I still remember the day my parents bought out first computer. They brought it into our house in a giant cow-print cardboard box. When they opened it, light seemed to pour and angels began to sing. My eight-year-old self couldn’t imagine how I would ever tear myself away from the endless games of Solitaire, Minesweeper, and Oregon Trail I could play on that big, beautiful tower and monitor. And I didn’t even have to go to the public library and wait for a desktop PC to become free anymore. I could use it at the desk in my very own home. Now, that’s the life.
Oh, how quickly times have changed. Starting out in a school that had 1 computer lab of Macintosh PCs for the entire school building, it’s amazing to me to think that today, every student in my school has a school-provided netbook computer, as well as a plethora of personal devices, including smart phones, tables, laptops, and more in their own hands. Our students are using their devices almost 24 hours a day, so as a teacher, I’m realizing that it’s my job to help my students to become educated, conscious consumers of media. Online and blended learning is the new frontier, so it’s up to me to be sure that I’m ready to be an ever-changing educator, just like our 21st century students are ever-changing learners.
Through my journey in online education, I hope that I will become more aware of my own understanding and knowledge of what technology and social media exist to be used as learning tools. I hope that I will be able to evaluate my own current understanding and continue to consistently improve it. I want to learn more about the technologies and options that exist and how others have used them in their own classrooms to get ideas, tools, and strategies that I can fluidly and appropriately integrate into my own instruction.
A goal I have for myself is to stay current in order to be able to incorporate technology and social media as a learning tool and integral part of my instruction. Knowing my students are 21st century learners who will be using technology in their everyday lives, I want to use those same tools as their mode of learning in school. Every day they connect with each other using social media and technology, and I want to show my students how to connect and interact with the world and all of its available resources in the same way. During the next school year, I hope to create more technology-rich instruction where my students are using more of the technology, rather than just using it myself in order to deliver instruction. I want my students to learn how to be knowledgeable consumers to evaluate sources before assuming its validity and significance to their research and understanding of a topic.
In my own teaching, I think this means using technology and social media regularly. While that might not be every day, it will be used multiple times a week in order to help students to create their own learning. Ideally, this would mean that I have a strong enough understanding of the available options in order to be able to provide learning paths that allow my students to work at their own pace in order to ensure their understanding and overall learning. Enhancing learning, comprehension, and 21st century skills are and should be the ultimate goal of integrating technology and social media in the classroom, and I hope that this can be the ultimate outcome in my instruction.
Share your thoughts…
Do you remember getting your first computer? Your first smart phone? Your first tablet? What are you doing to stay current in our constantly changing technological world? How can we be better educators through the use of technology?
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I too remember getting our families first computer, yes, it was the entire family’s computer – to share! We did not have our own personal computers with our own desktop backgrounds and custom menu fonts of our choosing. The computer was everyone’s, which meant taking turns using it. I have three older brothers and my father to share it with too; a lot of unnecessary squabbles ensued from this issue. Now, families don’t fight about things like this, in fact, they hardly talk at all while they sit there with the devices in each of their hands. Families still congregate in the living room, but not to watch the same television show or play a family board game; they all scroll through social media and play games with anonymous strangers on their smartphones or tablets. I remember, in my rebellion against the expense of owning a smart phone with a data plan 7 or 8 years back, saying, “Who needs to have the internet at their fingertips, everywhere they go?” Well, once you do, you can’t imagine loosing that access! I can’t believe 8 years ago me even said that now that I have these modern conveniences!
I must admit that I am not doing enough to stay current in our constantly changing technological world in terms of my teaching practice. If you read my blog post, I describe my goals for becoming more current with my teaching practice. (https://sharifranklin.wordpress.com/2016/06/21/a-need-for-change-how-i-envision-the-readwrite-web-affecting-my-classroom-and-practice/) There are some differences in how both of us see change for our practice; you would like to incorporate more social media into your classroom where I would like to try flipping my classroom. But we do, however, agree that we’d like to “create more technology-rich instruction”. This includes using the technology in lessons more than for just technologies sake; the technology, to be used to its fullest potential should not just be used to make something you used to do more convenient or faster – like passing out warm-up’s or exit tickets, but rather used in a more global sense – connecting our learners and creating learning well beyond the walls of the classroom.
I too agree that a balance must be created with technology and traditional instruction. There are still some lessons that are just better taught without the need for a computer. Furthermore, breaking up the instruction and teaching style will benefit the students and differentiate instruction to help reach all learners and learning styles.
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You had me laughing at the mention of the cow print box; Gateway computers were all the rage! I still remember being serenaded by the musical sounds of the dial-up modem. I didn’t get first smart phone until probably 2010 and my first tablet in 2013! That’s not that long ago! Sometimes I am surprised how easy I can learn new technologies, but I guess that’s because I have been figuring that out since I was a kid.
One thing that is interesting to note is our students grew up with smart phones and wifi, and they are fairly used to using new websites, interfaces, and apps. It’s our job to teach them how to actually use these tools for something more than just communication or games. There is so much potential, and I like what you said about setting a goal for yourself to not just use tech to teach but to put it in their hands so they can learn and teach others. That is the true learning experience, and they will be glad for the opportunity someday when they encounter even more changes and integration of tech in their schools and workplaces. We can be better educators when we use the tools we have to equip our students to be able to use their minds and create and express themselves in ways we never even knew were possible. With so much at our fingertips, it can be as simple (or as difficult) as figuring out a new website or app and letting the kids learn through it. It may be messy sometimes, but most real learning is at some point.
-Jesse
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I admire your goal of deeply embedding technology in your classroom for the students’ use as well as your own. But I think you hit the nail on the head when you identified that YOUR goal needs to be using and familiarizing yourself with these tools as well. A tall order. Classes like the one we’re taking now help immensely, but at times thinking about keeping up with technology so that I can infuse it into my classroom makes my head spin. There are only a finite number of hours in a day. I plan to do the same as you are planning to do, but at times, I feel overwhelmed with accomplishing this task and still seeing and talking to my husband occasionally.
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Hi Katie,
Like you I want my students to embrace the use of technology in education to learn and be productive citizens in the future. Engaging students to use technology to deepen and enrich their learning experiences can open opportunities that may not exist otherwise. Our goal as educators is to have students ready with 21st century skills to be able to compete globally in the job market. The courses we are taking will prepare us as educators to enable our students to be to successful both in their educational endeavors and personal future. Great post! Cheryl
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Yes! I remember the Commodore 64 that my brother bought with his own money (so it was technically his computer). And he would allow me to play on it *occasionally* when I would help him to program new games. That was AGES before our family actually got a PC for the family…I’ll bet I was in college before that actually happened. In fact, my parents bought me a word processor when I went off to college. The fact that there was someone living on my floor in my sophomore year who had a laptop, like a legit, she owned it all by herself laptop, blew me away! Amazing how times have changed, right?
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