While working towards my Master’s degree I have recently completed a course that provided me with a great insight into the ways technology has impacted different facets of our world. Throughout this course I was able to take concepts that I had heard of or dabbled in and fully understand their power and abilities in my classroom. Not only do I now understand the inner workings of Web 2.0 applications such as blogging, wikis and podcasting I have expanded my knowledge of the ways these applications affect the business and education world as well as society.
The first thing that caught my curiosity in this particular course was the posed question of how does technology allow you to do something differently or to do something different? This is an important reflection. There are plenty of teachers who replace an overhead with a PowerPoint and fill out their technology standard. Using PowerPoint instead of writing on the board or lecturing is a way of doing the same thing differently; giving students a new way of taking in information is doing something differently. As technology and education change and evolve so should our role as educators. Students no longer need to rely solely on their teacher or a single textbook to learn information; they have a wealth of information at their fingertips. We as educators must stay current and readjust our role in the classroom. We now need to move into a facilitator role providing students with experiences rather than lessons and tests. Using various technologies and learning experiences allows students to be higher level thinkers and retain information that they themselves take ownership in.
It is unfair to ask a student to walk into a school building and ask them to turn a blind eye to the technologies they have been surrounded with since they were young. As posted in an earlier blog today’s students are digital natives and we need to cater to that so we do not bore them. We cannot expect them to pick up a paper and pencil and take a test and compute in a today’s working world. We also should not limit our students to our own depth of knowledge; it would be egotistical to think that I know everything a student needs to know. If I am teaching about Van Gogh, it would be a shame to only pass on the knowledge and experiences I have. I want to give my students my own experiences and information as well as let them have their own and teach me things as well. I learn something new daily; sometimes useless and sometimes very pertinent. Most importantly I want my students to have the access and the opportunities that are out there in today’s technological world and I too will learn with them as well as better my role as the facilitator and educator.
Two short term goals that I will hold for my classroom in this upcoming year is to become more of a facilitator in my classroom and to uphold the duty of doing different things by making sure I am not just doing the same things in a different way. I want to implement all of the Web 2.0 applications in different facets to expose my students. Another goal is to keep reflecting because as I conquer these new application there will be new ones. Reflecting and keeping my lifelong commitment to learning will allow me to evolve into a better teacher.
The first thing that caught my curiosity in this particular course was the posed question of how does technology allow you to do something differently or to do something different? This is an important reflection. There are plenty of teachers who replace an overhead with a PowerPoint and fill out their technology standard. Using PowerPoint instead of writing on the board or lecturing is a way of doing the same thing differently; giving students a new way of taking in information is doing something differently. As technology and education change and evolve so should our role as educators. Students no longer need to rely solely on their teacher or a single textbook to learn information; they have a wealth of information at their fingertips. We as educators must stay current and readjust our role in the classroom. We now need to move into a facilitator role providing students with experiences rather than lessons and tests. Using various technologies and learning experiences allows students to be higher level thinkers and retain information that they themselves take ownership in.
It is unfair to ask a student to walk into a school building and ask them to turn a blind eye to the technologies they have been surrounded with since they were young. As posted in an earlier blog today’s students are digital natives and we need to cater to that so we do not bore them. We cannot expect them to pick up a paper and pencil and take a test and compute in a today’s working world. We also should not limit our students to our own depth of knowledge; it would be egotistical to think that I know everything a student needs to know. If I am teaching about Van Gogh, it would be a shame to only pass on the knowledge and experiences I have. I want to give my students my own experiences and information as well as let them have their own and teach me things as well. I learn something new daily; sometimes useless and sometimes very pertinent. Most importantly I want my students to have the access and the opportunities that are out there in today’s technological world and I too will learn with them as well as better my role as the facilitator and educator.
Two short term goals that I will hold for my classroom in this upcoming year is to become more of a facilitator in my classroom and to uphold the duty of doing different things by making sure I am not just doing the same things in a different way. I want to implement all of the Web 2.0 applications in different facets to expose my students. Another goal is to keep reflecting because as I conquer these new application there will be new ones. Reflecting and keeping my lifelong commitment to learning will allow me to evolve into a better teacher.
