Reflection

Working on a graduate degree at Walden University has greatly advanced my skills in technology. It has opened up my eyes to a whole new world and helped me go about finding ways to expand my technology skills. This degree program has allowed me an opportunity to set long term goals to increase technology usage and integrate technology goals into the content standards set forth by the state. By continuing my studies at Walden I hope to become a teacher that can prepare my students for the 21st century workplace.

Through my studies at Walden I have learned many new skills such as creating a podcast, creating a wikispace and developing a blog. I have learned to use these in my classroom to enhance the learning of my students and make class more relevant to my students' lives. I have also learned to use these tools for my own personal benefit. With these new technology skills I have learned that I can collaborate with other teachers and get new ideas to constantly update my teaching strategies to adapt to my students' ever changing lives (Richardson, 2009). My new technology skills have allowed me to give my students the skill of collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving, communication, leadership, and creativity that they will need in the future (Laureate, 2008). Learning these new skills have made me more comfortable with technology and I feel comfortable using these with my classes. This skills have become quite invaluable in my pursuit to educate my students for the 21st century workplace.

There are many ways I can continue to expand my knowledge of technology integration with the aim of increasing student achievement. First, I believe I must be up to date on current technologies and become familiar with using them. By knowing about the newest technologies available I will be able to brainstorm ideas about using them in my classroom. Second, I must continue to collaborate with colleagues and exchange ideas about using new technologies in the classroom. By communicating with various teachers I can gain valuable information and begin to modify my lessons according to what has worked for others and what fits best with my students. Third, I must keep up with current research on what technologies are reaching students. By staying informed on current research I can use technology methods that have been proven and this will make me more confident in my lessons. All of these different ways of expanding my knowledge of technology will allow me to increase student achievement and allow them use technology that they will be required to when they enter the workforce.

There are a few steps that I can take to transform my classroom environment into a place where technology is integrated seamlessly to meet instructional goals. One long term goal that I have set to achieve this is by allowing students to submit their assignments on wikispaces and blogs. I plan to post assignments on the wikispace and have students submit their assignments here. On the classroom blog students will be able to comment on other students' work and give suggestions about the assignment. I also plan to use blogs and wikis to allow students to work together on projects. This way they are collaborating with each other and become comfortable communicating through these means on more than just a social level. My second long term goal that I have set to achieve a seamlessly integrated classroom is by having everything available to my students through digital means. By posting all assignments on a wikispace or blog my students will not fall behind if they miss a day of school. This helps them use technology and helps with student achievement because they will have no excuse for missing an assignment. Also, this will allow me to have a legitimate assignment for my students if I have to miss a day of work. I can post podcasts to the blog and wikispace as a classroom assignment and have a usual assignment posted on the blog and wikispace. I hope to have my students so used to these types of assignments that if I do have to miss class they will not notice that I am absent.

Overall, my Walden experience has helped me become more technology savvy especially in my teaching practices. It has helped me with student achievement because my lessons are more relevant to my students. It has helped me prepare my students for their future in the American workforce by allowing them to use new technologies for something other that socializing. I feel far more prepared to help my students enter the 21st century than I did when I began this program. Hopefully I will one day master these teaching practices and become the best teacher my students' could ever have.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). 2008. Skills for the 21st Century [Motion picture]. Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society. Baltimore: Author.

Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wiks, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Podcast in the Classroom.

Podcasts are a resource that teachers can begin to take advantage of in the classroom. Most students are surrounded by technology and teachers need to take advantage of technology that is available to them. With podcasts a teacher can supply students with information through a media students are comfortable with. With advances in technology teachers are doing a disservice to their students iff technology is not utilized in the classroom.

I have been required to record a podcast and put it onto my blog. It is the first one I have ever done. Here it is.

For my Integrating Technology in the Classroom degree I am required to review the website http://21stcenturyskills.org. I am required to review the website and give my thoughts on what I liked about the website, what surprised me, what I disagreed with on the website, and what implications I see for my students and for myself. The website had an abundance of information to review and analyze. Overall the website contained information that was useful to educators.

My reaction to the website Partnership for 21st Century Skills was that I thought it was great. This website had an overabundance of information on why teachers need to adapt their instruction to the 21st workplace. I was impressed by the numerous articles that showed the difference between the modern classroom and the modern workplace. Dr. Thornburg discussed how much businesses looked for employees that were familiar with online collaboration (Laureate Education 2008). The site was excellent for any teacher looking for comparisons between the modern workplace and the classroom.

Looking over the website, I was surprised at the numerous businesses that were members of the website. This showed that they were invested in education and wanted employees that were familiar with technology. I was also surprised that there was any content that was free to download. This site would be very important for any educator looking for what business wanted their future employees to be familiar with.

There was not much that I disagreed with with on the website. One thing in particular was there support for standardized testing. I believe that they meant standardize testing that tested for 21st century skills. Current standardized testing of today does not test any skills that workers need for the 21st century. I need to investigate this further.

The implications for educators and students is that we need to begin implementing 21st century technology today. We are obviously lagging behind the business world and I need to be able to prepare my students for their future workplace. This means that teachers may have to get out of their "comfort zone" to help students become productive citizens. Teachers should look for professional development in technology so that they can prepare their students for the 21st century workplace. Students should be prepared for a new classroom that will prepare them to become productive workers in the 21st century and allow them to seamlessly integrate into the workplace.

Resources:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). 2008. Spotlight on Technology: Collaboration through Wikis [Motion picture]. Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society. Baltimore: Author.

Using Blogs in the Classroom

I teach 9th grade World Geography and 12th grade Economics and Government. I think that a blog is a good tool for instructional content because it allows for students to interact with one another outside of the classroom. It also lets them display their work for people all over the Internet to see. It gives students a chance to give their opinions and think about them for a while before they post. This is unlike giving abrupt opinions in the classroom where they do not have time to gather their thoughts and edit them. It also gives them the chance to use technology that they are familiar with and makes the content that I teach them more relevant because it allows them to use a form of expression that is up to date and savvy. I would use a blog in my classroom to post rubrics for assignments so that students would always have access to them for their assignments. I would post assignments and reminders so that students would be able to stay up to date with class work even if they are absent. I would also allow students blog about particular lesson ad give opinions they may be afraid to give face to face and this would allow me to cater to their needs more. I think blogs in my classroom would allow students to come out of their shells and become more responsive and participate more than they would in class.

First Blog

I have recently started a graduate program for Integrating Technology in the Classroom. I have to set up this blog as one of the requirements. I am new to this and would love any suggestions that anyone would have to help me with this process.