Walden University – Masters in Education EDUC-6710I-1 Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society
Week 8: Reflection: A Mindset Change
Week 8: Reflection: A Mindset Change
I have enjoyed taking this class and participating with my classmates to accomplish the goals of establishing digital tools that I can use in the classroom. A BIG THANKS to everyone for all of your help and support!
In what ways has this course helped you to develop your own technology skills as a professional teacher?
Reflecting back on this course I realize that I have developed a mindset change about how my students can be engaged within the classroom by incorporating technology related activities and using the most appropriate tools with the lesson. Learning about Web 2.0 tools (Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts) and applying them to the content I teach will allow me to instruct my students in different ways to help them use these new tools effectively. If I had not experienced these new tools for myself in this course, I would never have thought to implement them into my digital tools collection for students to experience.
This course has helped me realize that teachers with fixed mindsets often believe that there is nothing that they can do to change their teaching styles and they are very stationary by way of their teaching techniques. In today’s education, you have to challenge yourself to succeed and expand. Students today are born into and begin using technology at an early age; I see this everyday with my own children at home, it is almost like something out of a sci-fi movie watching them talk to no-one on a headset as they play their games with virtual contacts.
In what ways have you deepened your knowledge of the teaching and learning process?
As I think back over this course, I believe that I have deepened my knowledge of the teaching and learning process by developing my own personal style for using technology with content related requirements for my students. Before, I had very little knowledge of how to embrace any of the “Web 2.0” tools that could be used in the classroom. I now have the self-confidence to incorporate blogs, Wikis, and podcasts with content that will help students with their 21st Century skill requirements. I have also gained the knowledge that good teachers are good because they work hard at what they do and because they learn through experience or trial and error at times. If what I try doesn’t work then I have to revise the lesson and try again.
I have also become aware of how teaching today’s students requires a change to incorporate creativity, flexibility, and use of multimedia tools that surround students in their everyday life. Teaching students to learn means giving them experiences where they can discovery what they need to learn. This also means establishing enough structured practice to ensure that students get the experiences needed to make a learning connection to why they are learning a specific content.
In what ways have you changed your perspective from being teacher-centered to learner-centered?
I have looked at both viewpoints for the classroom, teacher-centered and learner-centered, and have come to the conclusion that it takes both at times to get students to engage in teamwork skills, innovative thinking, and self-direction. Technology is a method that allows so many ways to permit students to collaborate on projects and do individual work using information and communication technologies which promotes a learner-centered atmosphere.
As a teacher it is sometimes hard to adapt from being teacher-centered but, I believe the answer is to use multiple methods of learner-centered lessons and cooperative projects to see what works best for my students to gain the content knowledge they will need to be successful with their education.
In what ways can you continue to expand your knowledge of learning, teaching, and leading with technology with the aim of increasing student achievement?
There are many challenges we face in teaching our students the skills they need for 21st century success. With this in mind, it is always possible to expand knowledge and encourage higher-level thinking skills when using technology in the classroom. It is amazing to see how advanced today’s students already are in their use of technology related items. As I have learned in this course, students today are considered to be “Digital Natives”. The reality is, however, that they do not always know how to use the technology and information as a beneficial tool for their education. Redirecting students about how they can use their skills and expertise with technology and make it apply to their educational process will help them embrace new ways of learning with tools they are comfortable using and have access to both in and out of the classroom.
As for my own expansion of knowledge, teaching, and leading with technology, I will need to keep up with new methods and practices, then incorporate these new styles into my lessons; this will help students to be successful learners and highlight useful technology.
Set two long-tem goals (within two years) for transforming your classroom environment by which you may have to overcome institutional or systemic obstacles in order to achieve them. How do you plan to accomplish these goals?
One of the long-term goals I would like to accomplish in the next two years is to incorporate some type of technology related activity for my students to use daily in the classroom instead of weekly. I desire to eventually go paperless in the classroom for all homework and project assignments.
I am currently in the process of establishing individual class blogs for each of my classes and my students are very keyed up about the opportunity to use this new Web tool and be able to talk to each other about their class assignments.
My second goal is to find a way to get more technology equipment into my room. I would like to have a wireless lab that my students would have access to whenever they need. I guess the most logical way to gain access to this much equipment would be to check out what grants are available and apply.
I have already checked with my supervisor to see if this is a possibility. This is an option that I would not have considered before taking this course.
Refer to your checklist from Week 1. Have any of your answers changed after completing this course?
Looking back at my check list I did have a few changes on my checklist. I moved from sometimes to often in the area of: Use a variety of digital tools to collaborate and communicate with students, parents, colleagues, and community stakeholders.
I will use the class blog site to post information and to communicate more with students and parents. This will provide another way to give them access to important information about the class and their assignments required to improve their grade.
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