Reflection

At the beginning of this course I was rethinking about whether a Master’s in Integrating Technology into the Classroom was really want I wanted to go back to school for. After reading many articles about 21st century learners and the different ways to use technology in my own classroom, I came to realize that this is exactly what I need to go back to school for. Students in our classrooms are bored, or at least that is the way it seems on a day to day basis in the classrooms that I walk past during my conference hour. Sitting at their desks, taking notes, listening to a lecture is not the way that they learn the best at a young age. Marc Prensky was the first person to coin the term digital natives and digital immigrants, but I believe that he understands our students more as people and not just a label. Prensky has stated many times that we need to “give students the opportunity to use technology in school” (Prensky, 2008). For this reason, and also for many others, is why I am happy to have chosen this as my Master’s program.

This course has raised my awareness of the different types of technologies out there for us educators to use in our classrooms. I was familiar with the terms blog and wiki, but was very cautious in using them because I was unfamiliar how to use them correctly. I very quickly learned how easy they were to edit and also began to come up with ideas on how to integrate them into my everyday classroom routine. This course has given me many ideas on how to use these in my very own classroom and has also given me the opportunity to share with my fellow educators at my school how great these technologies can be for our students. If you would have asked me 8 weeks ago how to create a podcast, wiki, or blog I would have told you that I would never know or use one of them in my classroom. Now, 8 weeks later, I have come up with at least 5 different lesson plans to share with my colleagues and integrate into my own classroom immediately.

There are many ways that I could still expand my level of understanding technology. One way that I can do this is by doing exactly what Prensky says that we should do, “find out how students want to be taught.” If our students voice to us that they would rather learn by lecture, then teach by lecture. However, you will find in the classrooms today that they would rather learn by exploration and create a sense of ownership over their work. It gives them pride to find it on their own and be able to share it with each other. As I continue my coursework I will hopefully find other ways to integrate technology into my classroom, but the resource that I will use until then is this course and my students. “Our brightest students, trusted with responsibilities, will surprise us all with their contributions”(Prensky, 2005).

The first goal that I plan to accomplish next year is to create a Geometry Wik-tionary in one of my Geometry courses. I will put this plan into action at the beginning of next year with one of my classes and hopefully watch it grow the following year. Students will create a dictionary of our Geometry terms online using a Wiki. Students will be broken up into groups of at least 3 and will be given a chapter from the book of which they will be responsible for the vocabulary terms in that chapter. For their terms they must include a picture, the books definition, any formulas that may be related to their term, and also, their own definition of their term. This will be a year long project so I will give them at least ten days in the computer lab at school to work on it. I am very excited to see this put into action. I hope to report back with positive feedback from my students.

The second goal is to create a podcast when I am going to be away at a conference for my students to listen to so they do not miss out on a day of learning. By creating a podcast it will seem like I am in the classroom teaching without really being there. I can record myself a few days ahead of time, create a CD to give to the substitute teacher, who simply puts the CD in the computer to play it for my students to listen to. This will help students to not only see the visuals and definitions in the book, but also to hear my own explanation and step by step instructions without me actually being there. I am planning on trying this next month while I am away at a conference. I have created other podcasts that are not linked to this blog and have found them to be very resourceful. Again, I hope that this will be a positive experience for my students.

This course was very intimidating to me at first, but after 8 weeks and great collaboration with my classmates, I am coming away much more aware of the technology out there for me and with a better understanding of why it is important for me to use these in my own classroom.

References:

Prensky, M. (2005). Listen to the natives. Educational Leadership, 63(4), 8–13.


Prensky, M. (2008, March). Turning on the lights. Educational Leadership, 65(6), 40–45.

Students and Technology

This past week I surveyed 30 of my 10th and 11th graders regarding the different technologies that they use at school and at home. Here you will find the podcast of the results of my survey. Enjoy!!

Podcast of Survey