Reflecting upon Technology Integration in the Classroom

“Schools are struggling to keep pace with the astonishing rate of change in students’ lives outside of school. Students will spend their adult lives multitasking, multifaceted, technology-driven, diverse vibrant world-and they must arrive equipped to do so” (Partnership, p. 4). Being an active participant in Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society has given me a heightened awareness and a sense of urgency to examine my curriculum and current teaching practices to ensure that I am teaching the 21st century skills that my students will need to succeed in a global economy. Despite various professional developments or tutorials on different educational technology tools, never once was I expected to devote time exploring these tools and contemplating how I could effectively incorporate such technology into my classroom; after all, they were just another resource. Today’s students do not view technology as resources; they are an everyday part of their lives. Being a “digital immigrant”, it is critical that I explore the tools that are or will be commonplace to my students. Creating a blog, wiki, and podcast demonstrated how one’s learning can transcend beyond the walls of a classroom. Throughout my use of Web 2.0 tools, I was able to discover ways to incorporate such beneficial technology into my curriculum to teach my students the essential 21st century skills. Without this exploration, I doubt that I truly would have obtained a clear picture of how my teaching practices must be altered and realigned to meet the needs of my millennial learners.

“A powerful vision of public education is critical for closing the gap between how students live and how they learn in school. Students who have access to technology outside of school will find schools without access to and integration of technology into their coursework to be antiquated and irrelevant to their world” (Partnership, p. 7). To increase relevancy in regards to the mandated curriculum, I must continue to think creatively in how I approach various subject matters. When developing units of study, I need to ask myself: Is there a Web 2.0 tool that can be used to more effectively teach my students the core content in addition to critical 21st century skills? Consistently reflecting upon my teaching practices and how they can be adapted to increase engagement and active learning is essential to ensuring that I remain current and relevant to my students. In addition to thinking creatively when designing units, I must reexamine my role as a teacher and become more of facilitator of discovery. “[t]wenty-first-century learning requires re-envisioning what learning looks like, teacher and student roles, as well as content learned” (Cramer, 2007, p. 128). This means loosening the reins of what my students learn and the methods in which they actually do learn. I believe that if I remain aware of what is required by my mandated curriculum but use my students’ natural curiosity to meet these standards, engagement will increase and student achievement will rise. “Classrooms in the 21st century need to be collaborative spaces where student-centered knowledge development and risk taking are accepted as the norm and where ecology of learning develops and thrives” (Nussbaum-Beach, 2008, p. 3). In my classroom, I will be taking a risk by exposing my insecurities in regards to my knowledge of technology integration; however through collaborative efforts, my students and I will be able to experience authentic learning at its finest.

As educators, it is important to set achievable short and long-term goals to promote a continued momentum towards relevant and effective teaching practices and to lessen the chance for burn-out. “The challenge now is to emphasize other key elements of learning and leverage existing technology to truly make a difference in student achievement” (Partnership, p. 5). Within the next two years, I plan to incorporate a Web 2.0 tool into each of my units of study. By doing so, I will be promoting critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and other essential 21st century skills. This period of time will be one of reflection as I will be determining which tools are most beneficial in teaching and assessing student knowledge of various core concepts. For example, after my students create a podcast to demonstrate their knowledge of a particular topic and then post it to our classroom blog for feedback from others outside of our classroom, I will then analyze engagement levels and gauge the activity’s overall effectiveness. This information can then be used to determine what changes need to be made in regards to my instruction and role as a facilitator and how the use of this Web 2.0 tool may be utilized more effectively.

Over the next two years, I also plan to utilize my classroom blog to promote collaboration and communication in and outside of the classroom and to teach beginning reading and writing skills. “Blogging can teach critical reading and writing skills, and it can lead to greater information management skills” (Richardson, 2009, p. 36). Having my Kindergartners share what they are learning about through the use of a classroom blog provides endless opportunities to teach 21st century skills. Collaboration will be essential as the students will have to decide the best way to express what they have learned. Creativity will be encouraged as students will have the opportunity to have their work displayed for an audience that has the ability to provide constructive feedback. The challenge that I have faced in the past is keeping my class webpage or blog updated. Therefore, it is my goal to maintain our classroom blog as a source of current information that parents can refer to when talking to their children about what they are learning in school.

“The ability to harness the power of Web 2.0 tools wouldn’t be as critical if it were not for the fact that we are educating our students to succeed in a globally connected economy” (November, 2008, p. 3). Today’s students must graduate proficient in 21st century skills. Continually reflecting upon my teaching practices and how I can integrate technology into my Kindergarten classroom will help to lay the foundation for 21st century skills that my students will need to build upon. No longer is it acceptable to continue to teach using only “tried and true” methods of the past. Today’s millennial students deserve to learn using the tools that are an integral part of their lives and will continue to play a role in their futures.

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

November, A. (2007). Banning student 'containers'. Technology & Learning. Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/article/7468

Nussbaum-Beach, S. (2008). No limits. Technology & Learning, 28(7), 14–18. Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/article/8466

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/downloads/P21_Report.pdf

Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Digital Natives Podcast

Today's students have been raised in media-rich environments and have been defined as "digital natives" by consultant, author, and educational software designer Marc Prensky. According to Prensky, "Our students today are all 'native speakers' of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet" (Prensky, 2001, p. 1). In my podcast, I interviewed three of my Kindergarten students who are deemed to be digital natives. From our conversation you will note that although they predominately view technology as "fun", they also use technology frequently and cannot imagine life without it. As eductors, we must help our students advance their academic language and digital language skills by incorporating meaningful applications of technology into our classrooms. "The ability to harness the power of Web 2.0 tools wouldn't be as critical if it were not for the fact that we are educating our students to succeed in a globally connected economy" (November, 2008, p.3). Engagement and learning will increase when today's educators begin to take the time to learn the language of digital natives.

References:
November, A. (2007). Banning student 'containers'. Technology & Learning. Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/article/7468

Prensky, Marc. (September/October, 2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 1. On the Horizon. 9, 2-6.

Partnership for 21st Century Skills

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills is a well-organized website with a multitude of information and resources used to support its mission to “serve as a catalyst to position 21st century skills at the center of US K-12 education by building collaborative partnerships among education, business, community and government leaders” (Partnership, 2004).

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has developed a framework that demonstrates 21st century skills student outcomes and 21st century skills support systems. I found it refreshing to see a framework that viewed all of the components as interconnected and essential to 21st century student learning. This framework emphasized the need for revamping of our support systems. Without solid support systems in place to lay the foundation for the teaching and assessing of 21st century skills, our educational system will remain in its current state.

While familiarizing myself with the website, I found myself spending a greater portion of my time perusing the Route 21 feature. The Route 21 feature contains skills-related information, resources, and community tools for those interested in learning more about how to ensure that our students are receiving instruction of 21st century skills. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills encourages professionals to submit ideas and/or resources that may assist others in teaching 21st century skills. Frequent submissions help to keep Route 21 current and relevant.

“Since its inception in 2002, the Partnership has more than tripled its membership, growing from eight founding organizations to 26 members representing America’s leading business, technology and education organizations” (Partnership, 2004). Although I found this statistic interesting, it was not surprising. “Business leaders want employees who can continually update their skills, communicate effectively and work independently to get things done” (Partnership, 2004). Employers will no longer view information and communication technology skills and demonstrations of critical and innovative thinking as perks; they will be requirements.

As other countries incorporate 21st century skills into their curriculums, the United States must also make advancements to ensure that our schools are also fostering such skills. As educators, we must analyze our curriculum and current teaching practices to take into account areas where we are meeting the standards set for teaching 21st century skills and those that are not. Serious discussions with colleagues and other teaching professional via educational blogs may prove enlightening when deciding how to best ensure that these 21st century skills are being taught in our classroom. Our students must leave our educational system well-equipped with the tools necessary to compete in a today’s global workforce.

Reference:
(2004) The Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Retrieved from http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/

Celebrate Student Work Through Blogs

My initial reaction to blogging in a Kindergarten classroom was that of uncertainty. How could I possibly incorporate blogs in a meaningful and practical manner? I began to think outside of the box after I read Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. "Blogging can teach critical reading and writing skills, and it can lead to greater information management skills" (Richardson, 2009, p. 36). This being said, I believe a classroom blog, if utilized appropriately, could provide increased motivation for students to increase their reading and writing skills.

The purpose of my Kindergarten classroom blog would be to celebrate students' successes and work. Kindergartners love to receive praise and a blog would provide a wonderful stage for student work to be showcased. After scanning in a piece of student work that demonstrates growth, original thought, and/or quality work, I would have the student dictate what he/she would like me to write about his/her chosen work and why it deserves to be in the spotlight. This requires the students to critically think about how they demonstrated quality work and how to appropriately choose words to express their thoughts. I would encourage parents to visit our class blog and post comments about the students' work. This would provide my students with a greater understanding of how networks function and how people can communicate via the Internet. Most importantly, it would give their writing an audience outside of our classroom.

I believe that by creating a class blog, creativity will surge. Students will want their best work to showcased for the world to see. They will want to use their developing reading skills to read the posted comments and will find that writing is a powerful tool of expression. The creation of a class blog in Kindergarten may help to lay the foundation for how various forms of technology can be used as learning tools for years to come.

Reference:
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Learning Through Experience

Welcome to my blog! This blog was created to give myself and others a stage for sharing their experiences with integrating technology into today's classrooms. Based on my learning experiences, reading information from a textbook or article is temporary knowledge unless directly applied into a practical setting. For this reason, my goal is to use this blog to record my experiences, both successes and failures.

My Kindergarten students bring a wealth of knowledge about technology to my classroom. I feel that it is my responsibility as an educator to expand upon their knowledge and demonstrate how technology can be used as a tools for learning. I encourage anyone to share how they integrate technology into their classrooms.