Setting goals helps me to continue to challenge myself and continue to grow in my profession. After reviewing the International Society for Technology in Education website and reading through the National Education Standards for Teachers, I have developed two goals that will help me to strengthen my confidence and proficiency in using technology in the classroom. It is my hope that I can meet these goals on some level despite my limited technology resources at school.
The first goal is from indicator 2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Experiences and Assessments: “design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity” (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008). To achieve this goal, I will begin to incorporate more technology into lessons that will benefit from the enhancement. For example, I can use a digital storytelling program to adapt my unit on the personal narrative. In the first marking period, students learn how to write a personal narrative which then goes into their writing portfolio. To incorporate technology into this unit, I can teach students how to use the digital storytelling program to “enable learners to reflect, represent, and communicate what they know” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p.67) in order to help the class “develop a deeper understanding of the perspectives of others” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p.69). Students will be given the opportunity to turn their writing into images and to record their narrative using a recording device. By creating lessons like this one, I will be teaching my students how to use technology and creative thinking skills to demonstrate what they know. To monitor the progress of my goal, I will observe my students during these technology rich lessons to determine if the addition of the technology to the lesson is benefitting the students as ideas may look good on paper, but one needs to see it in action to decide if it was beneficial or not. I will make adjustments to my lesson plans as needed for the next time I teach the lesson. To extend my learning, I will continue to research and read about different ways to use technology to enrich my lessons and promote student creativity and growth.
My second goal is from indicator 5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership: “contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and self-renewal of the teaching profession and of their school and community” (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008). To achieve this goal, I will continue to peruse my master’s degree in education with a concentration in adolescent literacy and technology. I will also continue to read and research information about technology being used in the classroom, so I can remain current in the latest tools being used to enhance student learning. Lastly, I will continue to take workshops offered by my school district that inform me about technology for the classroom. I have a professional developmental plan that I need to create each year at school and then I chart the different professional developmental programs that I attended. This chart will help me to monitor my goal as I record the classes I attend at Walden and the workshops I attend throughout the year. I will evaluate this goal by reflecting back each month and determining if I used the information I have learn that month to enhance my lessons. It is important that teachers change or adapt their lessons to meet the needs of the current students they have. Classes change each year regarding their needs and abilities. If I do not modify or adapt my lessons from year to year then I am not benefitting my students or being an effective teacher. I owe it to my students to replenishment my resources that I use to deliver my lessons, and I can do this effectively by meeting my goal.
Reference:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T). (2008). http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Reflection
Learning how to develop inquiry-based research projects has been an eye-opening experience for me as I have never created such a unit. Providing students with the opportunity to become investigators, to create their own questions to research, to use the Internet to uncover their answers, and then create a way to demonstrate their learning is what the 21st century learning environment should look like (Laureate Education, Inc, 2009). From the resources I read and the multimedia videos I watched, I was able to learn how beneficial this type of learning is for the students. Previously, I had provided students with the topics or the questions they needed to research. I realized, however, that teachers need to facilitate learning, but the students are the ones who need to become in control of how they learn. As stated in Reading the web: strategies for internet inquiry (Eagleton & Dobler, 2007),“A resourceful person may not know all the answers, but she is strategic and tenacious at finding them…when stumped a resourceful person does not give up but rather tries to think of another resourceful consult.” (119). Teachers need to teach their how to become a resourceful person in life. Students need to acquire the necessary skills such as: how to evaluate a web site to ensure the information is reliable, how to summarize the information, how to synthesize the information read in order to record it in some fashion, and how to deepen their questioning skills in order to proceed on their journey through the inquiry-research. Once the students master these valuable literacy skills, they will be able to use them for many reasons throughout their lives.
I have been greatly influenced by the amount of information I have learned in this course about web literacy and inquiry-based research projects. I realized that the learning that takes place during a lesson does not have to be contained to the classroom. Once students have mastered the necessary skills to embark on the inquiry-based research, they are ready to travel far and wide through the magic route of the Internet. In gaining this knowledge of the 21st century classroom and learning environment, I have been planning on executing next school year the inquiry-based research unit I created. In this unit, students will be exploring questions related to the Great Depression in preparation for the reading of two novels that occur during that time period. Students will get the opportunity to become active learners and explorers. I also would like to develop an inquiry-based project for my 7th graders in their writing class. I will be modifying the research project that my students do in December on a cultural holiday tradition or celebration. Previously, I provided them with questions to help guide them in their research; however, I now plan on teaching them the necessary skills to develop their own questions. I also have learned new ways to teach them how to be stronger investigators such as how to use search engines that are geared towards them, how to be more conscious of the words or phrases they type in the search engine, how to develop stronger questions that will expand their research (Eagleton & Dobler, 2007). With this knowledge, I will be able to better meet the needs of my 21st century students.
I have created a professional developmental goal that I would like to achieve for the 2010-2011 school year related to the use of web literacy. I would like to create a communication forum between my students and another class from a different state. In order to achieve this goal, I need to carefully plan out the process. I will first have to get approval from my school district to ensure we are allowed to use a blog forum as currently no teacher in my district is using technology in this manner. I will have to then connect with another teacher who is willing to arrange his or her time to plan the unit with me as well as be willing to teach the unit the same time that I do. After we create the unit, I will have to teach my students the essential literacy and web skills that I previously mentioned to be able to communicate through the use of a blog forum with students from the other class. Lastly, I will have to ensure the communication between the two classrooms continues until the end of the unit, or students will not remain motivated. Although many problems could occur, these are risks I am willing to take to expand the realm of the learning environment. Students will be able to learn that communication and learning can extend beyond the walls of our classroom as they connect with other students their age who are learning the same unit.
-Lauren Cogan
References:
Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the Web: Strategies for Internet inquiry. New York: The Guilford Press.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Armstrong, S. (Speaker). Program Nine. Project-based learning. [Motion Picture]. Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom. Baltimore: Author.
I have been greatly influenced by the amount of information I have learned in this course about web literacy and inquiry-based research projects. I realized that the learning that takes place during a lesson does not have to be contained to the classroom. Once students have mastered the necessary skills to embark on the inquiry-based research, they are ready to travel far and wide through the magic route of the Internet. In gaining this knowledge of the 21st century classroom and learning environment, I have been planning on executing next school year the inquiry-based research unit I created. In this unit, students will be exploring questions related to the Great Depression in preparation for the reading of two novels that occur during that time period. Students will get the opportunity to become active learners and explorers. I also would like to develop an inquiry-based project for my 7th graders in their writing class. I will be modifying the research project that my students do in December on a cultural holiday tradition or celebration. Previously, I provided them with questions to help guide them in their research; however, I now plan on teaching them the necessary skills to develop their own questions. I also have learned new ways to teach them how to be stronger investigators such as how to use search engines that are geared towards them, how to be more conscious of the words or phrases they type in the search engine, how to develop stronger questions that will expand their research (Eagleton & Dobler, 2007). With this knowledge, I will be able to better meet the needs of my 21st century students.
I have created a professional developmental goal that I would like to achieve for the 2010-2011 school year related to the use of web literacy. I would like to create a communication forum between my students and another class from a different state. In order to achieve this goal, I need to carefully plan out the process. I will first have to get approval from my school district to ensure we are allowed to use a blog forum as currently no teacher in my district is using technology in this manner. I will have to then connect with another teacher who is willing to arrange his or her time to plan the unit with me as well as be willing to teach the unit the same time that I do. After we create the unit, I will have to teach my students the essential literacy and web skills that I previously mentioned to be able to communicate through the use of a blog forum with students from the other class. Lastly, I will have to ensure the communication between the two classrooms continues until the end of the unit, or students will not remain motivated. Although many problems could occur, these are risks I am willing to take to expand the realm of the learning environment. Students will be able to learn that communication and learning can extend beyond the walls of our classroom as they connect with other students their age who are learning the same unit.
-Lauren Cogan
References:
Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the Web: Strategies for Internet inquiry. New York: The Guilford Press.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Armstrong, S. (Speaker). Program Nine. Project-based learning. [Motion Picture]. Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom. Baltimore: Author.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Websites for Students Researching The Great Depression
Here are the following websites I have bookmarked for students researching The Great Depression-specifically the Dust Bowl.
http://www.english.illinois.edu/Maps/depression/dustbowl.htm
http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/Cunfer.DustBowl
http://www.ccccok.org/museum/dustbowl.html.
-Lauren Cogan
http://www.english.illinois.edu/Maps/depression/dustbowl.htm
http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/Cunfer.DustBowl
http://www.ccccok.org/museum/dustbowl.html.
-Lauren Cogan
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Reflection
“The Read/Write Web holds transformational changes in store for teachers and students of all stripes. But, as is often the case, education has been slow to adapt to these new tools and potentials” (Richardson, 2009, p.3). My philosophy as to what is most important for my students and how I can ensure they process the information has changed dramatically since embarking on the journey throughout this course. During each week’s resources and readings, I was able to obtain further evidence that a big change is about to occur in the education field. I have come to realize that many districts are failing to enrich their students with the skills they will need to use in the 21st century business world. Educators need to move away from the lector approach of teaching in which they control the amount of knowledge that will be access and processed in a lesson to a more shared learning environment allowing the teacher and students to explore the information together. It is known that students learn best when they are working with information that they deem relevant to their lives in some way. By allowing students the ability to use the technology that is easily accessible to the public as tools to use in the learning process, students will be more likely to retain the information as well as gain knowledge of the skills that are needed in their futures. Students are using these tools already in their personal lives; why not expose them to the educational area of these tools. Although the educational system is slow to make the changes in their districts, I believe in the next several years educators will be changing their roles as “the knower of all information” to directional leaders guiding their students through the avenues of information and enabling them to discover in their own ways. Their approaches will no longer be centered around the teacher but on the learner.
I have begun to change my approach in teaching to be more focused on the learners as a result of discovering that my students are not being exposed to the 21st century skills essential to their futures. In reading class, we will be reading two books that deal with autism and how it affects a family. To explore this topic of autism in a more “learner centered” approach, I will be taking my students down to the computer lab to research autism. After exploring the topics on autism, students will present their information to the class. This will be a day of exploring, researching, sharing, and teaching. Students will be able to process more about this topic by exploring websites and sharing their findings with the class than if I was to give them a note sheet that answers questions about autism. They will be able to see different sides of the issues on autism and observe how it affects not only the individual but also the family. I am not an expert on autism, so I look forward to learning a few new things from my students during this lesson. Through this process of discovery, my students will be able to recognize many things about this condition and as they read their novel they will have a better perspective of the characters. The way in which learning takes place in my classroom will not change completely over night, but I will begin to make the switch over to a “learner-centered” classroom one unit at a time after agreeing with the need for these critical changes.
“Studies show that by their senior year, barely one-fourth of today's students agree that school is meaningful or their courses are interesting—and less than half believe what they learn in school will have any bearing on their success in life. However, evidence also shows that by engaging students through participatory media, we can turn these statistics around” (Nussbaum-Beach, 2008, p.1). It is so important that students understand why they are learning the curriculum and how it will be beneficial to their futures. This course has provided me with the opportunity to explore different media tools that I can incorporate into my lessons to not only deepen my ability to work with these different tools but also to peek the interests of learning for those who are bored in school. Technology tools such as podcasts and Wikis I had merely heard of but never explored or thought to incorporate into the classroom. Now, I have become more comfortable with these tools and seen the potential they have in the learning process. These tools can help teachers expose their students to 21st century skills such as collaboration, problem-solving, and team-work. By participating in making a group Wiki, I have explored the problems that may occur in the process, worked closely with others, and shared ideas. Individuals in the business world work with people in other states or countries on projects all the time, so by exposing my students to this realm of learning they are able to learn 21st century skills and understand the importance of what they are learning. As a result of working with additional technology more students will find learning meaningful and interesting.
I have set two long-term goals for myself that will help change my classroom environment to a 21st century classroom. Currently my school district has a strict surf control on student and teacher computers. When creating my podcast for this course, I had a very difficult time being able to access Audacity; luckily, my principal allowed me to use her computer to complete my assignment with the students. In order to meet my first goal of exposing students to podcasts and Wikis, I will have to petition my administration to unblock certain sites for the educational purpose I have in mind. I will not be able to take strides in transforming my classroom into a 21st century learning environment if I cannot have access to the technology needed to fulfill my goals. I plan on presenting my purpose for using the technology and the list of skills and outcomes students will obtain from using the technology. It is my hope with the state’s core curriculum content standards changing that the administration, too, will change with the times and allow my students access to the latest technology resources.
My second long-term goal is to change over from paper portfolios in writing class to online portfolios using student blogs to house the various writing artifacts that we create throughout the year. I do not plan on having students just post their best work rather a collection. This collection of work will consist of a writing piece every two weeks in order to chart the improvements they have been making throughout the school year. The class will reflect on their own writing as well as post on others’ blogs about what they liked in their writing pieces. For conducting peer-edits that we do in class after each writing unit, students will post comments for improvement on their partner’s blog. Through this process, students will obtain a greater desire to do well since others will be able to see their writing. Students will also be able to continue adding to their blog after the year is over if they wish. My obstacle that will have to be overcome in order to put the blogs into motion is to get permission from my principal and also to try and convince other teachers in the language arts department to switch over to e-portfolios. There are some teachers that may be hesitant in doing this since they have had the manila portfolios for years and years, but I believe if I show them how easy it is to create a blog and coach them through creating one, they may be more willing to do so with their classes. “”When you celebrate good work, or use students’ unique ideas to drive further discussion, it goes a long way to creating a community of learners” (Richardson, 2009, p.47). I believe by creating blogs it will expose students to more writing and help them learn from one another how to improve and value their writing techniques. If the other teachers jump on board with this goal I have for next year, the community of learners in my school district with be vast.
In order to continue increasing my knowledge of how to teach with technology, I will continue to take courses at Walden as well as continue to read education articles about this topic. It is my job, as an educator, to expose my students to the curriculum that I value to be essential to them in future grade levels as well as to set up a foundation of skills for their future careers. I want my students to succeed and have the 21st century skills that they need. By keeping myself up-to-date on the lasts forms of technology accessible in the classroom as well as ways to implement it, I am doing my job as their teacher in preparing them for the future and guiding them in the learning process.
Resource:
Nussbaum-Beach, S. (2008). No limits. Technology & Learning, 28(7), 14–18.
Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/article/8466
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
I have begun to change my approach in teaching to be more focused on the learners as a result of discovering that my students are not being exposed to the 21st century skills essential to their futures. In reading class, we will be reading two books that deal with autism and how it affects a family. To explore this topic of autism in a more “learner centered” approach, I will be taking my students down to the computer lab to research autism. After exploring the topics on autism, students will present their information to the class. This will be a day of exploring, researching, sharing, and teaching. Students will be able to process more about this topic by exploring websites and sharing their findings with the class than if I was to give them a note sheet that answers questions about autism. They will be able to see different sides of the issues on autism and observe how it affects not only the individual but also the family. I am not an expert on autism, so I look forward to learning a few new things from my students during this lesson. Through this process of discovery, my students will be able to recognize many things about this condition and as they read their novel they will have a better perspective of the characters. The way in which learning takes place in my classroom will not change completely over night, but I will begin to make the switch over to a “learner-centered” classroom one unit at a time after agreeing with the need for these critical changes.
“Studies show that by their senior year, barely one-fourth of today's students agree that school is meaningful or their courses are interesting—and less than half believe what they learn in school will have any bearing on their success in life. However, evidence also shows that by engaging students through participatory media, we can turn these statistics around” (Nussbaum-Beach, 2008, p.1). It is so important that students understand why they are learning the curriculum and how it will be beneficial to their futures. This course has provided me with the opportunity to explore different media tools that I can incorporate into my lessons to not only deepen my ability to work with these different tools but also to peek the interests of learning for those who are bored in school. Technology tools such as podcasts and Wikis I had merely heard of but never explored or thought to incorporate into the classroom. Now, I have become more comfortable with these tools and seen the potential they have in the learning process. These tools can help teachers expose their students to 21st century skills such as collaboration, problem-solving, and team-work. By participating in making a group Wiki, I have explored the problems that may occur in the process, worked closely with others, and shared ideas. Individuals in the business world work with people in other states or countries on projects all the time, so by exposing my students to this realm of learning they are able to learn 21st century skills and understand the importance of what they are learning. As a result of working with additional technology more students will find learning meaningful and interesting.
I have set two long-term goals for myself that will help change my classroom environment to a 21st century classroom. Currently my school district has a strict surf control on student and teacher computers. When creating my podcast for this course, I had a very difficult time being able to access Audacity; luckily, my principal allowed me to use her computer to complete my assignment with the students. In order to meet my first goal of exposing students to podcasts and Wikis, I will have to petition my administration to unblock certain sites for the educational purpose I have in mind. I will not be able to take strides in transforming my classroom into a 21st century learning environment if I cannot have access to the technology needed to fulfill my goals. I plan on presenting my purpose for using the technology and the list of skills and outcomes students will obtain from using the technology. It is my hope with the state’s core curriculum content standards changing that the administration, too, will change with the times and allow my students access to the latest technology resources.
My second long-term goal is to change over from paper portfolios in writing class to online portfolios using student blogs to house the various writing artifacts that we create throughout the year. I do not plan on having students just post their best work rather a collection. This collection of work will consist of a writing piece every two weeks in order to chart the improvements they have been making throughout the school year. The class will reflect on their own writing as well as post on others’ blogs about what they liked in their writing pieces. For conducting peer-edits that we do in class after each writing unit, students will post comments for improvement on their partner’s blog. Through this process, students will obtain a greater desire to do well since others will be able to see their writing. Students will also be able to continue adding to their blog after the year is over if they wish. My obstacle that will have to be overcome in order to put the blogs into motion is to get permission from my principal and also to try and convince other teachers in the language arts department to switch over to e-portfolios. There are some teachers that may be hesitant in doing this since they have had the manila portfolios for years and years, but I believe if I show them how easy it is to create a blog and coach them through creating one, they may be more willing to do so with their classes. “”When you celebrate good work, or use students’ unique ideas to drive further discussion, it goes a long way to creating a community of learners” (Richardson, 2009, p.47). I believe by creating blogs it will expose students to more writing and help them learn from one another how to improve and value their writing techniques. If the other teachers jump on board with this goal I have for next year, the community of learners in my school district with be vast.
In order to continue increasing my knowledge of how to teach with technology, I will continue to take courses at Walden as well as continue to read education articles about this topic. It is my job, as an educator, to expose my students to the curriculum that I value to be essential to them in future grade levels as well as to set up a foundation of skills for their future careers. I want my students to succeed and have the 21st century skills that they need. By keeping myself up-to-date on the lasts forms of technology accessible in the classroom as well as ways to implement it, I am doing my job as their teacher in preparing them for the future and guiding them in the learning process.
Resource:
Nussbaum-Beach, S. (2008). No limits. Technology & Learning, 28(7), 14–18.
Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/article/8466
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Podcast Headache Rant
( Note: There are two links in this post)
When I first began this podcast assignment, I did not predict that is was going to be a royal pain and cause so many problems. I began my podcast assignment early at school because I knew I had to create the survey, get it approved from the principal, conduct the survey with my homeroom students, then plead with them to get their permission form signed by their parents in order to move on to the next step of the assignment. Out of fifteen students who were surveyed, seven remembered! I only needed three, so I was okay with that. I compiled the data from the survey http://feed.podcastmachine.com/podcasts/2116/mp3.rss I was ready for the next step. Then the problems from school started.
It all began with the fact that I was unable to download Audacity from my computer at work since it has a surf control block on it. When I contacted one of the administrators who handles the technology in our district, she advised me to contact the company that deals with the teachers’ computer problems by sending them an email. That is when I knew I would not be doing the student interviews that day. I happened to see my principal in the office that day and told her about the road block in my project, and she told me that the computer company that helps with teachers’ computer issues often does not reply to emails as quickly as we would expect… could take a week!!! She then said I could try her computer to see if Audacity would work. Luckily it did, and I was allowed to bring my four students down to her office to conduct the interview portion of my assignment since she was not going to be there on Thursday.
Once I gathered all the students, I had twenty minutes to explain to them that they may not touch anything on her desk, show them how to use the microphone, work the controls of recording and stopping after each questions, etc… It was pretty funny when I look back on it, but the recording http://feed.podcastmachine.com/podcasts/2172/mp3.rss is not great since they were sitting in four chairs and passing the microphone down the line. They seemed to be more interested in the video phone on the wall that displays the people ringing the doorbell to come into school.
In the end, I realized that my school is not prepared for podcasting. I even had the administrator who I had emailed about my problem call me and want to know something along the lines of why schools are just expected to have access to this type of technology and how the recording site could be unsecure. I do not believe I will be including podcasting into my lessons any time in the near future, and I am glad this assignment is over.
When I first began this podcast assignment, I did not predict that is was going to be a royal pain and cause so many problems. I began my podcast assignment early at school because I knew I had to create the survey, get it approved from the principal, conduct the survey with my homeroom students, then plead with them to get their permission form signed by their parents in order to move on to the next step of the assignment. Out of fifteen students who were surveyed, seven remembered! I only needed three, so I was okay with that. I compiled the data from the survey http://feed.podcastmachine.com/podcasts/2116/mp3.rss I was ready for the next step. Then the problems from school started.
It all began with the fact that I was unable to download Audacity from my computer at work since it has a surf control block on it. When I contacted one of the administrators who handles the technology in our district, she advised me to contact the company that deals with the teachers’ computer problems by sending them an email. That is when I knew I would not be doing the student interviews that day. I happened to see my principal in the office that day and told her about the road block in my project, and she told me that the computer company that helps with teachers’ computer issues often does not reply to emails as quickly as we would expect… could take a week!!! She then said I could try her computer to see if Audacity would work. Luckily it did, and I was allowed to bring my four students down to her office to conduct the interview portion of my assignment since she was not going to be there on Thursday.
Once I gathered all the students, I had twenty minutes to explain to them that they may not touch anything on her desk, show them how to use the microphone, work the controls of recording and stopping after each questions, etc… It was pretty funny when I look back on it, but the recording http://feed.podcastmachine.com/podcasts/2172/mp3.rss is not great since they were sitting in four chairs and passing the microphone down the line. They seemed to be more interested in the video phone on the wall that displays the people ringing the doorbell to come into school.
In the end, I realized that my school is not prepared for podcasting. I even had the administrator who I had emailed about my problem call me and want to know something along the lines of why schools are just expected to have access to this type of technology and how the recording site could be unsecure. I do not believe I will be including podcasting into my lessons any time in the near future, and I am glad this assignment is over.
Monday, September 28, 2009
21st Century Skills
I thought the information on the website, 21st Century Skills.Org http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/images/stories/otherdocs/p21up_Report.pdf , was a start as far as trying to create goals and a direction for the schools to move towards when they begin the change to incorporating 21st century skills in their districts’ curriculum. I do feel, however, that it will be a long time coming before all schools are able to make that change and close the gap between how schools teach and how businesses work. The technology that businesses are using in the workplace and students are using at home far surpasses the technology that many schools are using today in their districts. The problem with making the change and incorporating 21st century skills into the core content areas is money and age. Schools do not have the proper funding to upgrade their technology tools. There are some schools where students have poor quality text books and unrepaired facilities. To think that these districts will be using the technology and incorporating 21st century skills into their curriculum that is discussed on the 21st Century Skills’ website is being unrealistic. Then, there are teachers who are older and unwilling to change their ways to learn how to use and incorporate the new technology. Just as I believe that not all students will be able to meet the demands of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, I do not believe that all schools will be able to incorporate the amount of technology that is being used in the work force. This change over will be a long process unless proper funding is found and teachers receive sufficient training in the technology tools. We cannot expect older teachers to be given technology tools and then start using them; they need to be trained and warmed-up to the idea.
While reading the information about assessment, I found it surprising that students who are use to typing out their writing as opposed to writing it out may be losing valuable time during the timed test. It is true that people can type a lot faster than they can manually write out, and taking your time to have neat handwriting is not an issue when using a computer. Also, if a student is typing during the test and wants to add or change part of their response they can do it a lot easier than if you were writing it and trying to fit the new information into a tight spot of space. However, in my school district, we write a lot without using a computer. We even practice timed writing several times throughout the year before the state test. Therefore, I believe that students should be able to interchangeably write and/or type effectively to communicate.
The website implies that teachers truly need to make the decision to cross over to the 21st century and incorporate the skills that the students will need for their future careers. I agree that it is important to involve technology into lessons so students are exposed to different degrees of technology, but teachers are limited to what their district can afford and offer. The site also implies that the students who do not learn the skills needed for the 21st century will fall behind and be unable to contribute in the work force (21st century skills.org). It is important to be exposed to technology and be willing to learn and adapt, but I feel this is a scare tactic. There are many blue collar jobs that will not require such demanding skills and if they do, I am sure they will offer some type of training.
As a whole, I do agree with many of the points addressed on the website in reference to incorporating 21st century skills into lessons. As a fairly young teacher, I am willing to make changes to my lessons and expose my students to real-life learning situations. They do learn more and are eager to learn when they can find a need for the knowledge and skills. However, the gap between 21st century skills and how students are learning today will continue to be open until proper funding is available to all school districts and teachers are trained in the use of technology tools.
Recourse:
Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (n.d.). A report and mile guide for 21st century skills. Washington DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/images/stories/otherdocs/p21up_Report.pdf
While reading the information about assessment, I found it surprising that students who are use to typing out their writing as opposed to writing it out may be losing valuable time during the timed test. It is true that people can type a lot faster than they can manually write out, and taking your time to have neat handwriting is not an issue when using a computer. Also, if a student is typing during the test and wants to add or change part of their response they can do it a lot easier than if you were writing it and trying to fit the new information into a tight spot of space. However, in my school district, we write a lot without using a computer. We even practice timed writing several times throughout the year before the state test. Therefore, I believe that students should be able to interchangeably write and/or type effectively to communicate.
The website implies that teachers truly need to make the decision to cross over to the 21st century and incorporate the skills that the students will need for their future careers. I agree that it is important to involve technology into lessons so students are exposed to different degrees of technology, but teachers are limited to what their district can afford and offer. The site also implies that the students who do not learn the skills needed for the 21st century will fall behind and be unable to contribute in the work force (21st century skills.org). It is important to be exposed to technology and be willing to learn and adapt, but I feel this is a scare tactic. There are many blue collar jobs that will not require such demanding skills and if they do, I am sure they will offer some type of training.
As a whole, I do agree with many of the points addressed on the website in reference to incorporating 21st century skills into lessons. As a fairly young teacher, I am willing to make changes to my lessons and expose my students to real-life learning situations. They do learn more and are eager to learn when they can find a need for the knowledge and skills. However, the gap between 21st century skills and how students are learning today will continue to be open until proper funding is available to all school districts and teachers are trained in the use of technology tools.
Recourse:
Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (n.d.). A report and mile guide for 21st century skills. Washington DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/images/stories/otherdocs/p21up_Report.pdf
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Blogging in class
I really enjoyed reading everyone's ideas on how to incorporate blogs into their classrooms. Currently no one in my school district uses blogs with the students, so once I finish this course I would definitely like to test it out. Someone in our group had suggested to another that they attempt to begin blogging with just one group of students, so it does not become overwhelming. You can also see where the kinks are with that "trial" group of students. I really like that suggestion and will use just on section of my students at first to try blogging.
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