Technology has become an integral part of our lives. No matter if it is at home, at work, or in the case of children, at school as well, or at least it should be. Whether or not technology has become an integral part of the educational community depends on two factors. One, the availability of technology within a school district, and two, the determination of each individual teacher to incorporate technology within their lessons. Unfortunately, many technological devices have been banned from schools since schools have been slow to embrace this movement (November, 2007). The implementation of the technological age has fallen upon the shoulders of the classroom teachers. While their districts may not be pushing the integration of technology within the classroom, each teacher should be making it a priority to create lessons that allow their students to utilize technology within their learning process.
As I reflect back, I realize that there are many new technology tools and educational strategies that I have learned upon completing this class. This class has both exposed me to and has allowed me to gain some experience using such tools as blogs, wikis, and podcasts. Prior to completing this class, I had only heard of these tools. Now, I am revamping some of my lessons in such a way that will allow me to utilize these types of tools within my classroom. Even with these new advances in technology, teachers need to ensure that they are utilizing them in such a manner that is different from their normal practices and not just using them to present things in a different manner to their students (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010a).
One way that I have deepened my knowledge as a teacher is to come to realize that the traditional pedagogy of centering instruction around the teacher is quickly becoming outdated. No longer do students have to memorize everything that is presented to them since the information they need to know is right there at their finger-tips by researching the desired topic on the internet (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010b). This fact alone is a major contrast to the state achievement tests students are required to take. These tests still favor the paper / pencil method approach along with the memorization of facts. Another new concept learned during this course was the categorization of my students as digital natives. In order to be considered to be a digital native, a person must be born during a time that allows for computers, video games, and the internet to be an integral part of their daily lives (Prensky, 2001). This new classification of learners can pose a challenge to their teachers who are classified as digital immigrants. In order to actively engage their students in the learning process, their 'digital immigrant' teachers must first learn how to use the technology themselves, and then find innovative ways in which to include this technology into their instruction.
The area that I consider to be the most vital new approach learned during this class is the need for the fundamental shift from teacher led instruction to student centered learning (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010c). Due to the ever-changing world around us, it is imperative for teacher to grasp this shift and create lessons that place the responsibility of learning on their students. This new approach to learning will allow students to learn how to research the information that they need and then evaluate this information for its credibility (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010d). All of which are skills that students will need to possess by the time they graduate.
Upon the completion of this course, I still plan on expanding my knowledge of integrating technology within the classroom. One such way I plan on accomplishing this goal is by following blogs that focus on new and innovative ways of using technology to enhance not only a teacher's instruction, but also their students learning as well. I also plan on continuing to implement more technology within my lessons as well. One thing I am in the process of learning is that this shift to integrate is a slow process. Since this is the first time that I have utilized some of these new tools within my lessons, along with the fact that many of my students have never used tools such as blogs, wikis, or podcasts before, I have to work in these new methods within my lessons while ensuring that I am not falling behind in my schedule of preparing my students for our state achievement tests that will take place during spring.
By utilizing the knowledge attained while taking this course, I have developed two long-term goals that will help transform my classroom environment to one that embraces technology. One of these goals is to shift my teaching style from one that is teacher-centered to one that embraces student-centered learning that allows the teacher to perform as a facilitator in such an environment. This transformation will be difficult for me personally since I find myself struggling with notion of relinquishing control to my students. In order to achieve this goal, I plan on implementing a few lessons this spring in which the responsibility of learning the material will rest with my students. To go along with this shift, my second goal is to utilize more technology within my lessons. This goal will be more of a challenge for me to attain due to the limited amount of technology that we have within our building. Currently, we are limited to two computer labs to share with almost 500 students and only two computers within the classroom as well. In addition to the limited technology, I will also have to battle my district's censorship that filters out many useful websites or programs that I have already tried to utilize within my classroom. While my second goal may prove to be the more difficult of the two to achieve, my plan is to spend this summer developing more student-centered lessons that require my students to utilize technology in order to complete them.
Finally, at the start of this course, we were required to complete a checklist in regards to our implementation of technology within the classroom. When I completed this checklist eight weeks ago, I found that many of my answers feel within the sometimes or rarely categories when it comes to how often my lessons included my students using technology, collaborating with each other, or engaging in what would be considered as student-centered learning. My strongest areas, or areas that I checked 'often' for, were areas in regards to how much that I, as the teacher, utilized technology while teaching my lessons and the research that I do personally in order to discover innovative new websites or methods that feature technology that can be used within the classroom. But again, most of these advancements that I was researching was for new concepts, strategies, or ideas that I could use myself while teaching the lesson. Looking back upon this checklist, I am finding that my responses for how often my students utilize technology or collaborate with each other within my classroom have not changed much. Even though I am currently trying to utilize new technology and new approaches to learning, I am finding out that their implementation is a slow process. Especially when you have to keep your primary focus on your students performance on achievement tests. My implementation of technology along with these new methods have to be integrated in such a manner that will not allow my students to fall behind in terms of their preparation for these upcoming tests. A fact, by itself, that frustrates me to no end.
References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Program number 2: Evolution of technology and pedagogy[DVD]. Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore, MD: Author
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Program number 17: Transforming the classroom with technology [DVD]. Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Program number 21: The changing role of the classroom teacher: Part 1 [DVD]. Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Program number 22: The changing role of the classroom teacher: Part 2 [DVD]. Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore, MD: Author.
November, A. (2007). Banning student “containers.” Technology & Learning. Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/article/7468
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5).
