Reflection

Overall, this course in understanding the impact of technology in the classroom and society has been very useful to me. I feel that I have gained a lot of knowledge about new technologies I could use in my classroom and the benefits of using them. I feel like my professor was very helpful and always answered any questions that I had, and my peers always had insightful ideas to share with me.

This course has helped me to develop my own technology skills as a teacher by showing me three basic technologies that I did not know about before that I can use in my classroom. Wikis, Podcasts and Blogs were all new to me before this and I feel that I am a better teacher because I am able to use these technologies in my classroom now. I can already see the benefits of using Blogs in my classroom. Students were so open to the idea of being able to share their ideas through blogs and it is something they wanted to know so much more about.

My knowledge of the teaching and learning process have been expanded because of this course in some ways. For example, I feel like I know more about the way that students learn because of taking this course. This will help me when I am planning lessons, doing research and dealing with my students day to day.

My perspective of the way that students learn as far as teaching learner-centered instead of teacher-centered has not changed. When I came into this course I already had the idea that teaching my students should be student and learner centered instead of teacher-centered. My classroom will always be centered around students discovering many things for themselves and working with others in groups. This course has helped me to see how important it is for students to have grouping skills because it is a new skill for the 21st century.

I will continue to expand my knowledge of leading my teaching with technology as the aim for increasing student achievement by continuing to do research on the latest technologies that are out there. Also, I plan to attend workshops that deal specifically with learning about how technology can increase students learning in my classroom. I also plan to finish my master’s from Walden in the technology field which will further my knowledge about how technology can positively impact a classroom.

Two long-term goals that I have for transforming my classroom environment would be to first, get more computers to each classroom and more than one SMARTboard to the school. This could be done by writing to different people for grants. This could also be done through different methods, but it is a goal of mine to complete this somehow so that my school has more technology that the students can be impacted by. The second goal I would have is to have more lessons in my class that include using different technologies. I already have ideas for unit plans that would include using blogs, while still meeting the state standards. Overall, I would like to see my classroom using more technology.

All of my answers from week one have stayed the same. Overall this course has been very useful and I will take what I have learned and bring it to my classroom.

Learning for the 21st century website

Today I viewed the Web site of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. The first thing that I noticed was the members of this website. There were a lot of big name companies that joined this such as Apple and Dell, along with the many other education companies. It surprised me that computer companies were joined in the partnership for 21st century skills! It makes sense because computers are a big part of new technology that students use, but it seems like they are more of a company to sell computers, not improve students education. It confuses me a little.

The next thing I noticed was that there is a part of the website that mentions where I live! I live in Rochester, New York and it says that students in a district close by reworked the history curriculum to include more technology and 91 percent of the students passed. That makes a big impact on my impression of the website. It makes me think that what I am doing in my classroom can be directly changed and influenced by this website and the information it has to offer.

I like how the website includes other school districts and how they have improved because of this new technology and information about skills students need. It makes more of an impact because it sort of proves that this could really help and change American schools for the better!

I agree with most of the informatin the website displays, but I would have liked it more if the website displayed more visual information like graphs or charts. I am more of a visual learner and there was A LOT of information just sort of stated like in an essay type of format, with some of it broken apart.

I think this website has a lot to offer teachers and it is a good resource that I should use for my classroom. I would defiantly look to it for ideas on how to improve my classroom!

Ways I could use blogs in my classroom

Well, this is a hard subject for me to comment on since I do not yet have a classroom. I will be starting a new job in a couple of weeks which is a before and after school program that contains students all the way from Pre-K to 5th grade. The program mostly has students doing one activity after school that has to do with either math or reading. The students are going to be in the cafeteria for this time period, and the rest of it is spent going outside or doing homework. So, to say the least, using blogs in this setting would be almost impossible to do.

However, if we did have computer access, which I have yet to find out, I do know one way that I could use blogs in my situation. The fourth and fifth graders would be able to blog about homework that they are doing, possible questions they have or since this is a more relaxed enviornment (not an actual classroom) the students might be able to blog about more subjects that they are interested in also with other students around the world.

I think that this would be a great tool for students because they can get help on what they are doing from peers that are the same age as them, they might be able to explain questions or get ideas that teachers would not explain the same way. They could also talk to kids the same age as them about subjects they are really interested in.

Introduction

Hey everyone. This is the first time that I have blogged about anything, or had a blog so it should be interesting! The purpose of this blogging area is to share information about technology that can be used in a classroom.

I am 22 years old and live in New York. I went to college at the State University of New York at Brockport and graduated in 2008 with my major in English-literature and my certification in elementary education (grades 1 through 5). I am now recieving my master's from Walden University in Integrating Technology in the Classroom. I just recently got a job dealing with education: a before school teacher for a program the schools in my district have. I was a manager in retail but I gave that up for this job. I did that today!

I hope to gain a lot of information that will help me in the education field!