This course has defined many ideas that I have heard about, but could not quite grasp the concept of the use in the classroom. So many Web 2.0 strategies are available to us, for free! I can not guarantee that I will implement all of them right away, but I hope to work with a few of them, and possible lightly add some others in slowly. I love trying new things. When they do not work very well, I make sure get rid of it, or change it to make it work better. The students will use technology more often, and I want to make sure they are able to take more ownership so the students are collaborating and problem solving together.
Will Richardson writes, “every student will have the ability to contribute ideas and experiences to the larger body of knowledge that is the Internet” (2006). Students will be able to virtually go places that we are talking about. I can use Flickr to show pictures of erosion or places we are talking about in a book. I will use blogs to discuss books or topics in science or math. “We live in a world where it is commonplace for technology to be used to do different things, not just do old tasks differently” (Thornburg, 2004). I realized that I was doing old tasks in a different way. This class introduced me to a variety of ways to bring technology into the classroom in a meaningful way.
My perspective has not changed much to be learner-centered. I have been teaching for two full years. My undergrad degree pushed us to be more learner-centered. I make sure I am there to guide the students more than to lecture at them. There are definitely times when teaching needs to happen, but I use ways to get the students to collaborate with other students as much as possible. It also gives me a better understanding of what the students understand and where they need help. In Bates and Phelan’s article, Characteristics of a globally competitive workforce, they say, “Organizations need employees who are flexible and can easily adapt to the changing dynamics of the work environment” (2002). Sitting in a classroom staring at the teacher is not going to get the students to become flexible. I have students working independently, in pairs, in groups, and I hope to start having students work globally.
There is an abundant of resources to expand my knowledge. This class helped me set up a Delicious account. I have also set up Google Reader with some great blogs, wikis, and websites I can use to read about the latest research. Technology changes so often and with Web 2.0 we can get the information so quick. As a teacher, reading all of the students’ blogs would take a long time. With Google Reader, I can subscribe to each one, and “scan through all of the class content in one place, make sure it’s all appropriate, and click through to a particular post if you want to comment on it” (2006). This is a huge time saver for teachers. My school district always has professional development classes throughout the year. The technology classes are always a favorite of mine, so I will make sure to continue to update myself at those too.
My first long-term goal is to use podcasting more in my classroom. For one, I would like to use it help teach. Second, I would like students to create podcasts for projects and possible a weekly review of our week. The challenge of this is to make sure the school has all of the application to make it work. The second challenge is to do this enough so the students can work on this in a timely manner. I will need to work with our technology specialist in my school to help me get this up and running. I do not have anyone in my school that works with podcasting right now, so this would be something new to add in. Most Friday afternoons we have an open. I could dedicate this time to working with podcasts in the classroom. It might be hard to have the whole class doing them at the same time because of the background noise, so I could have a couple of stations the students could take turns with.
The second long-term goal is to create a classroom blog. There is so much information to communicate to families that do not always get home. A blog would be a quick way to add information while asking questions that other families might also have. Ultimately, this would save time. A challenge would be to get the parents to use it. I have a website, so I could attach the blog to the front page. Most parents are used to e-mailing, so it might take a couple more steps for them to go to the website. I struggled to have parents go to my website already.
When I looked back at my checklist from week 1, I noticed a few areas that I will be improving. The first point was “Model reflective practices and engage students in activities that promote self-reflection and self-examination of their own learning.” I will make sure to have students reflect on their own work. I might have them fill out a rubric or write a few sentences. Another statement says “Enable students to take responsibility of their own learning by providing tools and resources that allow them to mange their own learning goals, plan learning strategies, and evaluate their progress and outcomes.” Now that I have learned about so many tools, I will be able to introduce them to my students. Finally, “Promote the development of leadership and technology skills in my students and colleagues.” Many of my colleagues have been asking me about the different projects we did in this class. I will continue to keep them motivated in using the technology and I will help them in any way I can.
Overall, this class has introduced me to so many tools, and I look forward to using them.
Bates, R., & Phelan, K. (2002). Characteristics of a globally competitive workforce. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 4(2), 121
Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wiks, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press
Thornburg, D. (2004). Technology and education: Expectations, not options. (Executive Briefing No. 401). Retrieved from http://www.tcpdpodcast.org/briefings/expectations.pdf
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