Reflection EDUC 6710

This course has put into perspective the urgency to change how technology is used in the classroom. The business world and classroom are at complete polar opposites which is a big injustice to our students. My goal has always been to help the students become a productive member of society. This is difficult with such imbalance of teaching and the 21st century skills necessary to succeed.

I have personally learned a lot from this course. Before I started I had never heard of blogs, wikis, podcast, and now I have created one of each. I feel frustrated that my school district blocks most wikis, podcast, and blogs, so I am not able to use them in the classroom. My whole mindset has changed since taking this class. I am problem solving more with the computers, instead of panicking that the program, site does not work. I have started to "warm up" to technology, which is a huge hurdle for myself. I am talking to my students more about technology and how they utilize media in their life. I created a 21st century skills lesson plan that focuses on finding solutions to our environment by collaborating with group members to create a podcast on their findings.

I already use critical thinking skills in the classroom, but I need to use more of the 21 century skills that incorporate technology into my curriculum. Problem solving needs to be taught so the students are able to solve "wicked problems" in the future. Problem solving in the business world is done with different media, which allows the entire world to work together to create a product or solve a problem. The Flat World has changed our society, but most schools are not teaching the necessary skills needed to succeed. If the students can learn to use the media properly than they will be on their way to becoming productive members of our society.

I have known for a long time that a classroom should be learner-centered. I personally do not learn well by listening to lectures. I teach 6th grade history and my school uses a program called History Alive, which really lends itself to learner-centered lessons, and focuses on higher level thinking. I need to add more technology based lessons that are learner-centered. The students just finished an independent assignment on China. The students collaborated to create a project on the topic of their choice. Most groups created power point presentations, that looked professional. I have two students who struggle in my traditional classroom setting, but are technology natives that produced incredible projects with their group.

Referring to the checklist from week one, there are many answers that have changed. The use of critical thinking and reflection is somthing that I use often, but prior to taking this class, the technology was sometimes to rarely. I have begun to create a vision for my school, not just myself. I have spoken to my principal and Technology teacher about ways to improve technology on our campus. New keyboards were ordered for the computer lab, by me asking for new ones, in the middle of a finacial crisis. I have spoken to several teachers about grants for computers, and having companies donating media. It is scheduled to be discussed at the next teacher, parent meeting. I have been visting a lot of different websites to gain more knowledge about technology. Creating lessons that incorporate the 21st century skills, which prior to this class I did not even know that they existed. There have been a plethora of changes in a short amount of time.

I need to teach the students how to properly post a blog, how to communicate with different media. We just adopted a new grading system that is on the internet called School Loop. The students have the opportunity to email their teachers. Many students email, with texting jargon. The students need to be taught how to communicate in the Flat World. Collaborating with other students is another important skill that must be taught. Also, how to research properly with different sources. I better get started soon, the list seems to keep growing.


Goal 1 Start in services on 21st century skills and how to use them in the classroom at my school site. Hopefully the in services will be mandatory. More teachers need to be aware of the skills and the change in presenting information from teacher-centered to learner-centered. I plan to meet with my principal and our tech teacher to set up a schedule of classes that can be taught to the staff. We do not use all of our 6 hours of monthly adjunct duty hours, so hopefully this can be part of those hours.

Goal 2 Tight district website blockage needs to be lifted in order to implement 21st century skills. As of today,minimal podcast, wikis, and blogs are allowed. The states and schools that worked together to make changes are the successful schools that use 21st century skills in their classes. I need to do some research on our district policy, district server and what is blocked. I need to write the superintendent and ask for the strict blockage to be lifted. This means that teachers would need training on how to properly. In week seven's discussion Robert M and Kevin J talked about how to lift blocks on websites. I need to research and utilize the information given, and then contact the "proper authority"