As my class comes to an end, I am asked to reflect upon the journey I have taken over past few weeks. Before taking this class, I had found that I did not participate in many of the 21st Century Skills within my classroom. I may have an interactive white board, but I only used it as a glorified whiteboard to save and print notes that we were taking. According to a technology checklist that I completed at the beginning of the course, I realized that I was failing to provide my students with the technology rich environment they need. The class, Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society, has not only taught me about the importance of including 21st Century Skills in the classroom, but pushed me and opened my eyes to a world of technology I had never known existed. This is the world of wikis, blogging, podcasting, and more.
Our students are growing up in a society where they need to learn how to work cooperatively. In the business world, most, if not all, jobs require interaction and teamwork in order to complete a task. In the past, teachers were standing in front of a classroom and lecturing. Students had to read from the textbook and take notes. This is not the world we live in today. Students today need to feel empowered to discover on their own, to question, and to problem solve.
As teachers we cannot teach our children the way we used to. If thought about for a minute, try being in their shoes. How often have we sat during a meeting or a professional development doodling, texting, correcting papers, playing ‘words with friends’ on our cell phones, or anything else that is a distraction from the learning that is supposed to be going on in front of us? In an article “Listen to the Natives,” Prensky (2005) compares kids with adults. Why is it that we get so frustrated with kids when they start texting or doodling during class or writing notes? Our students are bored. They are so used to having something flashing in front of them instantly on a screen or teaching themselves how to use a new program or play a new game. We need to start taking this boredom as a sign to change our own teaching styles by incorporating 21st Century Skills and utilizing a more cooperative learning process.
With school beginning in a couple of weeks, I would really like to improve my use of blogging within the classroom. According to Hall Davidson and Dr. Thornburg, students will most likely be more engaged in something if they have an audience, other than the teacher (Laureate, 2010). In the past, I only posted articles for my students to comment on. What I would like to begin doing is allow my students to post their own creations and be able to comment on each other’s posting. I will hopefully see an improvement in writing, as well as with the topic we are studying about.
Another goal I have set for myself is to create a classroom social studies wiki where my students will be creating their own social studies text. I have noticed over the past few years that my students are unable to fully comprehend the textbook we have in the classroom. I have always found myself looking up items for them to read and learn. By incorporating a wiki, I can allow my students to work cooperatively, question the topics, research the information they would like to know about, and finally be able to share it in a student created wiki.
Being on summer vacation throughout this course has made it very difficult to really test out what I have learned. I hope that once school begins, I will be able to help my students enjoy learning by including the 21st Century knowledge I have acquired over these past few weeks. After a month or so of teaching, I plan on looking at the technology checklist again to see if I really have improved my teaching practices.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Transforming the Classroom With Technology: Part 2. Baltimore, MD: Author
Prensky, M. (2005). Listen to the natives. Educational Leadership, 63(4), 8–13.
