 21st century skills as
possible, so that they become responsible, intelligent, empathetic,
well-rounded individuals who are very successful in the workplace of tomorrow.
I do not foresee any obstacles that could stand in the way of this goal. As
long as I continue to teach the curriculum, I believe that my inclusion of
these skills would be supported by my colleagues and administrators.
After revisiting the checklist from Week 1, I have found a
few of my answers to be changed. Specifically, one statement reads “Provide
students with multiple and varied opportunities for using technology tools and
resources to support the learning.” In the beginning of the course, I selected “Sometimes”
as my answer, but now, in regard to my plans for the upcoming school year, I
would select “Often” because I am now equipped with more options for technology
inclusion in my classroom. Furthermore, another statement reads “Promote the
development of leadership and technology skills in my students and colleagues.”
Again, I chose “Sometimes” as my answer a few weeks ago, but now I would choose
“Often.” I feel comfortable teaching blogs, wikis, and podcasts not just to my
students, but to my colleagues, as well. Having knowledge of these newer technological
tools makes me feel empowered and confident because I could easily help my
colleagues learn how to use these tools so that they can also enhance their own
instruction.
Overall, I believe it is clear that this course has helped
me to become a more effective educator who is equipped to prepare digital
natives for the 21st century workplace. I cannot wait to begin improving my
unit plans with all of the ideas I have gained in this course!
References
Friedman, T. (2005, April 3). It's a flat world, after all. The
New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/03/magazine/03DOMINANCE.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=It's%20a%20flat%20world,%20after%20all&st=cse
Laureate Education, Inc (2010). Spotlight on Technology: Collaboration
Through Wikis” [Video]. (Available from Walden University).
Laureate Education, Inc (2010). The Changing Work
Environment, Parts 1 and 2 [Video].
(Available from Walden University).
Prensky, M. (2001a). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On
the Horizon, 9(5).
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other
powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd
ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Tapscott, D., & Williams, A. (2007, March 26). The wiki
workplace. Businessweek.com.
The Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2011).
The partnership for 21st century skills [Website].
Retrieved from http://www.p21.org.
