I have gained much knowledge of the impact of technology on education, work, and society over the past several weeks. This course has helped me develop my own technology skills in four major ways. First, I created a blog where I share resources, educational thoughts, and my current educational experiences. Second, I created a wiki where I work with my students to share projects from our pre-engineering class. Third, I recorded and posted a podcast on my blog describing my students’ use of and access to technology. Fourth, I joined a Professional Learning Community (PLC) at my school where I am working with colleagues to incorporate technology into the curriculum through the use of blogs and wikis.
I have deepened my knowledge of the teaching and learning process through my experience as a teacher and also as a student in a graduate program. I see the perspectives of both roles since I live them on a daily basis. Seeing both perspectives gives me an advantage and helps me to keep an open mind. My students think it is interesting that I am also a student and they are curious to know what I learn in my graduate courses. As I have learned about blogs and wikis, I have shared the knowledge with my students. They see my excitement and, in turn, show excitement to learn. Through the teaching and learning process, I am able to be a positive role model showing the importance of being a life-long learner.
Over the past two years, I have shifted my teaching from a teacher-centered to a student-centered learning environment. This course has helped to develop what I have already started and has given me ideas to enhance and improve student achievement in my classroom. It is one of my long-term goals to continue the process of expanding my knowledge through the PLC at my school. It is our goal as a PLC to locate quality technological resources and implement the resources in the classroom. My second long-term goal is to continue developing my classroom wiki. I will achieve this goal through requiring my students to post assignments and reflections on the wiki. I have also set up a second wiki with my PLC to share the resources we find. While we share the new resources, we will learn more of the capabilities of the wiki and help to develop our knowledge together. Having colleagues at my school working on this alongside me will help to keep me motivated and on schedule.
As a result of this course, I have been inspired to develop the 21st Century Skills of my students. These skills include collaboration, creativity, communication, and critical thinking. I can develop these skills by providing my students with project-based activities which require them to problem solve collaboratively. In the midst of these activities, students will use a variety of technological tools to attain their goals. If I can incorporate new instructional practices each year, I can reach my goal of moving toward a student-centered classroom where I play the role of facilitator of knowledge rather than the “expert” who lectures.
