Reflecting on Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasting

My classroom has long moved passed the textbook, boring worksheets, and teacher-centered lessons. The Internet had become an additional resource for my students and my teaching has moved from the simple whiteboard to the use of PowerPoint for most of my presentations. However, after taking the course Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society, I realized that I was moving in the right direction, but I my students needed the content and standards to move toward the 21st century. The course has introduced me to the world of Blogging, wikipages, and pod casting. Before this course, I had no idea educators were using these technology tools in the classroom.

Throughout the course, I became overwhelmed and confused at times; however, as time passed, blogs, wikis, and pod cast became very familiar. I learned that my students were soaring passed myself and other educators. Our students have been surrounded by technology since they were born (McHale, 2005). According to Prensky, most teachers have entered a world where we are digital immigrants to technology world (p. 1). Our students have grown accustomed to the cell phones, ipods, video games, and many more electronic gadgets. Because of my realization that I am a digital native, I realize that there is a need for me to continue beyond this course to increase my knowledge of the skills that students require to grow and succeed in the world today. My perspective from forcing content on students has changed. I realize they must work together to become contextual learners that are preparing for the real world. Students value the time to work collaboratively with their peers. The use of technology by the students is more important than the use of them by the teacher. As Thornburg (2008) states, many students will enter the workforce expected to be ready to use these technologies.

I am fortunate that I teach in a system that wants to move forward with students using more technology. We have many training sessions for SMART board trainings and other In-tech trainings as long as the budget permits. My first step to changing my classroom is to approach the system technology person about lifting the use of educational blogs in the classroom. I know that our teachers and students can benefit from the use of class blogs. We can work together to use more collaboration with other subjects and work with classes from the same subject. I would also like to see the school create a Podcast system for each grade level and subject area. The Podcast would allow teachers to talk about homework, projects, how to complete assignments, etc for students and teachers to access. This would be a team effort for all teachers to complete across the school. I feel this is an issue that I would have to approach my principal about, and continue up the chain of command.

The course was one of the more challenging throughout my master’s program. This comes from the lack of knowledge of the content, yet it was one of the most informative classes that I have taken. I will hope to continue my blog throughout my teaching.

McHale, T. (2005). Portrait of a digital native. Technology & Learning. Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/article/4572, April 1, 2009.

Laureate Education Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). (Thornburg, David, and DeDe, Christopher, Speakers). Program: "The Changing Work Environment" [Educational Video]. Los Angeles: Solution Tree.

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon.

Tim