A Week 8 Reflection

Over the past eight weeks, I have benefited greatly from the technology education class from Walden University, an online program. I was always familiar with certain available tools, such as wikispaces, blogs, and podcasts, however I was either too lazy or unsure to begin a deeper understanding of the programs’ benefits. Since beginning the class, I have not only gained a better understanding of these technologies, but have also begun to see how they can be integrated effortlessly into my already over-packed curriculum. In my usual teaching practices, I have always tried to find new technology resources to introduce to my students, so the class has offered many suggestions through discussion, collaboration, and experimentation.

The class also gave me an opportunity to sit back and analyze my teaching techniques and philosophies and compare them to what many educators believe to be 21st century instruction. My perspective has always been learner-centered, but the resources highlighted within each week of the program continually pointed out how my students have benefited from my teaching pedagogies. Maybe this is because I’m more of a “Digital Native,” as Marc Prensky would say. I was raised with technology – not as high tech as today’s technology, but still more than my 50 year old coworkers. My mother, who is also a teacher, showed me how to use critical thinking activities to make learning fun for the students. During student teaching, I was given multiple opportunities to experiment with learner-centered, cooperative projects. I have used all this knowledge and built upon it within each of my seven years of teaching. This course has reinforced my philosophies of education and added some extra nuggets for thought of how to extend them in the future.

Speaking of the future, I suppose it’s time to set some goals. Before I state my goals, I must say that my district has very strict regulations about student technology use which unfortunately will not allow them (or me) to publish any of their thoughts and work on the Internet. The district does not show signs of budging on this topic in the immediate future. My first goal pertains to my need to continue to push for compromise within district policy. I would like to join the district technology committee, within whose meetings the topic of student access to technology is consistently discussed. During these meetings I will present information and strategies that help district administrators see the necessity for change. My second goal deals with critical thinking activities. I use several learner-driven activities in my class, but due to state standards, have resorted to many lessons that were teacher-centered. During the next school year, I want to plan one new discovery or learner-based, critical thinking activity per week. This way I don’t keep using the same methods I created years ago. Yes, they worked before and continue to work, but I want to extend them or add new lessons. I also plan on investigating the use of video games within instruction seeing as they are the driving force of technology at home. During the following school year, I would like to increase this number of new lessons.

There is whisper of all classrooms in my school building getting Promethean boards. If this is the case, I will be able to plan more interactive lessons within the classroom. As my technology questionnaire revealed, my students were more motivated when using technology than with paper-and-pencil. Even if the Promethean board never enters my classroom, I plan on continuing to use critical thinking activities that center around the laptop to increase student achievement. Student motivation is essential before any information is absorbed into their brains.

I look forward to utilizing this technology knowledge and understanding of 21st century skills to further motivate and instruct my students.