So what does this have to do with me? Well obviously I am learning it in school at the moment BUT, it means that I too have to change what I know as education in order to fit the new way of teaching and learning. This is no problem for me. I love learning new ways of just about anything. The struggle I'm having is adjusting to the technology side of the 21st century teacher. I know what you're thinking... a 22 year old in university probably knows a ton about technology! And that may be true for many 22 year olds, but definitely not this one. So when my professor suggested we each create and upkeep a blog, I thought it was a great way for me to start figuring out this thing called technology.
Technology is constantly surrounding our society and it is found now in almost anything we do. Even when it comes to things like reading books, it is so easy to pull out an iPad or a Kindle and download which ever book you want to read without even moving from your morning coffee. The reality is that technology is constantly growing and changing and the children we will be teaching will often know how to use the new piece of equipment much faster than we will. The question is what do we do about it and how do we keep students interested in what we are teaching them. The answer is simple, use things in the classroom that they understand in order to teach them something new! This does not just pertain to technology but it definitely includes it. As soon as a teacher accepts that the students will know certain things that they don't, the teacher can begin to teach FOR the students instead of TO the students by allowing them to use what they already know. Technology is something that most students will have a basic knowledge of, and if they don't, they will probably have an interest in it. So use this to your benefit. Students will listen when they are enjoying what they are doing.
Of course, there are problems with using technology in the classroom. Will my students stay on task? Will my students use websites, particularly social media sites appropriately? What if one of my students cannot afford a computer and I am planning on assigning homework which must be done online or must be typed out? Technology is expensive, and it is often a very non-private way of sharing, so as I become a teacher I will not only be looking at what new technologies are available for my classroom, but at what my students need to know about the technologies to keep them safe before they use them. Our world is becoming less and less private, and so we need to talk to our students about that.
Many of our students will at least have access to technology inside the classroom, and many more will have access to outside technologies as well. Just because some students may understand how to use a certain program or piece of technology before entering the classroom does not mean that we do not have to learn how to use it as teachers. We need to recognize that though we will learn from them as they learn from us, there will be students in our classes who may not have had any exposure to technology. We are catering to our students' interests, but we first must learn. And as the technology changes, we will learn again. There will be a never ending process of learning for every teacher, particularly for the 21st century teacher, because technology will never stop evolving. BUT there are people around to help! When in doubt, Google. But first check out websites like c21canada.org, and p21.org which will help explain 21st century learning as a classroom act, as well as a community initiative. Both of these websites have a page on resources of books and websites to assist teachers. So teachers, don't stop learning. I know I'll be looking at new forms of technology for the classroom. It is an evolving world, and we must evolve with it.
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ReplyDeleteOnly published half of my comment on this one! Sorry!!
DeleteI really enjoy the way in which your blog explores the concept of 21st century learning within the context of both complications in the movement to the way in which the movement is slowly taking off. By contrasting each of these factors, a clear image of 21st century learning emerges, illustrating that there may not be a general resistance to it but a difficulty in instituting it which has thus far prevented it from taking hold generally.
ReplyDeleteI also found the way in which you dwell on the complications and the emotions of teachers particularly interesting for the way in which it incapsulated the general opinion of teaching in this day and age. While there might be the desire to move forward there is also the restrictions of the old story model of teaching and an entire generation of teachers that operate on this system! In highlighting the anxieties I think you bring up the majority of issues with the move into 21st century learning, this resistance to, or stagnation of learning on the part of the professional that must be overcome to generate this new story, 21st century perspective!
Michelle:
ReplyDeleteLike you, I definitely have some apprehensions about my ability to implement technology effectively into the 21st century classroom. Still, I think you have done a great job of explaining that as the landscape of education changes...we don't really have a choice! We must be adaptive or our students will leave us in the dust. And while this can be a scary proposition for teachers still clinging to the old story of education as Alex indicated, teachers that embrace the change are more likely to get the most out of their students.
I also enjoyed your discussion on the safe and responsible use of technology in the classroom. This is a key feature of digital literacy. Furthermore, you blog post ties nicely into the interrelatedness of the other literacies we are learning about in class when you consider that technology expands the learning environment beyond the classroom and therefore increases the importance of skills associated with media, global and cultural literacy.