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As the hours of my last weekend of summer vacation slip
away, I reflect on the growth while completing this course: Understanding the
Impact of Technology on Education, Work and Society. I have become more familiar with creating
podcast and blogs. My classmates shared
many ideas on incorporating these tools into the classroom. I also contributed to my first wiki page. I cannot wait to have my students create wiki
page. I have already started to develop a
lesson for my fifth grade art students.
Every year I teach a large cultural mask unit. This year my students will be creating pages exploring
masks from around the world. Dr. Dede
stated, the focus of education has moved away from the individual and towards
collaborative work (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010). This wiki is a great way to shift the focus
in my classroom.
Since teachers are no longer the primary source of
information, it is extremely important that students are able to process and evaluate
information that is so readily available to them. My knowledge for the importance of providing
my students the opportunity to practice twenty-first century skills has
deepened immensely. My students will
need to evaluate the credibility of online resources, use professionalism while
contributing online, and understand the importance of their social
responsibility and technology literacy in order to be successful in the future
workforce.
I want my class to become more learner-centered as opposed
to teacher-centered. My perspective on
this has not changed. However, now I have
the skills and resources to be able to step back and let my students discover
and process new information. My role
needs to shift from instructor to facilitator. I will provide my students will
less information and model retrieval more.
This class may be coming to a close but I will still continue
to expand my knowledge of integrating technology into the classroom. I have
limited opportunities in my school district for technology staff development. Therefore, I must seek out my own training. There are so many valuable online resources have
discovered over the last seven weeks. I
have found great online collaborative communities of other art teachers looking
to use more technology in the classroom.
I have created a couple goal for myself to accomplish in
next few years. As soon as I am able to
finish this master’s degree, I plan on completing a class that explores the
software used to run my interactive white board. I would also like to research grants that
could be used towards tablets or iPads in the art room. I have found so many great art technology
tools I would love to share with my students. I have never written a grant but
understand that they are time consuming.
My school has an excellent Parent Teacher Organization with multiple fundraisers
that might be a more accessible resource.
The first week of this class, I completed a checklist evaluating
how often my teaching practices support twenty-first century skills as well as developing
technology skills. Most of my checks
were in the “sometimes” column. I plan
on filling out this checklist again in one year. After the skills I have developed and the resources
I have discovered in this course, I hope to have more in the often column!
Reference
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer).
(2010). Skills for the 21st century.[Webcast]. The changing work environment (part one).
Baltimore, MD Dr. David Thornburg.
