As a teacher, an educator of young minds, I feel that my education can never be complete. There is always so much more to learn and embrace in my field of education(technology). The more professional development I expose myself to, the stronger the teacher I will someday be. Taking Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society at Walden University, has opened so many doors for my student's classroom experience. It has introduced me to multiple forms of technology, that I previously would have considered myself quite lay with. It has allowed me to develop my own blogs, wikis, and podcasts, and taught me ways to incorporate them into my curriculum. Having a full understanding of technological resources such as these is incredibly rewarding for both myself, and my students. Due to the nature of our 21st century learners, it is imparative that we open ourselves up to new developments and technologies that will someday become a large part of our students life. It is our job, as educators, to prepare our students for what is to come, and understanding these newer forms of communication (podcasts, wikis, blogs) is the first step. It's known that the students we encounter everyday today are much more technologically advanced than those of the past. They are much more computer driven, and spend much of their time using the internet, and communicating through the web. With this in mind, we must direct our instruction to both interest and intrigue our students through useful lessons that have relevant relation to our students lives.
Being a technology teacher, I have always had a strong belief that the classroom should be student centered. That is to say that students will learn through research, trial-and-error, and experiment. It is much of the same with what we have learned in this class over the past 8 weeks. Students may develop useful, and knowledgeable blogs with little knowledge by familiarizing themselves with the commands and the ideas behind them. In this upcoming school year, I am fully committed to both expanding my knowledge on the many newly developing areas of communication technology and incorporating well-designed lessons to my students that allows them for ultimate success for future preparation. Using both online and school resources for professional development will help me to continue my growth as an educator and will develop my skills to a much higher level. I have already begun discussing the ideas of creating units in both Blogs and Wikis with my colleagues for the upcoming school years. We will be meeting this summer to re-write curriculum, and incorporating these aspects into our plans is something I feel very strongly about. I am making it my goal over the next two years to be a better educator for these 21st century learners and develop plans that allow these students to grow and to increase their chances of success, while preparing them for their futures.
Thinking back to the beginning of this course, it's hard to imagine that I was once a technology teacher uneducated in the field of communication technology. I had very little, if any, knowledge of students interests as well as what the future holds for them. I didn't think about preparing them for things to come, rather, I developed lessons to teach for the "now". With the knowledge I've gained in this course, I feel as though I am already a much more effective teacher and am better prepared to help my students succeed in the 21st century. The growth in technology I have gained through this experience has been unbelievably helpful and will help to mold the teacher that I someday would like to be.
Friday, June 25, 2010
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