This weeks reading brought about 2 trends/issues that hit home for me as an educator. The first being the section comprised of the conversation on student use of technology as a tool changing teacher and student classroom behaviors. Technology is something that students are always actively seeking to use, and has shown drastic results in my classroom. When technology is incorporated into a lesson, project, or activity, the student thinking that is shown is much deeper and holds more meaning. Even using a simple technology program, such as ClassDojo to monitor student behavior and share results with parents, helps to improve student interest, participation, and learning. However, the results aren't always carrying across to standardize testing. This is something that we, as educators, struggle to deal with every year. How do we continue to advance students with technology while still passing the assessments that are mandated upon us?
The second trend/issue that stood out to me was the section discussing the technology integration: preparing for the twenty-first century. This is something we've been discussing a lot in my district and throughout my county. Technology integration is always a key component, but the portion that stands out to me most is the word "integration". Teachers are always quick to add in a technology project, a Web 2.0 site that they have found, a new app on their classroom iPad's, etc. However what skills are they teaching our students? How are they preparing them to be 21st Century learners and leaders? One of the most important things I teach my students throughout the year is how to "use" the computers. We work on not only the fun Web 2.0 things, but we also talk real-world skills. One of the best programs I have found to help lead educators down this path, is the 21 Things for The 21st Century Teacher. If you haven't checked it out before, I encourage you do to so!
Erica, I love ClassDojo! I haven't needed to use it with my current group, but it worked wonders for my MS group of "at risk" students. This was a great tool to help support me in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteWhat did you think of the 21 Things? Years ago, there was an online course for it. I personally didn't take it, but heard from others that it was great. The platform reminds me a lot of this course -- a lot of technological creations.
Hello Erica,
ReplyDeleteI'm not an educator of K-12 but I agree that adding technology helps to motivate students today. I found it interesting that the book states that there isn't a marked difference in the results when technology is incorporated. For my children, learning without the use of technology is uninteresting.
Hi Erica,
ReplyDeleteTechnology really helps to improve education a lot. However, I always believe that everything has its good and bad sides. Like what a lot of educators meet in standardize testing, “How do we continue to advance students with technology while still passing the assessments that are mandated upon us?” Well, I’m not an educator, but as a student, I always give the A to the teacher who is serious and funny. I think educator is sacred profession so that educator should work seriously to make sure that your student really can leaner something from you, not just some knowledge from textbook. But also, I think no one want to participate in an insipid class, so to be funny to make the class interesting is also important to an educator.
Thank you for posting about the "21 Things for the 21st Century Teacher". This looks like a great resource!
ReplyDeleteIn your post you said, "We work on not only the fun Web 2.0 things, but we also talk real-world skills." I think this is a great point. I completely agree that it is important to incorporate both of these items into teaching. Thank you for sharing!