Preparing
students for a successful future involves making drastic changes to our
current state of education, by incorporating 21st
century technology. Since I have started
teaching, I have constantly been reminded that the way teachers are currently teaching,
isn’t preparing students for a future in which technology is the main source of
communication. Watching the assigned
videos, showed me that much hasn’t changed since the 1960’s. The classrooms look the same, and are
expected to be quiet, and teacher-driven.
With the rapid takeover of technology, our classrooms aren’t set up to
prepare students to use technology to share their ideas, and create products
that demonstrate their knowledge.
Teachers ask students to memorize, and regurgitate material,
independently, and with very little use of technology. Yet, these students’ futures will look
drastically different, involving problems solving, and collaboration in the
workplace.
I can
better prepare my student’s for 21st century learning, by changing
the way in which I structure my classroom.
For example, I will create more opportunities for students to work
together to complete tasks. This will
give them opportunities to improve their social skills, and discover knowledge
on their own. Instead of giving them the
information they need to learn, I will give them the tools that will lead them
to discover the concepts together. Also,
I have been using a class blog for many years now, to display homework, and
reminders. I want to start adding more resources
on my blog that will assist students with the concepts, as well as help them
dive deeper into concepts that interest them.
Cennamo, Ertmer, and Ross (2010) state, “You don’t have to create all
your own web-based content but can instead rely on a variety of online
resources to support your students in developing more deeply into content that
is presented initially in class”(Cennamo, Ertmer, and Ross, 2010, p. 226). I will use links to provide options for the
student’s homework. This will help the
students be more engaged in their homework, by choosing what assignments fit
their interests most. I want my
classroom to be filled with discussions, and be a comfortable environment for
students to share ideas, and discover concepts in cooperative groups. When my student leave my classroom, they will
be prepared for a future in which technology is key in communicating and
creating products, and they will truly understand what they learned, because
they will have gained knowledge through problem solving activities.
Resources
Cennamo, K. S., Ertmer, P.A., Ross, J.D. (2010). Technology Integration for
Meaningful Classroom Use.
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage
Learning.
Mediaineducation. (2007,
September 9). Classrooms In The Future.
Retrieved from
Shareski, Dean.
(2006, September 20). Education Today and Tomorrow
Retrieved from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fnh9q_cQcUE
Teacherhacks. (2007, July
4). 3 Steps for 21st Century
Learning.
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