Looking Ahead!

I have now completed my third course in my Master's Program, Integrating Technology Into the Classroom, and I am thrilled about what I have learned so far. Not only do I have a better understanding about what my students will need to be prepared for the 21st century, but I have learned how to use some key digital tools to help me prepare them.

As author Marc Prensky (2001) explains so nicely, many of todays teachers are digital immigrants, those who were not born into the digital age, but may at some point become interested in it, are now educating digital natives, or "native speakers" of the digital language of computers, video games, and the Internet. While we continue to use techniques that worked for us, while we were growing up, today's students no longer learn in the same way and need to be taught differently.

According to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2002, which I listed on this blogsite in an earlier post), "there remains a profound gap between the knowledge and skills most students learn in school and the knowledge and skills they need in typical 21st century communities and workplaces." Therefore it is up to teachers to bridge that gap. For many educators, that means that they need to continue to be life-long learners themselves, and to continue to try new things in the classroom. Today, that means incorporating technology into the classroom. The Partnership continues to tell us that "in this environnment, the need for technologically literate citizens and workers increases every year. Skilled people in the 21st century need to understand how to use technology tools. Current 21st century tools include computers, networking and other technologies, plus audio, video, and other media and multimedia tools."

As you can see, I created, for the first time, a blog site. It has been a truly amazing way to communicate and I can see using this tool in the classroom. I was also able to learn how to use a wiki with a small group of classmates, and learned how to record a podcast. Each of these digital tools can easily be incorporated into the classroom and would make learning not only more fun for the students, but more relevant and useful for their future.

One goal for the upcoming years would be to take the ten main topics of my Algebra II course and have the students use wikis to create a "student friendly version" of the textbook. I would like to see them, in small groups, write the chapters of the book in a way that makes sense to them. They would use examples, definitions, real-world connections, and creativity to reflect on what they learned in the classroom. They could create podcasts or videos of a certain topic which could then be incorporated into their wiki pages. They would need to know the material well enough to be able to "teach" it to someone else creatively.

A second goal would be to have a homework hotline. Many of my students go home at the end of the day and struggle with the math problems. It would be nice if they could go online and "chat" with each other to get help. This would allow for those who understood the material to feel good about themselves, and for those who needed help to get it before they came back to class.

Both of these goals support the 5Cs of Learning Theory; Context, Construction, Caring, Competence and Community (Trilling, 2005). Context demands more authentic learning tasks that match real world conditions, which we can see in the case of getting help with a real problem in the homework hotline. Construction demands the making of external models to match the internal models that are being made inside of our heads. Caring allow the students to create something with which they can be evaluated and care about. Competence discusses the fact that there are a variety of intellegences and approaches to learning that need to be put into a group, and Community talks about a team approach to problem solving. The making of the wiki will support all of these steps.

Today's students learn differently than we did, and as an educator I look forward to learning from my students while they learn from me.

References:

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

"Tech Talk" with Myers

I had to create a podcast for my class. Check it out - hope you enjoy it. It was fun and not too hard. I can see my students liking and using this medium.

http://kimmyers.podbean.com/mf/web/tuek9a/Record002.mp3

21st Century Skills.

After perusing the web site of the Partnership for 21st century skills, I was both excited and a bit disheartened. I am happy to see that there are groups of people and businesses that want to work together to bring technology into the classroom. With the proper tools, teachers will have an easier time teaching students the proper skills necessary to be ready for their community and workplace once they graduate. Skills such as creative and innovative thinking, teamwork and collaboration, self-direction and social responsibility to name a few. Although teachers are already hard at work to make these their students ready in these areas, students need to be able to practice these skills while using new and innovative technology. One of the points made in the groups mission statement says that "there remains a profound gap between the knowledge and skills most students learn in school and the knowledge and skills they need in typical 21st century communities and workplaces." The partnerships goals to help bring technology to schools will help teachers reduce this gap.

What disheartened me a bit, however, was the fact that they have been working on this goal since 2002. As of now, only a few states are a part of this partnership. California, where I currently teach, is not on the list. Seeing that Apple Computer, Dell and Microsoft are part of this partnership, it seems that more computers and software should be getting into the classrooms and fast. At a minimum the educator discounts should be much more substantial which would encourage teachers to buy lap tops and integrate this wonderful technology into their classrooms. They state that "infusing dynamic, real-world contexts into classroom learning will invigorate teacher and student engagement" and they propose to do that by "incorporating 21st century tools more effectively into administrative routines and school classrooms." When? That is my question. Relying on the school districts to spend money on technology in a time when cuts are being made is not going to make it happen.

I hope that this partnership will not just be one that looks good on paper but will become a true force for education and the integration of technology into the classrooms. What are your thoughts?

Using This Site As Part of My Curriculum

I have been thinking about how to use this blog as part of my curriculum. As you can see, I have enjoyed posting little things about me, and I think that my students would like to do so as well. I really wanted this page to be about reflections; a place where students and parents can respond to a prompt. It may be curriculum based or not. As I was going through the first two courses, I really walked away thinking about getting to know my students better. There is not really enough time to do that inside of the classroom, so maybe if they can write about a topic, they may open up and we can all benefit from the extra information.

However, I also wanted to form a "homework hotline" where students can help each other with the night's work. Any ideas out there? I teach high school math, Algebra II, and I realize that this may be difficult to do via computer. Has anyone done this successfully?? I would really like to promote the concept of peer tutoring - and having them do so on-line will allow others to see the same questions and answers. It will also give me a chance to see where the problems are, what students are struggling, and what students are stepping up to assist. Please send in any comments about this idea.