Wednesday, April 22, 2009

A New Perspective about Technology

As a professional, I have improved my technology skills throughout this course. The practical and effective media taught and implemented in applications gave me the confidence to learn new skills. To be effective as an educator, we need to learn to create blogs, podcasts and wikis to present to students (Richardson, 2009). This technology increases my network of professionals to access and discuss issues with to enhance student learning. Being new to the English Language Learners (ELLs) field this course provides a connection where language skills are lacking.

There are so many ways to incorporate new technology into the curriculum, which has made it a little overwhelming. I appreciate the videos, readings, and interaction with peers to make sense of the knowledge. The wealth of information on blogs by teaching professionals puts the teaching process in a new perspective. The aspect of delivering the same information with a paperless trail and creating a notebook on the Web for student work sounds more efficient. This gives students the opportunity to continue to work on projects throughout the year and not just over a few weeks. The lessons in this course allowed for me to practice new methods and receive feedback from other teachers before incorporating the assignment into the classroom.

Thornburg (2008), stated technology affects the classroom from being teacher-centered to a more effective way of focusing on the students (Laureate, 2008). The teacher should prepare students not just for high school success, but for the rest of their life through enriched activities in multiple digital medias. Another way teaching has changed would be the collaborative aspect of learning. Usually students are tested on skills that should be mastered by an individual. Instead they can work with peers and create stories, websites, and projects over periods of time for others to read and provide feedback. My mindset has changed from being the answer person in the room, to guiding students to find and solve problems using different strategies on the Web. Students now become involved in projects they care about and not just something presented by me.

The ways to build upon my current knowledge of technology to teach my class for better achievement would be to model, design and implement digital technology throughout the curriculum. Students can continue to utilize the different methods and strategies for research and problem solving to develop critical thinking skills. As an educator, the value of constantly learning from peers and my students will provide more confidence in my abilities. The access of technology in this course with colleagues and their ideas helps with my professional development along with the research journals. The aspect of becoming a leader in my building, reminds me of what barriers I may face from others. As a change agent, I will look to be creative and resourceful about aligning certain tools to accomplish student achievement among peers (Richardson, 2009).

One of my long term goals would be to allow students to develop their own website tutorial for other ELL students to follow throughout the year. This includes a video and audio assignment connected specifically to my classroom. This assignment encourages the students to take ownership of the class, collaborate, and see development of skills from the beginning to the end of the year. The challenge comes from our technology department and what is allowed to be attached to the school website. I will look for outside resources to attach as a link to my class website. This project provides the parent connection that is missing from current access to my website. The student can translate and inform parents about what happens in class by accessing the site at home or at the library, but currently the school will start providing parents with computer access during the week.

My second long term goal involves a clear understanding of the 21st century skills necessary for student success. This comes from being familiar with the technology standards and incorporating it in the classroom. My expectation of student’s increasing their decision making skills and communication skills will be valuable to their success in the future. My awareness of developing all the diverse needs of my students by guiding them and not providing as much linear instruction. The challenge will come from some students who are accustomed to being told what to do and adjusting to thinking outside the box to accomplish tasks. Some students struggle when little direction is given and there is not a clear answer to the assignment, especially my Asian students.

All of this information has led me to reflect on my teaching experience this year. I look forward to changing and improving curriculum to meet student needs for digital media projects. I see a need to step up and work with colleagues to accomplish further technology usage in my school building. Technology can connect the classroom with global networks and expand the learning opportunities for my students which will open their eyes to the possibilities of their future.




References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). Changing Role of Teacher Part 1.
Baltimore: Author.

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

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Podcast Survey: Profiling Today's Student

To listen to my podcast of the student survey, click on the blog title above. Then click on the green "play" button located next to the Type of File line.

This assignment provided me a new experience in creating a podcast. It would be remiss of me if I did not say that it was challenging at first to go through the steps of creating, editing, saving, uploading and linking everything. Now having gone through the process, I feel confident in my ability in creating additional podcasts in the future. I am looking forward to finding and creating ways that I can use them in my classroom to enhance the lessons that I teach. This survey brought to the surface how valuable the educational experience is for my students. Most will not have the same expose to technology at home, so their academic exposure to technology in my classroom is important for success.