Reflection

This course has introduced me to many forms of technology such as, wikis and blogs and how to incorporate them into the classroom. It has helped me to expand my technological skills and abilities, while allowing me to share these skills with my students and colleagues.

One concept that I found most intriguing was the debate discussed by Dr. David Thornburg and Dr. Hall Davidson in the video, Digital Native vs. Digital Immigrant. This helped me to dissect learners and determine if they are a digital native or a digital immigrant. A digital native is someone born into the digital world and a digital immigrant is someone not born into the digital world. This then led to Dr. Chris Dede presentation of Millennial Learning Styles, which are media based learning styles. He described how the media you use shapes the way you learn. Being presented with this information helped me to view the learner in a whole new perspective.  Dr. Thornburg brought to light that we need to use what the student is bringing into the classroom (what the student already knows), and incorporate their knowledge into our lessons to create a better learning environment (Laureate, Inc., 2010).

Two long-term goals that I have for transforming my classroom environment are to really change my role as just a “teacher” to an “educational facilitator” and to focus on continuing to be a life-long learner. By being an “educational facilitator”, I will not only be teaching but empowering my students to work together to find and solve problems, as Dr. Dede discussed in “Millennial Learning Styles”, allowing my students to be neo-millennial students (Dede, C., 2010).

As a technology teacher it is important to continuously explore new forms of technology and be knowledgeable about what technology is being used by our work force and also by our students. I will do this by staying involved in a learning community, blogging, and communicating with fellow educators in my field.

Upon completing this course, I don’t think that my answers have changed much but I have definitely sharpened my tools for doing things differently and not just doing different things (Thornburg, D., 2010).

Davidson, H. & Thornburg, D. (2010). “Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants.” [Video file]. Laureate Education. Unknown.

Dede, C. (2010). “Millennial Learning Styles.” [Video file]. Laureate Education. Unknown.

Thornburg, D. (2010). “The Emergence of Educational Technology.” [Video file]. Laureate Education. Unkown.

Profiling the Students of Today

I recently surveyed a group of 6th grade students from Rienzi Elementary school about their use of technology and this is what I found.

21st Century Skills

My reaction to this website was WOW! I am really excited to see that there is an effort being made to educate our students with the knowledge and skills that they need. Sir Ken Robinson states "Current systems of education are based on the manufacturing principles of linearity, conformity and standardization". A holistic approach to education is exactly what our children need to succeed in our world today.

I found the skills framework interactive tour to be very informative and easy to maneuver. Route 21 "Snapshots" are a great way to get ideas of how to effectively implement this framework into the classroom.

I think the implications for my students and for me as a contemporary educator will be first-rate. My students will be prepared for the work world and the ever-changing environment in which they will be working. My students will have the knowledge and skills to incorporate all aspects of work, society, and life in general into their everyday lives. As an educator, I want to know that I have done everything in my power to equip my students for any environment that they may find themselves in.

Resources

Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2010). Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Retrieved September 28, 2010, from http://www.p21.org

Robinson, K. (2010). Sir Ken Robinson.com. Bring on the learning revolution. Retrieved September 28, 2010, from http://sirkenrobinson.com/skr/bring-on-the-learning-revolution

Utilizing Blogs in the Classroom

Last year I taught 7th Grade Career Discovery in the Corinth School District in Mississippi. Integrating technology was a must, considering how much technology is used in the workplace. One of the biggest complaints of local businesses in our area is that students entering the workforce are not properly equipped to use the technology available to them in the workplace. A technology tool that was very beneficial to me, my students, and our learning community was the use of blogs.

One way that I used blogs in the classroom last year was as a student portfolio. Upon completing a project students would post what they learned, any insights or interesting findings from their project, and what they liked most about the project. The students would attach or insert their technology projects into their blogs. This enabled students to share their projects with others (parents, grandparents, and peers).

Students became more conscientious about the quality of their work, knowing that it would be posted on the Internet and also knowing that their peers would be "checking out their work". This was also a great way to encourage writing and reflection for each student. Students began blogging about issues outside of the classroom, happenings in our school, community, and/or casual journalism. I was very impressed at the level of writing the students grew into. They felt empowered to be creative and express themselves in a way they typically would not in a typical classroom setting.

One thing that I would love to incorporate is the ability to have RSS capability. Our district was apprehensive about allowing feedback to students work. This would encourage student and parent interaction with the classroom community.

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms (Third Edition ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Need Help!

Here is a useful website that my school subscribes to. They offer free tutorials too.

www.lynda.com

This site has any tutorial related to computers and technology, it has been very useful to me and my colleagues in our district.

Emily

Welcome To My Blog

My name is Emily J. McGrath and I currently live in MS with my family. Until recently I taught 7th grade Career Discovery, a required tech-prep course, for the Corinth School District. I recently became the Project Director for the MS Tobacco-Free Coalition, a grant funded by the MS State Department of Health. Now I am traveling to schools, K-12, and community events educating students and adults about the dangers of tobacco.

In the past my students and I have created web pages and blogs to use as an electronic portfolio. This was an excellent way for parents and community members to monitor what was happening in the classroom. We actively integrated other core classes into our projects and our blogging. The students relished the fact that their work was being published onto the web for all to see.

By using blogs our students were encouraged to be creative and write to the best of their ability. By using the blogs, students were unaware that they were actually becoming better writers and growing in their writing skills. Because the students did not see blogging as "writing", they unknowingly were using their writing skills and techniques they learning in Language Arts. As many of you know, in MS a 7th grade writing test is administered and I am excited that their scores were much improved.