My classroom ... into the 21st century.

For years, students and teachers, alike, have battled the didactic approach to teaching, in which the teacher provides the information that the students must learn. Educational visionaries such as Dewey (1938) and Freire (1987) promoted education as a community, a family, and most of all, a student centered process, in which knowledge must be shared and reconstructed through timely and relevant interactions. (Dewey, 1938) (Freire, Macedo, 1987). Having never been successful with the old teacher-centered method of pedagogy, as a student, one of my greatest missions as a teacher has been to create a classroom environment in which knowledge construction is a collaborative process. I have always learned best by interacting, touching, and doing, rather than from merely listening; and am certain that most students do, especially in this new age of communication.

Integration of technology into classrooms provides teachers and students with more choices than ever. Web 2.0, the read/write web, offers a level of collaboration beyond the ordinary classroom that educators through history never imagined. Students use these new technologies for entertainment, communication, and to have all of their questions answered immediately. Historically, we have had to wait until coming in contact with an authority figure (of a given subject) to pose a particular question, then wait longer until he or she conducted research and came up with an answer. Thanks to the read/write web, if google doesn’t return a quick or specific enough answer, we can post our question to a blog, on which hundreds of answers could arrive from worldwide in minutes. Dr. David Thornburg (2008) explains in Emergence of Educational Technology that neither students, nor teachers, advance in the technological world from changing the look of old lessons; for example, a Power Point presentation replacing a black or white board. Many teachers use Web 2.0 applications for organization and research, but have overlooked the opportunity to integrate these technologies for anything other than “doing things differently” (Laureate, 2008). The time has come for educators to step out of our comfort zones and meet students where they are, in a technological world, and try “different things,” such as podcasting, videos, and wikis. (Laureate, 2008)

Educators have studied for years the benefits of making connections between students’ personal lives and school lives. Dr. David Thornburg (2008) explains that it is more important than ever to meet students where they are and to help them develop a love of learning, through critical thinking and creativity, in order to prepare them for a work environment that does not yet exist (Laureate, 2008). With constant access to these newer technologies, our students are different from their predecessors. They think differently; they learn differently. Prensky (2001) refers to this generation of students as “digital natives,” who were born into this new technological “language.” They constantly multi-task and prefer to be networked all of the time. (Prensky, 2001) The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2009) promotes the education of educators in these rapidly changing times. While the content we teach may be similar, the applications are quite different. Students no longer need to memorize rote information, rather they must know how and where to find it on the great world wide web. And once they find answers, they must be careful to scrutinize it; as well “utility lies in online reading comprehension and learning skills” (Miners, Pascopella, 2007, p. 26). Innovation, creativity and critical thinking skills are more crucial than ever. Web 2.0 gives students of all ability and motivation levels the opportunity to explore and evolve at their own pace, while tackling these important 21st century skills sets.

I have had the opportunity to evolve technologically as a teacher of 7th-12th grade language arts students, through Walden University’s Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society class. The class instructor modeled effective methods of guiding instruction rather than giving step-by-step strategies for doing new things in my classroom. As technology is often intimidating (just like any unknown), this method of instruction was also some what nerve-wracking at first. New technologies become available daily. Facilitating current uses of available resources allows students (myself included) to explore and to develop a certain comfort level that does not develop while following specific strategies that work for someone else. Assignments included choosing and signing up for social bookmarking and an RSS aggregator, creating and maintaining a blog, collaborating on a group wiki, developing my very own podcast from start to finish, and actually developing relationships with classmates, who I will likely never meet, via online instant messaging. With the freedom to explore these tools in my own time and space, I learned so much more than if I had a set of guidelines to follow.

Though I have always made it clear to my students that my word is never the final answer, and tried to encourage them to search elsewhere for answers, challenging me as necessary; I was still the center of the classroom. My role in the classroom is, however, already shifting from information sharer and idea starter to facilitator. I have already incorporated a blog and a wiki, both of which are receiving great feedback from both students and parents. I am modeling comfortable, safe use of internet research tools, and have begun challenging my students to better scrutinize their resources. In terms of goals, I will work this summer with a math/science teacher and a social studies teacher with the intention of implementing fifth grade teacher Randy Kolset’s (2008) Vocabucasting. (Laureate Education, 2008) This engaging, hands-on, strategy for teaching vocabulary across the curriculum is fully interactive, encouraging use of podcasting technologies, research and resources, critical thinking and creativity: all skills applicable to the 21st century workforce, no matter what industry. My second goal is to utilize google reader, following up on one resource each week. Professional development and keeping up with the rapidly changing technological advances go hand in hand, benefiting my students as much as myself.
















References:

Dewey, J. (1897) My pedagogic creed. The School Journal, LIV (3),77-80.

Freire, P. & Macedo, D. (1987) Literacy:Reading the word and the world. South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). The changing work environment: Part 1 from Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). Emergence of educational technology from Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). Spotlight on technology: Vocabucasting from Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore: Author.

Miners, Z., & Pascopella, A. (2007). The new literacies. District Administration, 43(10), 26–34.
Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2003). Learning for the 21st century and MILE guide. Retrieved April 5, 2009: http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/downloads/P21_Report.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants, Part I. On the Horizon, 9(5).

Technology in Education on My Mind

It's what's on my mind.

My students are "digital natives," according to Marc Prensky's (2001) explanation in "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Part 1." A brief interview with students confirms this.

Click on "Technology in Education" link above to hear what's on my mind!


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