Reflection

I have to say that this has been my favorite course so far at Walden. I have learned a lot about different kinds of Web 2.0 technology that I can use in my classroom. Before this course, I had heard of blogging, but did not know its impact in the classroom. I had never heard of a wiki or a podcast, much less know what a useful tool it could be in the classroom. Before this course, I felt like I was technologically sound as an everyday person. As a teacher, I rarely used technology to enhance my curriculum. I was using technology for doing something differently, as Dr. Thornburg would say. Now that this course is at its end, I feel that I have learned how to effectively integrate Web 2.0 applications into my curriculum for next year. I have learned what a valuable asset blogs and wikis can be for the classroom and for my students. I realized that my students are different from my generation. They have grown up in a completely digitalized age with technology around every corner. My students learn differently than I did. They need constant stimuli and entertainment to learn. Education truly has to be fun for them or they will shut down when entering the school property. Instead of lecturing and giving textbook-based tests, I am now required to teach curriculum using student-centered questions, research, and several forms of technology. My students are capable of creating questions they would like to know the answer of, researching the question using a search engine on the Internet, and then creating a wiki explaining the answer to the question or blogging about the question in the class blog. Teachers are now the motivator for their students' success in learning instead of being the main knowledge bank. After I receive my degree from Walden, I plan to continue taking technology courses so that I can stay abreast of the current forms of technology taking place in the classroom. Technology does not take a break from expanding and developing, so I, as a teacher, should not take a break from learning about the new forms of technology being produced. I would love to take a technology director or specialist role for a district and help teachers integrate technology into their classroom to help their students learn and achieve greater success from the traditional ways of teaching. Two long-term goals that I have for my classroom are to at least have a 1:2 ratio of computers to students in my room and to have a curriculum where 90% of it involves the latest technology methods to help my students learn. My district does not have enough money to supply computers for every student in each classroom. My room only has 2 computers, one of which runs on Windows 98. I would love to have a 1:1 classroom, but reality does not allow for that. To compensate for the inadequate funding, my district likes to apply for our state's EMINTS grant every year. This year, if the district is accepted, all the fifth grade rooms will have 1 computer for every 2 students, a Smartboard, projector, and teacher laptop. Our state government was talking about cutting funding from the EMINTS program and I'm not quite sure if that was actually done. If it wasn't, then the district will apply for the EMINTS grant for the 2010-2011 school year for a 1:2 computer ratio and all the added bonus for all fourth grade classrooms. This would mean that I would get a classroom that would have access to new technology and my students would not have to go to the computer lab to work on projects. They could be done in the classroom with my supervision in a friendlier environment than the hot, crowded lab. My other goal involves creating a curriculum where at least 90% of the material learned and created by students is done using technology. Next year, I will be integrating blogs and wikis into my social studies curriculum. I have also convinced the science teacher to incorporate blogging into her curriculum so that the students have to use it for 2 different subjects. If this is a success like I think it will be, then for the year after that, I will try and incorporate podcasting and other Web 2.0 applications that I learn about. I want my curriculum to be student-centered and project-based learning. I don't want to use the textbook as the main material, but as a reference only that the students can look in to find answers that may help them solve their problem. Most textbooks are not current and only tell one side of a story. I want my students to be well-rounded in learning the material and being able to find information using technological tools. My answers to the self-assessment checklist from Week 1 have definitely changed. I am now proud to move the checks to the "often" category. Next year, I will be a teacher who develops curriculum to support 21st century skills. I will be the teacher who uses Web 2.0 technology to enhance the curriculum to support my "digital natives." I will be the teacher who takes her knowledge of these new technologies and incorporates them into her classroom, but also encourages other teachers to incorporate them into their classroom. Finally, I will be the teacher who seeks out other teachers to help her lobby the district for more technology funding.