This course at Walden University of the use of Technology in the classroom has empowered me and inspired me to be to look at teaching curriculum differently. In the beginning of the class we talked about using technology to do the same thing differently versus teaching differently. I really want to keep this in the forefront of my mind when mapping out my curriculum for this upcoming school year. This course has reminded me and shown me many new ways to integrated technology into the classroom to enrich the learning and engage the students in a more meaningful way. For the first couple of years in my teaching I was very committed to using technology in the classroom and this class has inspired me to use technology differently to make my job easier and not add to more work. Like many teachers we have so much on our plate that adding new things and new ways of doing things can be a challenge, sometimes using technology can be viewed as just something more we as teachers have to do. However, during this class I have really looked at ideas that will make my job easier and teaching more efficient.
During this course it has really enlighten me on what corporate America is like today. Being a teacher we are very isolated from the outside world. Our work environment has not changed near as drastically as those work environments in the corporate world. This has really lead me to think about my students who will be entering this work force just 3 years after I have them in my class. I now see just how important it is to incorporate 21st century skills into my classroom. This course has really made me focus on some real issues that my students need to know how to do, like cooperation, collaboration, and communication. These are skills really need to be the basis of what we teach and the curriculum should fit inside of that. This course has also made me realize just how different kids are learning these days. Our students are thinking more collectively than ever before. Collective knowledge amongst a group of individuals is the way the world is driven these days and our learning must reflect that, while we give them opportunities to think and create collectively. Companies no longer rely on just one individual to run it, but rather a team of collaborators. Our classrooms can be the same way. I do realize that it can be challenging to go from the norm of assessing each student individual but if our main focus is to help our student work on social skills and problem solve collectively, then we need to give the opportunities.
This course has reinforced my philosophy of teaching, these days as teachers we do not need to see or actually be all knowing, our role is mere facilitators. It can be challenging but we know through research students like to have options and do much better when they feel like they are constructing their own learning. This generation of students like to customize everything in their life, from their phones, to their computers, to their learning. Constructivism is a great philosophy of teaching and we as educated, educators know this but our current accountability system makes this very difficult. Our students and teachers are under huge pressure for out students to perform well on tests so have the students construct their own learning can be very challenging, when we need every child to know to the same material so that they can pass a standardized test, the teacher is stuck on balancing what he/she knows it the best method of teaching and what will get the students to perform well on a test. I lucky that I teach a content area that is not tested so I can have more student lead learning, and I can play the role of facilitator, and let my students construct their own learning. I hope this continues, all teachers should have this freedom, hopefully one day we will.
I really have a true passion when it comes to technology and I love being knowledgable about new and upcoming technology, so in the next few years I plan on making real efforts to stay on top of new ways of integrating technology. I also plan on continuing taking classes that are in this field to stay with the up and up. In the future I plan on working with my students to teach them the skills they will need in their future careers.
