The Walden University course I have been taking for the past eight weeks, Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society, is coming to a close. This blog entry represents a reflection of what I have learned, my ideas for how to continue to integrate technology into my classroom, and how I can encourage growth in technology integration in our school.
For years, I taught business education and used technology in every aspect of my curriculum. One year ago, I made the switch from business to math and now have very little access to technology in my classroom. This is frustrating, especially now that I know the power of Web 2.0 applications! Prior to this class, I was familiar with blogs, wikis, and podcasts, but had not imagined the possibilities for their use as collaborative, project-based learning tools for my students, especially in the subject of mathematics.
Will Richardson, author, speaker, former teacher, and self-proclaimed technology “evangelist,” proved to be one of my favorite authors and resources during this course. His philosophy and passion for student-driven learning has helped me to rethink the ways in which I teach. His book, Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts, and Other Powerful Tools for Classrooms (2009), will be among the tools I reach for when I plan my lessons this year. I have subscribed to his blog, http://www.weblogg-ed.com/, which feeds my Google Reader, another fantastic application which I have put to use after learning its power in this class. The idea of not having to seek out useful information every day, but letting it come to me instead is a welcome concept!
Because of my passion for career and technical education, I have long been a believer in teaching 21st century skills (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/). As a result of this course, I have useful ideas for incorporating more 21st century skills into my math classroom, where I have been challenged because of the tremendous emphasis on teaching to the test in a core subject. Teacher Jeff Houston (Laureate Education, 2008), gave me inspiration when he talked about how he is able to incorporate Web 2.0 tools into his curriculum and watch his students not only meet but exceed state standards in their learning while strengthening their communication and collaboration skills—two critical skills for success in the 21st century.
I now feel connected to a new world of possibilities that will be exciting to introduce to my students. The best way to expand my knowledge of learning, teaching, and leading with technology to increase their achievement is to put what I have learned to use! This will be challenging because of our limited computer equipment, but I have spoken with my building principal who is on board as an advocator for finding funds for a mobile laptop lab for use in our building.
One of my long-term goals is to advocate for funds for the purchase of a mobile laptop lab within the next year. In addition to working with my administrator, I have also made plans with a colleague to begin looking for private funds for this purchase. A second goal is to establish a classroom blog as a well-utilized information and collaborative learning resource for my students and their parents. The blog has been created and I will begin posting to it in the next few days, as school begins next week. My third goal is to encourage our administration to offer professional development to our entire staff that will teach them how to use Web 2.0 applications in their classrooms. I have offered to teach these sessions myself but plan to use the technology in my own classes before venturing into this arena.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society, program 23. [DVD]. Baltimore: Author.
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Friday, July 31, 2009
Podcast: Profiling Today's Students
This entry features a podcast (http://www.box.net/shared/a7m0kx6tht) in which I interviewed two junior high girls who fit the definition of Digital Native (Prensky, 2001). They are typical girls in our school. Both use cell phones, digital music players, computers, and watch TV on a regular basis. They use computers in school and for homework, but each stated that they use technology more for social purposes than academic endeavors. If they could, they would both like to use technology more often in school. They were somewhat familiar with Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, wikis, and podcasts, but have had very limited use with them.
It was fun for me to realize during this interview that I'll be introducing Web 2.0 tools to my classes in just a few weeks, knowing that the technology will make class a little bit more fun and that I will be providing my students with greater opportunities for developing 21st century skills for the workplace (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/).
Reference
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants, part II: Do they really think differently? On the Horizon, 9(6). Retrieved July 25, 2009, from http://proquest.umi.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/pqdweb?index=0&did=1074252411&SrchMode=2&sid=1&Fmt=6&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1248536605&clientId=70192
It was fun for me to realize during this interview that I'll be introducing Web 2.0 tools to my classes in just a few weeks, knowing that the technology will make class a little bit more fun and that I will be providing my students with greater opportunities for developing 21st century skills for the workplace (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/).
Reference
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants, part II: Do they really think differently? On the Horizon, 9(6). Retrieved July 25, 2009, from http://proquest.umi.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/pqdweb?index=0&did=1074252411&SrchMode=2&sid=1&Fmt=6&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1248536605&clientId=70192
Monday, July 27, 2009
Article on Digital Textbooks and 21st Century Learning
Walden classmates, check out this article that came through my Google Reader this morning. It's titled The rise of digital textbooks and is written by Meris Stansbury, Associate Editor of eSchool News.
Erin, I think it was you who mentioned your disappointment that none of the West Coast states were in partnership with P21 (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/). In this article, it's nice to see that Governor Schwarzenegger is connecting 21st century skills with education in California even if his state is not an official partner.
There is interesting information about a California school that has started redirecting funding by investing textbook money in laptops that contain digital texts. English students use the laptops every day in class and can take them home in the evenings to work on assignments and group projects.
You do have to register as a subscriber of eSchool News to read the full article, but the site has great information related directly to our course work.
Erin, I think it was you who mentioned your disappointment that none of the West Coast states were in partnership with P21 (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/). In this article, it's nice to see that Governor Schwarzenegger is connecting 21st century skills with education in California even if his state is not an official partner.
There is interesting information about a California school that has started redirecting funding by investing textbook money in laptops that contain digital texts. English students use the laptops every day in class and can take them home in the evenings to work on assignments and group projects.
You do have to register as a subscriber of eSchool News to read the full article, but the site has great information related directly to our course work.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Evaluating the Partnership for 21st Century Skills Web Site
The Partnership for 21st Century Skills, or P21 as it is known, is an advocacy organization whose mission is to bring together leaders in education, business, community, and government for the purpose of bringing twenty-first century skills to our nation’s students.
Through exploration of its well-organized Web site (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/), I was quickly able to learn its history, mission, framework, and how to become involved as an advocate. The site contains links to related news and events, publications, and specific information about the states affiliated with P21. The Route 21 link allowed me to create a membership with the organization where users can download P21 documents and access a multitude of resources covering standards, assessments, professional development, curriculum and instruction, and learning environments related to teaching twenty-first century skills. As an educator, I was pleased with the utility and format of the Web site, which tend to be strong determining factors in whether or not I will return to a site. Overall, I was impressed with what I viewed.
The most surprising piece of information to me was that since 2002, the year of the birth of P21, only 13 states have become affiliated with the organization. There is no cost to join; however, there is a commitment to implementing a P21 strategy within the educational system of the partner state. Because of the serious nature of educating our students to compete in a global workforce, I expected there to be more states in partnership with P21. Bates and Phelan (2002) do a thorough job of bringing together the results of several employable skills studies. The research is consistent and shows that desired employable skills can be categorized within four common themes, all of which have been included in the framework of P21. It is puzzling that only 13 of 50 of our United States have partnered with P21 to take advantage of its resources for promoting necessary skills.
There was nothing on the P21 site with which I found myself disagreeing. Exploring the 21st century work environment during the past two weeks has been rejuvenating for me as an educator. In the mid-1990’s, the SCANS (Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills) report was a tool I became familiar with and used throughout the following decade as a business educator. I am very much on board with the mission of P21, and pleased to know that Walden University is arming its education students with this critical knowledge.
It does concern me that 21st century skills are something I rarely hear mentioned in my educational networks outside of business education. Such critical skills need to be addressed at administrative, school board, and state government levels where all students are concerned—not just those in vocational and technical education programs. After this week’s exploration of twenty-first century skills, I would like to discuss P21 with our local administrators as a potential professional development topic for our K–12 staff. It might also make for an excellent informational blog entry for parents to read in my classroom blog.
References
Bates, R., & Phelan, K. (2002). Characteristics of a globally competitive workforce. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 4(2), 121. Retrieved July 22, 2009 from http://adh.sagepub.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/cgi/reprint/4/2/121.
Department of Labor. (1991). What work requires of schools: A SCANS report for America 2000. Springfield, VA: National Technical Information Service.
Through exploration of its well-organized Web site (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/), I was quickly able to learn its history, mission, framework, and how to become involved as an advocate. The site contains links to related news and events, publications, and specific information about the states affiliated with P21. The Route 21 link allowed me to create a membership with the organization where users can download P21 documents and access a multitude of resources covering standards, assessments, professional development, curriculum and instruction, and learning environments related to teaching twenty-first century skills. As an educator, I was pleased with the utility and format of the Web site, which tend to be strong determining factors in whether or not I will return to a site. Overall, I was impressed with what I viewed.
The most surprising piece of information to me was that since 2002, the year of the birth of P21, only 13 states have become affiliated with the organization. There is no cost to join; however, there is a commitment to implementing a P21 strategy within the educational system of the partner state. Because of the serious nature of educating our students to compete in a global workforce, I expected there to be more states in partnership with P21. Bates and Phelan (2002) do a thorough job of bringing together the results of several employable skills studies. The research is consistent and shows that desired employable skills can be categorized within four common themes, all of which have been included in the framework of P21. It is puzzling that only 13 of 50 of our United States have partnered with P21 to take advantage of its resources for promoting necessary skills.
There was nothing on the P21 site with which I found myself disagreeing. Exploring the 21st century work environment during the past two weeks has been rejuvenating for me as an educator. In the mid-1990’s, the SCANS (Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills) report was a tool I became familiar with and used throughout the following decade as a business educator. I am very much on board with the mission of P21, and pleased to know that Walden University is arming its education students with this critical knowledge.
It does concern me that 21st century skills are something I rarely hear mentioned in my educational networks outside of business education. Such critical skills need to be addressed at administrative, school board, and state government levels where all students are concerned—not just those in vocational and technical education programs. After this week’s exploration of twenty-first century skills, I would like to discuss P21 with our local administrators as a potential professional development topic for our K–12 staff. It might also make for an excellent informational blog entry for parents to read in my classroom blog.
References
Bates, R., & Phelan, K. (2002). Characteristics of a globally competitive workforce. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 4(2), 121. Retrieved July 22, 2009 from http://adh.sagepub.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/cgi/reprint/4/2/121.
Department of Labor. (1991). What work requires of schools: A SCANS report for America 2000. Springfield, VA: National Technical Information Service.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Plans for my classroom blogs
I teach 7th - 9th grade math to lower-end math students. Approximately 50% of my students receive either special education or Title 1 services. I have been working to come up with effective classroom practices for improving the language skills of my students whose greatest difficulties in math appear to be language-related. Eventually I would love to use classroom blogs to help my students improve their language skills through writing and collaboration with others. It was interesting and exciting for me to read about the power of blogging for developing language skills in Will Richardson's "Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms" (2009). He believes that blogs facilitate "a new form of genre that could be called 'connective writing,' a form that forces those who do it to read carefully and critically, that demands clarity and cogency in its construction, that is done for a wide audience, and that links to the sources of the ideas expressed" (p. 28).
In a previous course in my master's program in at Walden University, I discovered a report written by Montague, Krawec, and Sweeney (2008) in which research determined that a student’s poor vocabulary and inability to describe how math problems are solved has a direct negative effect on his or her math learning skills and test performance. This reinforces my belief that improved reading and language skills would enhance students’ math learning. Again, blogging as a tool for such learners sounds very promising.
In my classroom blogs, I've thought about trying simple things such as exchanging word problems with students in other schools in sort of a challenge-to-others format where responses and solutions would be given in written language (sentence and paragraph) form as opposed to using numerals and math symbols.
Another idea I've considered is posting problems and requiring my students to use blog posts or comments to describe the steps they used for solving the problems. They could take the process a step further and write comments to critique the work or problem-solving descriptions of other students.
I've also considered having them use blogs as journals to describe their feelings/frustrations/successes in math class. I will occasionally use part of a class period to have an open discussion with my students about these things, but I think for them to put their thoughts in writing would be even more effective.
Aside from the ideas I have mentioned, I will be creating an informational blog for parents and students to highlight the things that will be going on throughout the year in my classroom. I have yet to decide whether I will create one blog for all of my classes or one for each class...one for each class sounds like more work than may be necessary. I have yet to work out the details, but I have several ideas floating around in my head for what I will include on the blog(s). I'd like for it to be a newsletter type of blog for the purpose of keeping people informed.
References
Montague, M., Krawec, J., and Sweeney, C. (2008, Spring.) Promoting self-talk to improve middle school students’ mathematical problem solving. Perspectives on Language and Literacy, 34(2) 13 – 17. Retrieved April 2, 2009, from ProQuest Central database. (Document ID: 1480985781). http://proquest.umi.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/pqdweb?index=30&did=1480985781&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=6&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1238948347&clientId=70192
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
In a previous course in my master's program in at Walden University, I discovered a report written by Montague, Krawec, and Sweeney (2008) in which research determined that a student’s poor vocabulary and inability to describe how math problems are solved has a direct negative effect on his or her math learning skills and test performance. This reinforces my belief that improved reading and language skills would enhance students’ math learning. Again, blogging as a tool for such learners sounds very promising.
In my classroom blogs, I've thought about trying simple things such as exchanging word problems with students in other schools in sort of a challenge-to-others format where responses and solutions would be given in written language (sentence and paragraph) form as opposed to using numerals and math symbols.
Another idea I've considered is posting problems and requiring my students to use blog posts or comments to describe the steps they used for solving the problems. They could take the process a step further and write comments to critique the work or problem-solving descriptions of other students.
I've also considered having them use blogs as journals to describe their feelings/frustrations/successes in math class. I will occasionally use part of a class period to have an open discussion with my students about these things, but I think for them to put their thoughts in writing would be even more effective.
Aside from the ideas I have mentioned, I will be creating an informational blog for parents and students to highlight the things that will be going on throughout the year in my classroom. I have yet to decide whether I will create one blog for all of my classes or one for each class...one for each class sounds like more work than may be necessary. I have yet to work out the details, but I have several ideas floating around in my head for what I will include on the blog(s). I'd like for it to be a newsletter type of blog for the purpose of keeping people informed.
References
Montague, M., Krawec, J., and Sweeney, C. (2008, Spring.) Promoting self-talk to improve middle school students’ mathematical problem solving. Perspectives on Language and Literacy, 34(2) 13 – 17. Retrieved April 2, 2009, from ProQuest Central database. (Document ID: 1480985781). http://proquest.umi.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/pqdweb?index=30&did=1480985781&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=6&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1238948347&clientId=70192
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Friday, July 3, 2009
How things change...
I was thinking today about how my classroom has changed since I was hired in my current job 19 years ago. At the time, I had 12 electronic Panasonic typewriters and 12 IBM PS2 Model 25 computers in my business lab. The computers had dual 3 1/2" floppy drives and no hard drive. It was all about DOS, black and white monitors, text, no graphics, no need for a mouse, no sound, the Internet was unheard of, computer networking in schools was an administrator's nightmare, and my students printed from boxes of tractor-fed paper.Our software was Microsoft Works 1.05 which my students ran from one floppy disk in the A: drive and they saved data to the floppy in the B: drive. I also taught BASIC programming. And the funny thing is...we were advanced! Little schools like ours in Montana were struggling to come up with money to buy computers; after all, computers were a luxury, and not really a necessity, right? All you had to do was ask your adminstrator or long-time school board member, and they'd tell you, right? Wow, how things have changed. I've seen more computer models come and go and learned and taught more software packages in the last 19 years than I can remember. My daughters find it hard to believe that when I was in college, you had to rent a VCR and lug it home in a big case to watch your rented movies on VHS or Beta. "What?!?! You couldn't BUY movies back then, Mom? That's so lame."
Technology has changed at warp speed and I'm feeling lucky that I get to be an educator at a time when we have so much teaching and learning power at our fingertips!
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