It is amazing how fast time flew by the last eight weeks. Understanding the impact of technology, work and society has been an enjoyable and challenging experience. I am certain that I have gained insight and knowledge that will positively impact my teaching.
This class has been a tremendous help for my development as a technology savvy professional. Upon entering this class I would have never dreamed of creating a blog or podcast and now I have created both. The process was not always easy, but I kept in mind the words of Dr. Thornburg and Dede, which stressed the importance of teachers and their classrooms being able to teach students the skills necessary for success in the 21st Century.
Upon the conclusion of this class I find myself realizing the importance of keeping my instruction and methodology current. I have only been out of school for eight years and so much has changed. I realize that my instruction must be meaningful and connect to the boarder picture of life. I now see that by making my instruction relevant to the skills needed in the real world that students will buy into the concepts as well as benefit from them. Finally, I learned that teaching does not have to be a top down trickle of information.
I am a very teacher centered instructor and this class has shown me that there are other and sometimes more beneficial methods. Group discovery is not a bad thing, as students spend hours on the Internet and using other forms of technology, they have gained an expertise and affinity for technology. By allowing them to navigate the web and find credible sources and help teach themselves and others, they are learning skills that will benefit them the rest of their lives. I do not think I will completely eliminate teacher based instruction because as I have stated before, I truly love to tell the story that is history, but I realize now that learning can take place from sources other than my sometimes limited knowledge base.
I aim to continue my acquisition of knowledge in the area of technology and education. I really feel that as I move forward with this class I will continue to utilize technology in ways I never considered. I will also frequent some of the technology PLCs that we investigated as a class. It was so refreshing to see that there are other people out their with ideas and problems that I can talk to beyond those individuals in my department or district.
Two long term goals that I plan to set for myself is to make my classroom and lessons roughly seventy percent teacher centered. This may not seem like a lot, but for myself this is a great step forward. I plan to develop activities, projects and methods of relaying information that go beyond traditional instruction. I hope to use blogs and podcasts as tools for achieving these goals. I really enjoyed blogging and would love to use it in my classroom. The second goal that I have set for myself is to create a an up to date teacher website that gives students the opportunity to get missed course work, access the class blog, and maybe even an area for interesting facts about history that are just for fun. Both of the goals face one problem, a lack of access to technology. My district has roughly sixty-five computers for 600 students. I think that I can plan around this by setting aside specific class days in the computer lab, but again that may not always be enough and in a diverse economic area such as my district, not every kid has the internet at home. Technology is supposed to enhance learning and make learning easier, but if it is difficult to even get access, frustration and a feeling of embarrassment could occur.
Upon review of my checklist, I have not too many of my answers change. I look forward to the implementation of technology in my classroom. I know this will not be easy but I understand the importance of my job and believe technology is a great tool for preparing kids with the skills needed to be competitive in a Global 21st century job market.
No comments:
Post a Comment