Reflecting on My Course

What a week, this is an exciting time! I am completing my third course through Walden University and just starting my new year at school. Happily I can report my classes are fabulous and we are already on a roll trying new ideas and using definite 21st century technology! As Thornberg and Davidson discussed in the video “using different media and technology is fun” (Laureate Education DVD, 2008) and I will second that!

This course has introduced me to many new and exciting ideas that I can use immediately in my classroom. Blogging and using wiki pages are the two of the fastest and easiest ways to bring me into the 21st century and engage my students daily.

One of the greatest lessons I have learned and have brought back into my classroom is the idea of this generation as being a group of multitaskers. Teacher Jeff Houston points out that he researched that students have been found to be doing activities that total up to 26 to 27 hours a day (Laureate Education, 2008). Students are able to do many things at one time and want to do things immediately, and technology allows them this opportunity.

I have always agreed with the philosophy that education should be student centered and driven, engaging and interactive and these ideas have only been supported through this course. Listening to teachers vignettes and reading about various ideas, I have been able to think in new ways and make adjustments to current activities that assured involving technology. This course has in fact brightened up my activities and put a new spark into my daily plans. My first example is the first homework assignment, typically I would have had the students write me a letter or send an email sharing about themselves and their likes and dislikes, this year I used my blog through my work website and started the technological ball rolling. Within 24 hours I have already had 27 responses to my blog and there is an immediate feeling of excitement and interest involved in their responses.

First thing I plan to do to continue my growth with technology is to complete this Masters Program. Within my current school I will be practicing and learning new things on the equipment that we have, specifically the interactive smart board since all of our classes have just been outfitted with this hardware. Many teachers look to me to assist them and I am consistently looking for new hints and suggestions to share with them. I will also be continuing to attend professional seminars and conferences. This fall I will be attending a South Carolina formative assessment conference and will inevitably attend technology driven sessions when I am there. In the early part of next year I plan to attend some of the technology conferences offered within the math department so that I can begin to acquire a navigation system for my classroom and use graphing calculators on a more regular basis in my pre algebra classes.

Trying to think of two long term goals is a bit overwhelming as I try to incorporate these small advances into my classroom and daily plans this week. I keep repeating Richardson’s (2008) advice to start small and relieve myself of the pressure of having to transform my classroom immediately. I started this week using a blog to get to know my students and set the feel for technology. This has been an exciting start so I want to incorporate this into a long term goal. I would like to offer professional development opportunities to educate those in my school to also embrace and incorporate technology on a regular basis. As I read Prensky’s (2001) writings I can identify the majority of my colleagues as Digital Immigrants and I know they do not understand the students are multitaskers, they will need my inspiration and assistance as they try to make adjustments to their own style and lesson plans.

My second goal is to promote the importance of students having daily computer access. I have volunteered to cover a computer lab for one hour afterschool every Monday. This time will provide the students with the valuable computer time they need. The students will be able to participate in blogs, wikis or other assignments and creations. “Technology allows children to break down walls and allows the children to take control of their learning” (Laureate Education DVD, 2008). In order to achieve great levels of growth the students need time with the technology. These projects will be reported on and displayed if possible and this data will be useful to attempt to get more computers possibly even laptops for all students. Data will definitely be needed to support our request for more technology or readily available technology for all students. Therefore my overall goal will be to continue reaching out to the community and proving the needs and benefits if all children can have access to technology on a regular basis.

As this course ends and I reflect back on my initial checklist I can report a definite shift to the left for all areas of the checklist. I have moved towards using or understanding the need for technology much more after this course and can proudly say that one particular component I have made huge gains on is using a variety of digital tools. My classroom has already seen some significant changes in just the first week back to school this year and I anticipate carrying out many more plans that include and use 21st century skills and objects (Cramer, 2007).

Cramer, S. (2007). Update your classroom with learning objects and twenty-first century skills. Clearing House, 80(3), 126– 132.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore: Author.Richardson, W. (2006).

Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 1. On the Horizon, 9(5),
1-6.