Technology in the classroom

In the current educational climate there is a big push to create “21^st century learners.”  Many teachers I have worked with think this simply means exposing their students to technology based learning tools.  Substantial amounts of money have been invested in providing technology equipment and training to classroom teachers.  The intentions are good, but I think we are falling a bit short.

First, let’s think about what a “21^st century learner” really means.  It’s not just about the technology.  It is molding our students into problem solvers and creative thinkers.  It means we can’t expect them to succeed in this world if all they know is what comes from a text book.  It means taking what they have learned and applying it to real word problems.  "To be literate today involves acquiring new skills, including those of using technology, understanding science, having global awareness, and most important, having the ability to keep learning." (Solomon & Schrum, 2007)

“Constructivist learning theory tells us that we learn in a variety of ways. The more opportunities we have, and the more actively engaged we are, the richer our understanding. Good teachers have always used experience as a valuable instructional tool; that is why we arrange field trips and hands-on projects.” (Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 1999).   So the question is, how does technology create learning experiences? 

Many teachers, including myself, have the technical skills needed, but lack direction on how to incorporate it in the classroom.  “New technologies can help people visualize difficult-to-understand concepts. Students can work with visualization and modeling, increasing their understanding and the likelihood of transfer from school to nonschool settings.” (9 Technology to Support Learning, pg. 206)  Technology is not the key to the learning experience.  It should be used as an infrastructure to make teaching productive.

References

Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New tools, new schools. (1st ed., pp. 7-44). Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).

Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, (1999). Learning as a personal event: A brief introduction to constructivism. Retrieved from http://www.sedl.org/pubs/tec26/intro2c.html

"9 Technology to Support Learning." How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2000."The romanticized view of technology is that its mere presence in schools will enhance student learning and achievement."

Reflection of Learning - Digital Graphics and Desktop Publishing

“(Students) were not given the time, skills, and opportunities to extract personalized meanings from their studies.  Reflection was not part of their curriculum as it cannot be measured nor tested… The only way that educators can teach and promote reflective practice by their students (of all ages) in their own classrooms is to engage in, embrace, and fully understand this process themselves.” (Gerstein, Ed.D.)
In this course (Digital Graphic and Desktop Publishing) I have learned new information and techniques in generating well designed materials.  I knew how to create a blog and webpage from previous experience, but was able to apply good design techniques (CRAP) so the information I present to the world will be more likely to be read and remembered.
“…good visual design offers more than improving people’s attitudes to a design. Good visual design will actually make interfaces easier to use.” (Travis, 2011)
As a learner with the goal of both being a good student according to the provided rubric, but also a critical learner processing and generalizing I have to employ the time management strategy.  I must provide plenty of time for myself to both complete the assignment and to process and synthesis the information learned.  I also don’t want to let my teammates down!  My classmates and teammates provide both positive feedback on my thought processes and open my mind to critical questions I may not have thought enough about.
In this course I reviewed and studied a lot of websites, looking at the design and analyzing how I can incorporate different sites into the K-12 classroom.  Technology is advancing at such great speeds it’s hard to know where to go with it in the future.  A 2009 report from the Sloan Consortium , a Needham, Mass.-based advocacy group for online education, found that the number of K-12 students using online courses rose to more than a million public school students during the 2007-08 school year.  This shows we as teachers must be on top of the technology advancements if we are to keep our students active in the technology world.  At the moment, my students have access to several websites that provide learning games, research tools, and curriculum rich content.  I hope with some of the lessons I have learned from this course and others throughout my degree I will be able to take student from users of technology to creators of technology.

Gerstein, Ed.D., J. (n.d.). Education as it should be – passion-based.. Retrieved from http://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2011/08/16/where-is-reflection-in-the-learning-process/  

Travis, D. (2011, August). A crap way to improve usability. Retrieved from http://www.userfocus.co.uk/articles/A_CRAP_way_to_improve_usability.html