Sunday, March 1, 2009

Using Technology in my Classroom

I just finished a master's class about the impact of technology on work, society, and teaching. It has been inspiring and frustrating at times. I have learned about new tools for myself as a learner as well how these tools can be used in the classroom. With learning anything new, some of the tools would not work right for me. That was probably because I was not doing something right. Other tools were easy for me to pick up on. Even the ones I had difficulties with are turning out to be worth the effort in my classroom. I just finished using a wiki as a study guide for a novel my freshmen read. They responded so positively to it, it was amazing. I had the highest amount of engagement I have had all year with these students. Two students even emailed me through the wiki to tell me how much they enjoyed and learned from the experience. I am in the process of grading their tests on the novel, but so far, they seem to have a strong understanding of the novel's concepts.

Experimenting with technology in the class is something I have been doing my whole career, probably because I am a digital native; however, taking this class has made me even more aware of how technology can enhance learning. I have come to realize that true learning is self-directed. That means that my class needs to become more student centered, and I need to guide my students in their discoveries, not try to pass on my knowledge to them.

I will continue to learn my whole life and want to inspire that same desire in my students. By trying new things and sharing results with my students, they will see my learning as an example. Developing my personal learning community through connecting with local colleagues and global ones online is my first step to continue my understanding of learning, teaching, and technology.

One of my goals is to help my students become global learners. I need to teach them collaboration and problem solving skills to do this. I must use technology to connect them with others around the world as a step to achieve this goal. Working closely with the technology coordinators at my school, I will set up distance learning experiences, use wikis and blogs to have my students communicate with professionals who might help them make discoveries, and utilize the full potential of the technology I have at my school.

A second goal is to influence my colleagues in their use of technology. I will ask to share technologies I have learned at staff developments. Using department collaboration time will be valuable for working more closely with colleagues as we learn together about technologies.

I am lucky to be in a school that has a vision that includes the further use of technology in the class. I will not take this for granted and use what I have available for my students.

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