A Reflection of My Role in Modern Education

I am currently in pursuit of my Master’s degree at Walden University, and the course I have recently finished focused on the impact of technology on society, work, and education.  In the duration of this course I have researched and discovered many new tools to incorporate innovative technology into my classroom, as well as the influence these advancements will have on the current shift in school curriculum.  With the big picture in mind, the role of students and teachers alike are changing due to the vast amount of knowledge available in an online, global web.  As Thomas Friedman explains, “We are now in the process of connecting all of the knowledge pools in the world together,” and students can have access to this information without relying on textbooks and lectures (2005).  Understanding this situation and the workforce that awaits today’s students, we need to teach the skills and tools that will prepare them to be the most successful in life.

In this class I have advanced my own technological skills by learning new tools such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, voice-recording software, RSS feed applications, and more.  This blog site has taught me how powerful writing for an audience can be, and how displaying your work for everyone to see places extra accountability on the author.  As part of a team I collaborated in engineering a Wiki site, which modeled for me how multiple people can edit a work together to showcase a refined product.  In addition, I discovered the power of recording my own voice, and the voices of students, to be broadcast for anyone to hear on a podcasting host.  It is essential that teachers are trained in these new technologies and other like them if they are going to be properly modeled for use in student learning.  Teaching will always be a human craft, but presenting these resources for students to use will allow them to take learning into their own hands.    

Through this course, I have also deepened my knowledge of the teaching and learning process.  I understand how the current education model came into existence through the changing work environment of America.  The current stage of our educational system is still being run according to the cycle of agricultural seasons and the procedural job market of the industrial age (Laureate Education, Inc, 2010c).  However, the shift of job markets has now shown an increasing demand on workers ability to gather information themselves and communicate that information to others, often via the Internet.  “It used to be that schools and teachers ‘owned’ the content they taught to their classrooms,” but this is no longer the case (Richardson, 2010).    

There are new skills that have been targeted as the traits students will need to prevail in the 21^st century.  Atop the list of these skills are critical thinking, problem solving, decision making, communication, creativity, leadership, self-direction, collaboration, and information literacy (Laureate Education, Inc, 2010b).  Though it would be hard to examine each of these skills separately, I see a trend in them that advocates for the use of technological devices that allows them to discover and investigate on their own terms, and often as a group.  In any case, listening to lecture or having students only access a single textbook to lead their learning seems to be a style that breeds dependency, and may also be a reason why many students find that school is a waste of their time.      

When I analyze these skills, they also point to learning that is student-centered, and uses the teacher as a master facilitator. Student-centered learning illustrates an environment were students can be self-directed and learn to feel comfortable finding their own answers to problems.  Ideally, when this type of learning takes place a teacher can find more time to work with students one-on-one and differentiate instruction based on individual learning preferences.  However, I cannot see how this mode of instruction is possible without the aid of the proper tools; a personal computer and the Internet.  Dr. David Thornburg used a quote from Seymour Papert to highlight this situation questioning, “What impact would a pencil have [had] on education if you had to go to a pencil lab to use one?” (Laureate Education, Inc, 2010d). 

I have always wanted to cultivate a learner-centered classroom, but never had a grasp of how to accomplish it.  My belief is now in well planned, capturing lessons that are centered around innovative technological tools.  What is more, I do not have the time to accomplish this all on my own, but instead need collaboration in the department to construct an enriching curriculum.  To do my part, I must commit to being a life-long learner.  In this class we have learned only a handful of the applications available, and becoming a member of organizations such as the Partnership for 21st Century Skills or the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics will help me stay connected to innovation.  Plus, continuing in my professional development courses will continue to evolve me into a master educator of the 21^st century.

The true test of this philosophy will come into play in my own classroom.  To make myself accountable of this, I have been asked to set two goals for myself in the next two years.  My first goal will be to devote myself to finishing my Master’s program at Walden, while learning and implementing each tool I learn along the way.  For example, I have learned to use blogs, wikis, podcasts, and RSS feeds already, so before the end of this school year I will have experimented and reflected on each of them to determine their role in next year’s curriculum.  My second goal will be based upon David Thornburg’s idea that the, “Real power comes when we use new technologies to do different things, not just to do the same thing differently” (Laureate Education, Inc, 2010a).  To accomplish this purpose I will record at least one new technology that I use to teach different things every semester.  This semester I have already committed to using a networking hub called My Big Campus to create a social online group in one of my classrooms (http://www.mybigcampus.com).

So far, I have only managed to incorporate a Wikispaces page and one new design based assessment into my curriculum since the beginning of the course.  So as I examine my checklist of 21^st century skill practices from the beginning of the course, there are only minor changes.  I have begun to design instructional activities that require collaboration and real-world application, but it is a time-consuming task to do alone.  It took four hours to create each of the two new lessons, and it is hard to find the extra time on top of other tasks I have to accomplish on a regular week.  I have also identified that I need to model reflective practices in my lessons so that students can self-examine their learning as I have done in this essay.

Lastly, to finish my thoughts as they pertain to the checklist and my overall success as a teacher, I have realized that I need to make a difference in my school first.  I have to be a leader in modifying the curriculum that my school uses by modeling successful works through student creations or artifacts, examples of innovative lessons, and student testimonials.  If I can demonstrate and promote the model we have begun to develop in this course, I may be able to get teachers and administration to buy into and join this effort.  I am still in the learning process, but have already joined the technology committee in my school and shared new tools with teachers in my department.  I am making progress and by continuing to push, I feel I can make a difference in the future of education.  

References

Friedman, T. (2005). The world is flat: A brief history of the twenty-first century. New York: Picador.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Program number 1: Emergence of educational technology [DVD]. Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Program number 11: Skills for the 21st century [DVD]. Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Program number 3: The 3rd wave [DVD]. Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Program number 13: Today’s Students [DVD]. Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Today's Students on Technology: A Podcast Episode

This was my first ever podcast experience and actually, my first time recording my own voice in a long time.  This broadcast is just a small representation of the discussions we had, and we all used notes to help us deliver our opinions, so some of it will sound scripted.  My recordings were created using the Mac application GarageBand, and the students were only present during the portion they speak in.  For those of you who have never done a podcast, I recommend giving it a try, and be patient because it is a little tricky. 

Click on the blog title or this picture to listen.