Partnership for 21st Century Skills

This is a very engaging website that provides numerous and extensive links that are useful. As I navigated my way through this website, I found several concepts that I believe are necessary for educators to recognize and integrate into the content curriculum. It is important to keep the curriculum and content we teach current to help maintain student interest. Creating a balance between classic studies and contemporary studies creates a well-balanced student. In addition to teaching content area, teachers also need to consider building on subjects that incorporate the following: Global Awareness, Financial, Economic, Business,Entrepreneurial, Civic, Health, and Environmental literacy.

One component of education that I feel needs to be emphasized more is communication and collaboration. This category is found under the section "learning and innovation skills". There is a link that takes you to a survey that assesses your communication skills through the use of technology. The survey calculates your score then gives you feedback in reference to your communication skills. This is such an important skill that students need in order to succeed in society. I support the idea that this is included as part of the framework for learning.

It is also interesting to see all of the states that are currently participating in this project for change. The site provides a link to each participating state. when redirected to the state link, the states objectives are clearly listed showing how they are trying to integrate a framework for learning that does incorporate skills that are necessary in today's society beyond core content. This site also provides a list of founding organizations which indicates the strong support for change in education among major companies such as Apple, Dell, and Microsoft.

What Would Socrates Say?

This article references the term "Electronic Revolution", explaining how technology in education is both significant and necessary. The problem associated with the use of online research, however, is that individuals may not necessarily "learn" or "further their understanding" but rather accumulate knowledge that is temporary. In reference to education and how our students are impacted by the Internet, is this random accumulation of information even benefiting these students? As we try to blend the old with the new, are we denying students the opportunity to hold onto classic/traditional teachings and subjects? As teachers, how do we mentally adjust our own conditioned views to meet the needs of students in the 21st century?

The portion of the article titled "Technology Meets Socratic Inquiry" does provide reassuring suggestions and ideas for implementing technology. The statement, "...they suggest that in the future we will incorporate a whole array of technological options into how, when, and where we learn. We will cease to think of technology as something that has its own identity, but rather as an extension of our minds...". I believe this is how technology will gradually become a natural and consistent part of education. In order for this to gradually become part of the education process, I think that students at the middle school and high school levels need to take courses that prepare them for using today's technology. Required courses would decrease the lack of knowledge some students possess due to socioeconomic status.

Although this article seems to promote an immediate need for technology integration, I do not feel this is a goal that administrators and superintendents find important or significant enough. It seems that everyone is still focusing on standardized testing and closing the achievement gap with little thought to "how" teachers can be more effective with instruction.

Connectivism

The general idea expressed about connectivism seems to focus on the concept that as a society and as educators, we must transition from past, outdated models and theories of education to new approaches and theories that incorporate not only the advancements of technology but also the concept of a quickly changing world. It is hard for me to envision the concept of connectivism because it seems to lack any true order or system to the learning process. It is just given that as individuals, we all possess unique learning styles that can sometimes prevent one from reaching their potential if they are having difficulty learning or understanding a concept due to the method of instruction. The article references the concept of chaos and how chaos alone helps individuals to create patterns within a learning task and form meaning "from random initial conditions". Although this type of atmosphere will work for some, I believe it will leave others overwhelmed because they may not possess a higher level of reasoning skills needed to balance the intake of not only different information but also the ability to solve and multi-task.

After reading this article, I immediately thought of the commercials for the search engine Bing. There are 4-5 commericals that create the concept of user overload and express the idea that sometimes technology and the use of the internet can be both overwhelming and exhausting to the individual. I beleive that connectivism is a theory that helps define a professional community as opposed to a theory I would ever try to reference as a high school teacher. Connectivism gives the individual the freedom to gather data and information, deliever to others, receive feedback from others, than develop even further beliefs or ideas based on both the output and input. The principles of connectivism seem realistic, especially in one's professional experience. I previously worked for a company that sold software to both hospitals and physician offices. The content of the software ranged from scheduling appts, billing formats, to overall maintenance of the technology software. As the company began to introduce the concept of digitalizing patient files, more and more physicians were becoming interested in wanting to rid themselves of traditional paper charts and move to a system where files would be stored electronically. When offices and hospitals became interested, as part of the sales team, it was our job to map out and understand the movement of charts from one destination to another throughout the patient's office visit. This concept of information flow was significant for us as a sales staff in convincing the client that paper charts were messy, time consuming, and took up excessive storage space.

I like the statement, "The pipe is more important than the content within the pipe." This statement helps to clarify the main concept of connectivism for me. Connectivisim becomes a mode of learning that indivuals can internalize.

E Portfolios

Every time I hear the word portfolio I think of the filing cabinets in our language arts office. For the past ten years portfolios have been required for all of our students, 9th through 12th grade. The concept is to collect and store all of the written work students complete through their four years at our school. Unfortunately, these portfolios become meaningless unless teachers take the time to review student work or even reference the portfolios as a tool for instruction. Sometimes we are so concerened about completing our own curriculum and instruction that we often push the concept of these portfolios to the side. Although we do file away student work, it is very rare that we actually use these portfolios for anything meaningful other than storage. At the conclusion of a student's 12th grade year, the portfolios are returned to students. I believe the concept of Electronic Portfolios is engaging for student learning and self reflection. I was unaware of the fact that an electronic portfolio contains various forms of media other than microsoft word documents. The concept that students can be linking sites/articles of personal interest to a given assignment or topic does make meaning more personalized for the students. I have two honors classes that I teach and during classroom discussions, these students always incorporate or reference books or articles that have themselves encountered out of their own interest. They like to share these examples and tie the topics or events into our class discussions. An electronic portfolio would allow these students to connect their current knowledge by providing links to teacher generated assignments. Electronic portfolios seem like they are time concuming to organize and generate as part of a curriculum which in turn seems why so many schools have not made the change from paper portfolios to electronic portfolios. Connecting to the previous reading on constructivism, however, it is almost necessary that schools need to consider the change in order to meet today's expectations and use of technology.

Constructivism

The article "Connecting Student Learning" is both informative and reassuring to educators that technology integration can be successfully managed within the classroom. The discussion noting differences between a learner centered classroom and a traditional classroom captured my interest. At this point in the reading I was skeptical about the possibility and integrating the concept of constructivism and technology into the classroom. I teach in a school where the majority of students have difficulty navigating the internet for online research as well as properly utilizing specific software. Low self motivation is also an issue I have witnessed among my students as well. All three of these factors, in turn, affect the success and response students will have have to an activity or unit that I try to integrate that includes not only technology but the concept of constructivism verses teacher led discussions and instruction. As the article progresses, I found the concepts discussed to be realisitic-that it will take time and is labor intensive for a teacher to implement this type of learning and instruction. This is encouraging as an educator. Some of the activities mentioned within the article are similar activities that most educators are already implementing to help genereate student interest and motivation. But in order for this to become more consistent,a teacher can review every unit taught and analyze how and where activities can be implemented that focus on a learner centered classroom. I support the concept that students learn more effectively when they themselves are the "detectives" or "problem-solvers" however I believe that it is a lot of work and preparation on the part of the teacher. The unit must be effectively planned and organized and there should always be a backup plan in the event that something fails or students are not responding in the manner expected to promote self-motivation. The more students begin to expereince a classroom that is structured in this manner, the more they will begin to respond and share discussion comfortably with their peers. This is a positive change within the classroom but I do agree with the article that it is a gradual change and that technology needs to be a natural fit within the context of the lesson and content area.

I am a Digital Immigrant...

The article “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants” defines today’s generation of students as superior in their knowledge and experience with technology. The concept that “today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach” is a very accurate statement. The experience that today’s students possess with technology almost always overpowers a teacher’s own familiarity or skill level with varied forms of technology; especially veteran teachers who do not have the time or desire to keep up with the constant changes and latest developments that are made in the world of technology. As an educator of ten years, I have not given much thought to the various modes of learning that can take place through technology mostly because our school is very limited with technology and resources. I do support the concept that as educators we need to make adjustments that will engage today’s learners and meet their needs through varied forms of instruction through technology. The barrier, however, that exists and prevents educators from reaching this goal is the lack of time and ability. Teachers are mandated by administrators to follow state standards for each content area taught. In addition, teachers must also follow a rigid timeline that incorporates a school’s required curriculum. At this point it can become overwhelming due to time constraints to fit in activities that would incorporate technology into the classroom. Until state standards and corporation curriculum is revised, it becomes very difficult for a teacher to find time to implement instruction through the use of media and technology, not to mention having the necessary resources available. I do believe it is time for change and support the concept that students will be more successful if we can deliver instruction in a more meaningful way.

In response to the article “Online Community of Inquiry Review: Social, Cognitive, and Teaching Presence Issues”, I believe there are some valid points discussed regarding the impact of community and social presence on one’s learning. This past spring I completed my first online course through IUSB. This was my first experience with posting, downloading, and submitting all coursework through Oncourse. Part of the course required that students posted weekly in a forum to topics facilitated by the instructor. I found it very interesting and amusing at times to read the various comments posted from each individual. It was through these forums that we were able to witness and understand each person’s background, personality, and overall awareness of different social issues they were experiencing within their own lives. These forums allowed us as a group to connect and build an online community. But once the course progressed and the major assignments and projects approached, I began to feel disconnected from the concept of a group. Our projects were to be shared so that others could see how we implemented Powerpoint, Microsoft Word, and Excel into the classroom. I felt that some individuals lacked the understanding of what was appropriate as they commented other work submitted by students. I felt that comments and feedback should be positive and encouraging rather different than the instructor would comment. On my power point project, another classmate commented that I had included too many sound clips and he proceeded to discuss this in response to my unit project. Not only do I believe he confused my project with another classmate but I thought that this was overstepping his role as a member of our online community. I feel that sometimes, negative experiences can prevent an individual from engaging in a project or discussion if they feel inferior to others-no different than face-to-face interaction in a traditional setting. The article states, “…it is essential that the group feels secure to communicate openly and coalesces around a common goal or purpose for a community to sustain itself.” This, however, cannot happen when there are 1 or 2 members that do not comply and work toward a mutual goal through an online community.


The main concept that I focused upon in reference to Ian Jukes’ video relates to my role as a parent. My daughter is 2 ½ years old and I realize that she is considered part of this digital generation. Already at her age she knows how to insert and load her movies onto my laptop. She understands how to use the cell phone and how to power on the video recorder and watch our home movies. My best friend’s little boy is the same age and is able to play video games on her cell phone with no difficulty. My nieces who are 12 and under in age, are experienced with Facebook and You Tube, regularly sending texts out to family members through their phones or uploading their latest musical performances on You Tube. I have never heard this concept before but it is the reality of today’s generation and I feel that as a parent it is almost my duty to stay current and educated so that I am aware of what my daughter does as she gets older and her experience level with technology continues to increase.

Hello World

Simple! Loss for words it's that simple. I look forward to building and creating this blog throughout the next five weeks. It always feels like such an accomplishment when I can look back and reflect upon my own work from my courses. The use of blogging will definitely provide motivation for myself as an educator to brainstorm the possible ways to use this form of communication in the classroom.