Reflection

This course has helped me to develop my technology skills in many ways. I am now aware of the wide range of learning that can take place using technology. I also learned that I should not approach technology with cynicism, but with the hope that it gives many different ways for all of my students to learn.

My perspective is changing from that of a teacher-centered environment to one that is learner centered. Students are now sharing in their own learning. They have different opportunities to share their thoughts with each other and with me. They are also working collaboratively in groups of two or more. Although this type of learning environment is less quiet, I am realizing that learning does happen in different ways.

As the learning environment is changing, so is my approach to gaining knowledge. I am constantly looking for new ways to gain knowledge and in turn help my students to be interactive learners. Technology is one of the greatest ways that this interactivity can benefit the learners in my classroom. They can use the technology that is available to them in school to master the high standards that are set for them.

Two long term goals that I have set and will accomplish within the next two years are having a technology friendly classroom and becoming more of an expert of technology integration into the learning environment. As I complete each of my classes, I am becoming aware that the needs of my students are different. Currently, most students are more advanced in regards to technology usage, so their classrooms must therefore become a place where they can use various technologies to learn.

After looking back on the checklist for this course, I see that I am only utilizing a few of the practices and the skills that were mentioned. As a constant learner, I know that I will eventually be able to check “yes” for all or most of the practices and skills listed on the checklist.

21st Century Skills Website

The website is not very colorful and it lacks any form of animation. After careful appraisal, it becomes obvious that the presenters are only interested in presenting specific information to readers. They the subjects that they believe all students should be able to master, and they also give the reader ideas on the importance of the 21st century skills.


They seem to have many influential companies that are supporting their ideas. They listed their “Strategic Council Members”, and some of the names on the list were surprising. At the same time, I can see why some of these members wanted to be apart of this initiative. For example, the Walt Disney Company was one of the members and this is a company that seems to always go above and beyond what is expected with its technology usage. So, wanting a work force that will be capable of continuing such creativity is definitely understandable.

I am in agreement with the information that I saw on the site. I especially agree with the idea that Life Skills are necessary and should be integrated into the current curriculum. These skills are necessary for the economic future of students and the ones that do not learn these skills will have some difficulties later on.

If schools can find a way to integrate the 21st century skills into their curriculum, students will graduate with confidence in their abilities. They will have the knowledge that they will be able to compete for any job, anywhere in the world. As for teachers, we will adjust as usual.

Personally, I have created a blog and have started blogging.  I must now find different ways to integrate blogging into my classroom setting. A blog can be used in my Language Arts class as an outlet for students to share their thoughts and ideas on the novel that they are currently reading and the other novels that they will read throughout the school year. As they share, they will be able to facilitate their own learning by questioning each other. They will also be able to clear up any misunderstandings that each of them might have.

Technology is awesome! It's great when teachers can display an activity on the desktop for the whole class to view or use a document camera. The only problem that I had with my technology today was figuring out how to make the document on the computer screen bigger. I finally figured it out, and the lesson on "Main Idea" was successful!