Reflective Essay

This course has introduced me to new method of teaching I never knew was available. I came into this course with an open mind, ready to soak up any new information that would help me in my teaching. The most influential aspect of this course that helped me better my craft was creating the wiki. Never have I thought I would create a website, let alone, a website for my students to use. I assumed that only highly qualified individuals made wikis. Dr. Thornburg states "You don't have to be a master of every software that you use, & you don't have to know how to fix every aspect of your computer" (Laureate Education, 2015h). This made me realize that I should implement way more technology resources than I have in the past. The only thing that has gotten in the way were my personal barriers. I kept a one-track mind this past school year. I utilized a small amount of resources that were given to me, not thinking about researching what was else was available. This course has taught me to go beyond what is required and made me aware of circumstances beyond my control. For example, I have learned that with this new generation of students, the teacher is no longer the smartest person in the room. These students come to school already knowledgeable about some web resources and how to operate a computer. According to Dr. Dede, this now means that states "the teacher is not the source of knowledge, but the teacher's role is to help students interpret what they find from biased information to accurate information" (Laureate Education, 2015i). My job as a facilitator is to teach my students the skills necessary to become digital citizens (ISTE, 2016) in the hopes that they will acquire those skills and become independent learners.

To apply the knowledge I have gained in this course, I will utilize the resources I learned from the classroom discussions. My colleagues made me aware of websites they use and how effective they were in the classroom. I became aware of these websites when my group and I had to collaborate on the social bookmarking site. I have decided to bookmark my group's page as a reference for next school year. This way, I will have a wide range of resources readily available. Having these things will also make planning instrumental. Curriculum and instructional plans should enable students to use technology to create content as well as to learn material (Darling-Hammond, Zielezinski, & Goldman, 2014). In a sense, this means that it is my responsibility to create lessons in which the students become masters by doing, not just by listening.

A lot of what my colleagues have posted are web 2.0 tools that I will incorporate in my lessons, like Mathisfun.com, IXL.com, and so much more. Due to their knowledge-sharing and knowledge-building capabilities, Web 2.0 tools have tremendous potential to help students gain twenty first century skills (Sadaf, Newby, & Ertmer, 2016). As a teacher in the modern world, my role is changing all of the time. One of the most important tasks a teacher in this time is preparing the students for the modern world and equip my students with 21st century skills. With my newfound knowledge, my ability to integrate technology in the classroom has grown stronger and my students will greatly benefit from my teaching.

One web 2.0 tool that I am open to using is screen casting. According to Richardson (2010), screen casting involves capturing what you or your students do on the computer with an audio narration to go with it. The activity that would include this are for assignments where the students have work at home to complete and may be confused by the teaching conducted in class. Screen casting would be a great reinforcement tool. This tool supports the ISTE Standard For Teachers #2 Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments (ISTE, 2008). This states that teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessments incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning (ISTE, 2008). My job as a teacher means that I no longer stand in front of the class lecturing. However, it includes me creating opportunities for my students to become functional and independent learners. With the use of this tool, it can be accomplished and prepare the students to be college and career ready. This tool assists students with ISTE Standard #1d Empowered Learner, which states students understand the fundamental concepts of technology operations, demonstrate the ability to choose, use and troubleshoot current technologies and are able to transfer their knowledge to explore emerging technologies (ISTE, 2016). Screen casting is a start for the students to become aware of their responsibility in the modern world.

Within the next two years, I have a goal of transforming my classroom into a completely tech filled room. In order to reach these dreams, I have made two SMART goals for this idea. The first goal is to modify student behavior with weekly silent classroom discussions pertaining to concept being covered for the week. Students will be engaged in conversations via a social networking site or a class blog page, presenting ideas electronically instead of verbally. I say this will modify student behavior because from experience, students want any excuse to use their laptops. Part of my consequences for bad behavior is the loss of laptop privileges. To keep access to their laptops, students will behave accordingly in order to participate in silent class discussions. This will prepare my students for college because they come across a class similar to this course where they have to collaborate with others virtually and not have the opportunity to meet face to face. My second goal is use the 21st century skills weekly with the use of various web 2.0 tools. Students will be assigned a specific web 2.0 tool like Twitter or a blog and I will give tasks to complete via that tool that targets a particular 21st century skill. I believe Richardson (2015) said it best when he stated "we will continue to see growth in those classrooms and spaces where learning and learners are the focus, where inquiry and authentic work bloom, and where teachers and students learn together. We will because we must, and there are many committed, forward-thinking teachers who will make that happen despite the barriers". I am hopeful that my goals motivate my students to do their absolute best and realize that they have what it takes to be a successful 21st century learners. With the help of my colleagues, I plan to accomplish these goals through collaboration and scaffolding. My students might have a spark in interest if they see me engaged in the process.

A topic I might consider developing into a research question is the concept of barriers hindering student success with technology integration. Before entering this course, I had no prior knowledge to things stopping teachers from utilizing technology in the classroom. I assumed that some teachers did not do so because they did not want to do extra work. However, after communicating with my fellow classmates in this class, I have realized that there are more factors to the situation rather than personal reasons. According to Richardson (2015), community members, parents, legislators, and lobbyists will resist large-scale, transformative change at every turn because they are tied so deeply either to their nostalgia for school as they knew it or to the potential windfalls of making traditional schools “better”.  This is such a disservice to the students simply because their futures lie heavily in our hands. Through deep research, I hope to become aware of these barriers and find ways to break them, not only with my personal barriers, for each teacher who feels incompetent to successfully integrate technology in the classroom.

  

References

Darling-Hammond, L., Zielezinski, M., & Goldman, S. (2014, September). Using technology to support at-risk students’ learning. Retrieved from https://edpolicy.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/scope-pub-using-technology-report.pdf

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2016). Standards for students. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/standards/for-students-2016

International Socitey for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2008). Standards for teachers. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/standards/standards-for-teachers

Laureate Education (Producer). (2015h). The changing role of the classroom teacher: Part 1 [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2015i). The changing role of the classroom teacher: Part 2 [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Richardson, W. (2015). From master teacher to master learner. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Sadaf, A. s., Newby, T., & Ertmer, P. (2016). An investigation of the factors that influence preservice teachers' intentions and integration of Web 2.0 tools. Educational Technology Research & Development, 64(1), 37-64