My phobia towards technology ended in 2000 when I was forced to purchase a computer to complete a program of study that I was pursuing. From that point onwards, I recognized that my technological skills were not great, but with time, effort and a new desire to be adept at most, if not all things technological, I chartered a course into the unknown world of cyberspace. Being self-taught, I still could not claim to be any where close to my goal at being technically savvy, as I found myself at most times, several paces behind even the oldest of the latest web tools and gadgets (Prensky, 2005). However, in comparison to where I was at the beginning of the course, ‘Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work and Society’ at Walden University, I can state emphatically that my technological skills have cosmically advanced in the right direction. What has been the plumb line used to gauge my technological skills that has lead to this bold statement? How do I know that I have been brought closer to my goal to be more technically savvy?
As I reflected upon my professional practices that are to support the development of 21st century skills, I discovered several strengths and needed areas of improvement. My practice does support and foster collaboration, the integration of varied technological tools in class projects and sharing amongst my students (Richardson, 2006). However, the activities that I design are in line with passing on ‘legacy content’ (Prensky, 2001) using 21st century tools. My greatest area of improvement must therefore lie in designing lessons that address ‘future content’ (Prensky 2001); content that will have my students taking charge of their learning, being self-driven and motivated to tackle questions and make enquiries about real world issues (Kirschner, P.A & Erkens, G., 2006) & (Keengwe, J., Onchwari, G., & Wachira, P., 2008). I do believe that my exposure to creating and using blogs, podcasts and wikis in an educational way are positive steps in the direction of designing learning opportunities that address ‘future content’ for my students and have in turn, developed my own technological skills as a professional teacher (Keengwe, J et al, 2008).
No more do I need to say blog, huh? Podcast – what is that? Wiki…who or what? I am now informed (Richardson, 2006). I have knowledge that affects me as a professional, information that has broadened and provided newer insights and more engaging possibilities into learner-centered teaching. Learning opportunities that are supported by constructivism will lead to the concept of construction (Richardson, 2006), as web tools now provide the avenue through which performance assessment in the form of skills or products can be used to ascertain 21st century student achievement (Stiggins, 2005) & (Keengwe, J et al, 2008). I like this idea. I feel that I have found the ‘lucky charm’ or the ‘ bonus points’ to make cooperative grouping or differentiated tiered teaching not only highly profitable (Tomlinson, 2001) but also active for my students, collaborative and self-directed (Kirschner, P.A et al, 2006) and most importantly, in 21st century style.
Teaching is now a more mutual enterprise for success between my students and myself (Stiggins, 2005). Engaging in “digital native methodologies’ (Prensky, 2001) is a pathway that I have started using and I feel encouraged to go further along in order to successfully integrate technology in my classroom.
My reflection further revealed that I lacked the appropriate behavior and attitude towards developing technology skills for my school. I advocate for technology use in my own classes, but never on a large scale as the entire school. Ironically, I still need to upgrade my overall professional work environment by using appropriate tools in word processes, grading software and online resources for teaching and assessment (Assessment Checklist for technology Integration Practices, 2008). Therefore, I intend to do a lot in order to expand my knowledge of learning, teaching and leading with technology.
How do I intend to do this? My aim is to increase student achievement and I plan to use my immediate resources as well as research for others. I already have a network of blogs that I follow and these include fellow classmates and colleagues as well as other experts in the field of integrating technology in education. I have a valued text written by Will Richardson that is a manual for things technological that I have never been exposed to in my teaching experience. As an ASCD member, I have ensured that I have a wealth of resources at my fingertips from experts on the frontlines of educational research and leadership. And then, there is the World Wide Web, a source of knowledge and ready to be accessed ‘anytime and anywhere’.
And yet there is so much that I can do and learn with technology that my goal for the next two years will perhaps find me being engaged in unfamiliar, and complex (hopefully not) technological areas.
Firstly, I desire to learn how to create along with my students, literature and language games in line with our curricular requirements (Prensky, 2005). Yes, there are already such products on the market, but my aim is not to just learn ‘with’ technology, rather it is to learn ‘from’ and ‘of’ technology (Kirschner, P.A. et al, 2006). I have fabulous students who are ‘game geeks’ and I want to be able to engage them in an activity that is real to their lives and in turn, equip them with the future skills required of 21st century students (Prensky, 2001). I also know that the game concept may not go over very well with my students’ parents or with the administration of the school especially in terms of the Christian philosophy that guides its educational policy. I plan initially then to sensitize the administration re: the pros and cons of ‘edutainment’, making sure that I emphasize the development of 21st century skills such as innovation, creativity, and collaboration that must be fostered in our students so that they are prepared adequately for the real world (Trilling, 2005). I shall also appeal to brain-based research to concretize the importance of learning being multi-modal, showing how ‘edutainment’ fits this criterion and more (Wolfe, 2003). Once I have fine-tuned my approach with the executive administrative body, I shall direct my focus on gaining the support of the parents and this can be easily accomplished if they see how well their children are achieving and performing consequent of the use of ‘edutainment’ in the class (Prensky, 2005). In my situation, I doubt that I will have difficulty with receiving sponsorship to purchase the necessary software to begin this project. My aim is therefore to begin with my grades 10 – 12 classes. The students will work collaboratively on the creation of the games, mostly in my classes, so that guidance can be provided when necessary and to ensure that required content is being covered. The game will be assessed as a final product (Stiggins, 2005) & (Keengwe, J., et al, 2008).
Secondly, I wish to elevate my integrated science and biology students to higher levels of thinking, learning and performance in science. I hope to achieve this by using software and hardware that facilitate data collection and analysis and other word processes and presentations. I wish for them to think and act as scientists and this means to learn science in a real science context. I plan to provide more learning opportunities that involve problem-solving, inquiry-learning, project-based tasks that involve the use of a lot of web 2.0 tools such as blogs, wikis and podcasts that will allow them to share their findings with others globally (Trilling, 2005). I do not foresee any obstacles from parents or administrators where this project is concerned, however, I believe I will experience delay in its start as there are some other basic lab equipment that are still needed to be ordered. This project will be introduced to my lower secondary grades 7-9, so that as they mature, experience and exposure to 21st century teaching of science will become the norm for them (Keengwe, J., et al, 2008).
In conclusion, as I see myself become more technologically savvy, despite my “digital ‘immigrantness’ “ (Prensky, 2001), I wish to be a good role model as a professional teacher who integrates technology in her classes, not only to my students, but also to my fellow colleagues. I desire to work collaboratively on all levels, with both colleagues and students alike, simply to promote and foster improved and increased student achievement across the entire school (Stiggins, 2005). I know it can be done. It requires just the right measure of patience, creativity, communication, collaboration, life-long commitment, perseverance and initiative – qualities that are viable in the 21st century.
References
Keengwe, J., Onchwari, G., & Wachira, P. (2008). The use of computer tools to support meaningful learning. AACE Journal, 16(1), 77-92
Kirschner, P.A., & Erkens, G. (2006). Cognitive tools and mind tools for collaborative learning. Journal of educational Computing Research, 35(2), 199-209
Prensky, M. (2005). Listen to the native. Educational Leadership, 63(4), 8-13
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives: digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5)
Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA. Author: Baltimore
Stiggins, R.J. (2005(. Student-involved assessment for learning. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Author: Merrill Prentice Hall
Tomlinson, C.A. (2001). The how to’s of planning lessons differentiated by readiness. In How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms. (2nd ed., pp. 45-51). Alexandria, VA: ASCD
Trilling, B. (2005). Towards learning societies and the global challenges for learning
with ICT. TechForum. Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/techlearning/pdf/events/techforum/ny05/Toward_Learni
ng_Societies.pdf
Wolfe, P. (2003, Fall). Brain-compatible learning: Fad or foundation? Retrieved May 24, 2007, from http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/forum/fall03/brain.html
Reprinted with permission.
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