Reflection

This course has helped me to develop a few technology skills. The first being hosting my own blog along with understanding why blogs are so being used so much by the consumers of the 21st century. It is a great way to voice your opinions. In an environment of fast paced change in knowledge it allows a person to have a voice and to create their own views. This is where I believe the learner-centered instruction becomes so important. If I as an educator continue to just spill out information to my students most of it will be outdated by the time the student goes to apply it. I have deepened my knowledge of the teaching and learning process by being exposed to an environment where learning is more than just listening but it is also interacting with each other and creating new knowledge. The second way I have expanded is by trying out Podcasts and wikis. I really enjoyed the podcasts and found it very simple to use after I got it all setup. I am looking for ways to incorporate these into my classroom.
The two long-term goals I have set to transform my classroom environment into a learning environment of the 21st century are to take old lessons that I have taught in the past and process them for changes that need to be made. To often teachers don’t evaluate their lessons after the first run through. I plan on looking for ways to force students to use more technology. Second goal is to get my room up to date with the latest technology. I want students to have the option of doing and turning in their assignments from home as well as being able to access their student files they created at school. This is going to take a lot of work to overcome the district technology committee who believe technology just means having a computer for each teacher. I will have to convince it is worth time and money to make our intranet available elsewhere.
We live in an exciting time and we must embrace the changes and realize our students are counting on us to prepare them for their future not what our future looked like.