What I have learned through my coursework.

This course Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society has helped me to develop my own technology skills. Reflecting back on this course, I found that I have been challenged to understand how intricately technology and education can be intertwined. Some assignments in this course were new to me but I felt as though I embraced them whole heartedly. I found the hands on nature of the course assignments to be interesting and practical. I think that developing a wiki with people from different areas gave me a firsthand look at what it takes to collaborate with others and, how easy it is to do this task with schedules from different areas of the world. The first hand experiences were most meaningful to me because it helped me take a concepts that were fairly new abstract to me and make them concrete. I felt a great sense of accomplishment after walking away with a completed project that was reflective of my learning. Upon completion of this course, I can definitely say that my technology skills have been challenged and I have learned many concepts such as developing a wiki, blog and creating a pod cast. These technological skills have been valuable assets in my classroom.

I think that I will continue to develop my technology skills by applying them to the classroom situation and collaborating with colleagues about how to best implement 21st century skills. I have also joined a technology group through my intermediate school district that will help me stay current with technological practices at the elementary level. I also plan to continue to expand my technological skills by continuing to read and comment on topics from the blogs that I have subscribed to through this course. From what I have read, on many of the blogs, there are many ideas that address student achievement and the use of technology. My students will have become better problem solvers and they think more analytically about the information they come across while working collaboratively. These skills will increase the student achievement in all areas of the curriculum.

One of my long term goals for my students include increasing the comfort level and atomicity of working in a collaborative group toward a common goal or to solve a problem. I would like to start with collaboration within the classroom setting then venture out to collaboration with students in different areas of the world. I want to broaden my student’s world beyond the county they live in so they are more global thinkers. I plan to accomplish this task by engaging students with technology in order for them to become confident learners who guide their educational destiny.

My second long term goal is to increase the ability of my students to be savvy consumers of information to help facilitate their own learning. I plan to accomplish this task by allowing students to collaboratively dissect information they find and determine the merit of the information. I will accomplish this with the assistance from the technology teacher and classroom teacher. These course assignments have made me a more accomplished teacher when it comes to implementing technology across the curriculum.

21st Century Teaching

When I first investigated the 21st century website I thought it was a well designed movement that partners up business and education into a solid force. I was a bit disheartened to discover that there are not many states who participate in this initiative. The skill set was clearly defined as to what students need to be 21st century learners. One state missing for me was Michigan which led me on my journey to see what type of technology standards my state possess. All I could find from mi.gov website was a link to what 21st century teachers should know and this can be found at http://21things.weebly.com/ .Needless to say I was not overly impressed compared to what I read on the 21st century website.

I was particularly impressed with the companies that have partnered with education to join forces in this effort. Many of these companies are the same companies that supply technology or aid in the technological advancements in the world of education. I did not disagree with anything that I saw on the site at this time. I am fairly new to digesting the concepts of 21st century education and the components that it encompasses.

It is apparent to me that based on the content of the 21st century partnership movement my support of students should encompass a more collaborative approach that utilizes problem solving skills and encourages creative and innovative thinking at all levels. My students will need to take ownership of their learning and work in conjunction with me as an educator to progress in their journey of becoming a life long learner.

I have also posted a video that I think appropriately addresses our roles as educators. I found it concise and enjoyable.