Posts
This
course has helped me developed my own technology skills by encouraging me to
try some new technologies for the first time.
Honestly I had never blogged or done a podcast before this class and my
wiki experience was limited. This class
showed me that using these new technologies is not difficult although it seems
daunting at first. I feel that I would
be much more inclined to seek out and try new technologies that could benefit
my students in the classroom.
Through this class I have learned that students
learn differently and that lecturing is no longer effective because of the
plethora of resources available online (Richardson, 2010). The role of the teacher is changing to be
more of a facilitator and less of a lecturer (Laureate Education Inc., 2010). Additionally the skills our students need to
be successful in the work force are changing because future careers will be
more global and flexible due to the sharp increase of world-wide technology
usage (Laureate Education Inc., 2010).
In that way this class made me think about how I am delivering content
in my class, how teacher-centered my room can be at some times, how I can get
my students using technology to enhance their learning and how I am preparing
my students for success in the 21st century. In my content area there does have to be some
teacher-led instruction but I feel that encouraging my students to solve
problems and create projects using technology could help open up the Spanish
language and culture to the students in my classroom.
When
looking at my checklist from the beginning of this course my answers have
changed at the end of this course because now I am more aware of the integral
role technology plays in learning; a role that is beyond simply using a
PowerPoint and a SMART board as a projector. In my teaching I have done a much
better job of modeling self-reflection and encouraging students to take greater
responsibility in their own learning. My
students have been using technology more since I started this class. Also I have thought more about the choices I
am making in my instruction and how what I am doing promotes 21st
century skills and technology literacy for my students. Although I have not
completely changed my use of technology in the classroom I am off to a good
start and look forward to implementing new ideas and technology skills I have
learned. I feel like I have more
information in order to become a teacher leader in regards to technology
implementation in my school. I look
forward to using the skills I learned in this class to model appropriate
technology usage for colleagues and students.
Next
year my goal is to have one of my major projects per semester be technology
based. A challenge in meeting this goal
is that many of my projects are district assessments and controlled by this
district. To face this problem and accomplish
this goal I plan to advocate for our common presentational assessments in our
district to all have a technology option.
Within
two years my goal is to have one of my major projects per quarter be technology
based. The challenge with my district is
the same but I plan to continue to advocate for technology based assessments
using information I learned in this class through our learning resources. Another challenge I may face in doing one
technology based project per quarter is the availability of technology
resources in my school but I am going to plan ahead to sign up for labs and
computers in order to accomplish this goal.
My
ultimate goal is for each of my students to create an electronic portfolio
document that they can put all of these projects/assessments in so they can
track their own progress and learning.
This type of document could serve as a resource for my students as they
move through the levels of Spanish as well.
A challenge with this goal is deciding if I am going to use a ready-made
electronic portfolio system or if I am going to create my own document template
for students to create. I need to decide
which system is going to allow for me to best oversee and give feedback/grade
on the portfolio process. This summer I
plan to look at each option and start working on setting up this system. I plan to start slow by having my students
add a couple things each year but within 5 years I plan to have my students
upload each of their projects and assessments along with other writing and
speaking samples. By starting slowly and
taking time to set up this process I feel that having a portfolio system could
be very successful, exciting, and helpful to my students, me and other
teachers.
When
looking back on this course I am thankful that I learned so much because I was,
quite honestly, further behind in my technology knowledge than I thought. The most exciting this I learned is that with
technology the possibilities in the classroom are endless. I plan to explore these opportunities. I can continue to learn about educational
technology in many ways but I plan to continue to visit the suggested sites on
the wiki my group created for this course, talk with colleagues and share ideas
for incorporating technology, attending district offered technology courses and
subscribe to technology education blogs using RSS feed technology. I look
forward to changing my teaching from here on out to reflect advances in
education and society.
References
Laureate Education,
Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). [Webcast]. Skills for the 21st
century. Baltimore, MD: Laureate Media.
Laureate Education,
Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). [Webcast]. Skills for the 21st
century. Baltimore, MD: Laureate Media.
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs,
wikis, podcasts and other powerful web tools for the classroom. Throusand
Oaks, CA: Corwin.
