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EDUC-6712D-1 Class Reflection

EDUC-6712D-1 has been one of most informative classes that I have taken at Walden University thus far. Being to some extent dated with the newer web applications and information and communication technologies (ICT), I learned many skills for the internet and ICT that will be invaluable to me as both a learner and an educator. Examples include the techniques that I learned from authors such as Eagleton and Dobler (2007) and November (2008), who explained how to decipher the legitimacy of an internet site, learn who owns an internet site, access back-links, and accurately employ Boolean phrases.

Since learning about podcasts, I discovered through Kolb (2008) that certain options are only available with certain types of computers. According to Kolb (2008), only Macintosh software can support the Power Point ‘make movie’ option. This is important information for me, because next year I plan on purchasing a new computer. Originally, I had no choice: I was going to have a personal computer built because I am more familiar with windows applications.Now, at the conclusion of this course, I am contemplating how I could apply ICT to learning, and as a result I am considering purchasing a Macintosh because of the information I learned through Kolb (2008) and other sources.

Leu, Kinzer, Coiro, and Cammack (2004) stress the importance of students being able to “…identify problems…locate useful information…critically evaluate [and] synthesize that information…[and then] communicate their solutions…” (p. 1576-1577). I agree with Leu, Kinzer, Coiro, and Cammack’s (2004) and other sources that expressed a similar sentiment toward new literacy skills. However, before this course and during the first part of it, I had the apprehension that if the focus of learning was on the new literacy skills, internet, and ICT, teachers would not often have the opportunity to teach the knowledge that they had to share. Instead, they would always be regulated to the role a facilitator. While I saw the value in facilitation, I also wanted to be able to share my personal experiences and expertise with my classes.

Fortunately, during this class I had a revelation: while at times I would have the role of a facilitator with the new literacies, there would also be many times when I would have to instruct students with the knowledge that I gained on the internet or ICT. There would also be times when I would have to educate my classes on how to practice safe, legal, and responsible use the internet and ICT, like Ribble (2008) promotes. I also realized that the knowledge and experience that I gained from this class will give me more opportunities to share my personal experience and expertise, and not less as I originally feared.

Most of the teachers at the school at which I teach have internet pages on our school site, but do not put much information on them. If I receive permission from my school’s administration, I plan on using the various skills and knowledge that I gained from this course to elaborate on my own in-school suspension school page. Perhaps I would set up a really simple syndication (RSS) feed on it, so parents could be notified of changes in in-school suspension policy, or if a password could be created, receive updates on their child’s behavior. Provided that I eventually obtain the social studies position that I desire, I can create podcasts, videocasts, and other ICT applications for my class site that will give me previously unavailable opportunities to share my expertise with students in a way that will be very engaging for most of them.

Finally, in order for me to realize my ideas for implementing the new literacies, and using the internet and ICT, I must have the professional development goal to commit myself to developing and practicing the new skills I have learned. Otherwise, I will never become proficient in those skills, and when I eventually have the opportunity to use what I have learned in this course in a classroom setting, I will not be adept enough to make a practical application of the skills I have learned with my students. Therefore, I must carry out ways to maintain my new found knowledge and stay abreast of the new developments as they happen, such as: practicing those skills with the required equipment, exchanging information with other teachers who also value the new literacies, internet and ICT, and reading new literature via the internet, education and technology magazines, and books written by experts on the subject.

References

Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the web: Strategies for internet inquiry. New

York: The Guilford Press.

Leu, D. J., Kinzer, C. K., Coiro, J. L., & Cammack, D. W. (2004). Toward a theory of new    literacies emerging from the internet and other information and communication          technologies. In Ruddell, R. B. & Unrau, N. J., (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (5th ed.). (pp. 1570-1613). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Kolb, L. (2008, September). Enhanced podcasts: A new twist on an old tool. Learning &

Leading with Technology, 36(2), 33-34.

November, A. (2008). Web literacy for educators. Thousands Oaks: Corwin Press.

Ribble, M. (2008, December). Passport to Digital Citizenship. (Danish). Learning & Leading with Technology, 36(4), 14-17.

     The following is a reflection on a Walden University technology graduate course entitled ‘EDUC 6710: Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society.’ As of the date of this post, I am entering my final week in this course. EDUC 6710 has been a great learning experience for me as a teacher and as someone who is interested in incorporating more technology into his private life. Before starting this course, I had read about web 2.0, but was not exactly sure how web 2.0 differed from the Internet that I knew. I thought I understood what blogs, wikis and podcasts were. I was unfamiliar with ‘RSS aggregators.’

    Through the many articles and excerpts from books that I read during this course, I clarified and expanded my knowledge of web 2.0, blogs, wikis, podcasts and RSS aggregators. While all the sources I used were informative, I found chapter six, “Expanding the Boundaries: Blogs, RSS, Podcasts, and Wikis” of Web Literacy for Educators (2008) and the entire book ‘Blogs, Wiks, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms’ (2006) to be extremely enlightening.

     However, despite how much the reading had enlightened me, I am certain that I would have quickly lost that knowledge if I would not have used the technology skills that I had learned in some sort of application. Fortunately, EDUC 6710 required its students to create a blog, wiki and podcast, and set up an RSS aggregator account, so that I had the opportunity to apply what I learned. As a result, my technology skills as a teacher have a sound base, and will make me more efficient when I implement those skills with students. 

     EDUC 6710 has also deepened my knowledge of teaching and the learning process by requiring me to read several articles and view other sources about the twenty-first century learner. In particular, the articles I digested high-lighted and expanded on the works of Marc Prensky, and his concepts of the ‘digital native’ and the ‘digital immigrant.’ According to Prensky (2001), “…as a result of…the sheer volume of their interaction with… [technology] …today’s students think and process information fundamentally differently from their predecessors” (p.2). Some of my other sources, such as Dede (2008), did not believe that the influence of twenty-first century technology causes actual differences in students’ brains; instead they submitted a more moderate view of today’s students having certain strengths and preferences.

     Regardless of the viewpoint, all of the sources EDUC 6710 exposed me to the idea that today’s learners would greatly benefit from certain learning processes and skills, which would be heavily laced with twenty-first century technology. The learning skills found in ‘A report and mile guide for 21st century skills’ (Partnership for 21^st Century Skills, n.d.) are typical examples of the ones purported by the EDUC 6710: information and media literacy skills, communication skills, critical thinking and systems thinking, problem identification, formation and solution [skills], creativity and intellectual curiosity, interpersonal and collaborative skills, self-direction, accountability and adaptability, and social responsibility” (p.9).

     Before I became a teacher, I was an auto-collision repair specialist. By the time I finished my schooling and embarked on a teaching career in 1997, I noticed that teaching was already starting

to move away from being a mainly teaching centered experience to more of a student centered learning experience. However in my school district, many of the teaching-centered learning practices still remained in place because of teachers’ lack of knowledge and experience with student-centered practices, or limitations with student centered learning tools and technology.

     After being exposed to and gaining more knowledge about the learning skills and twenty first century technology through EDUC 6710, I now see much more potential with student-centered learning experiences, and plan to incorporate those experiences whenever possible. For example, before the EDUC 6710, as an in-school suspension (ISS) teacher, I would only consider using reflective writing with my students, in an effort to have them become more conscious about their behavior, so they could then take steps to change it. Although each student submitted his or her own input, the exercise was essentially teacher-centered. All information and interaction went through me. As a result of the application requirements I had during EDUC 6710, I would now prefer to do some type of interactive blog exercise with students, which would give them a more meaningful, student-centered learning experience.

     Eventually, I hope to secure a Social Studies teacher position. However, they have always been difficult to obtain in my part of the country. Therefore, I will most likely be an ISS teacher for the next few years. Assuming that I will continue in the same position, I do have two long-term goals that I hope will transform my current one. The first goal is to have every student have access a computer, with internet access, so I can implement some of my student-centered activities in my classroom. Currently, I have only one computer in my ISS classroom, which frequently malfunctions. In order for me to obtain more computers, I shall have to convince the school board, and also most likely have to direct some fund-raising activities, so this goal can become a reality.

     My second goal is to obtain the cooperation of the following school district teachers and personnel: ISS, Language Arts, School Counselors, School Principals, and Technology. If I can achieve district-wide cooperation, then there will be many different types of student-centered twenty-first technology related activities that I will be able to accomplish. Realization of these two goals may take a few school years, but the positive impact that they will have on the behavior of ISS students- especially the chronic repeat offenders- will be worth the effort.

     Currently, my position does not afford me opportunities to use the type of learning that I wish to implement. Since my long-term goals may take one to three school years until they are attained, despite having a strong base of knowledge through practical application, I am confronted with the possibility of eventually losing some of the knowledge I recently gained from EDUC 6710. In order to prevent this, and also acquire additional knowledge, I must find ways to not only practice my new skills, but also learn ways acquire new ones.

     I did my first audio podcast during this class. I would like to practice this skill by creating additional ones. I also plan to try to make video podcasts, and experiment with other web 2.0 Internet sites and applications, such as Delicious and  Flickr. Although I maintained my first blog during EDUC 6710, I only had the minimal skills to do what the course required of me. In the future, I will try to maximize the potential of the blog by exploring its different options and applications. In addition, I will purchase web 2.0 software, technology devices and guides, and educate myself with their applications. In this manner, regardless of whether I remain an ISS teacher or obtain the Social Studies teacher position that I desire, when I finally have the opportunity to implement the skills and technology that I learned during EDUC 6710, I will be ready to do so. 

     Finally, in the first week of the EDUC 6710 course, the students were given a checklist, which had two categories: practices that support twenty-first century skills and developing technology skills for the school and workplace environments. Now in the final week of the course, we must revisit that checklist, to see if any of our answers have changed. The practices part of the checklist has not changed for me because of the limitations I currently face with my position. However, I will now seek out other professionals and promote certain practices in technology integration, so my students will have the greatest chance at being exposed to and learning from all that the twenty-first century learning skills and technology have to offer.

References

Laureate Education Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). Dede, C. Program: 14. In “Debate: Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants” [Educational Video]. Los Angeles: Solution Tree.

November, A. (2008). Web literacy for educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

     Copyright 2008 by Sage Publications, Inc. Used by permission of Sage Publications, Inc.

Partnership for 21^st Century Skills. (n.d.). A report and mile guide for 21st century skills. Washington DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/images/stories/otherdocs/p21up_Report.pdf      

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5).

Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wiks, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

When I initially explored the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills (2004) website, I became skeptical of its creators and their agenda. In the website’s history I ascertained that a lot of its founding organizations were ones that make their profits from technology, such as: Apple Computer Inc., Dell Computer Corporation and Microsoft Corporation (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/). After viewing that information, I mused, would this education site be in de facto some thinly disguised business endeavor for corporations to expand their margin of profit?

Skimming through the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills site’s (2004) “21^st Century Student Outcomes” in the “Framework for 21^st Century Learning” area, with the exception of the “Information, Media and Technology Skills” section, initially I did not see any novel concepts (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php? option=com content&task=view&id=254&Itemid=119 ). All the other sections, such as “Core Subjects and 21^st Century Themes…Learning and Innovation Skills…[and]…Life and Career Skills” appeared to offer outcomes that I remember, to one extent or another, approaching as a student in the 1980s.

During this initial exploration of the site (2004), I also noted that a lot of the “21^st century student Outcomes” appeared to be closely aligned with the use of technology (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/). While one would be hard-pressed to find reasons to not integrate technology with today’s students, I wondered, does this apparently ever increasing push for more technology not exclude some learners’ strengths? Does this not contradict the multiple intelligence theory of learning, and the advice of Kottler, Zehm, & Kottler (2005), which suggests that as educators we should “…nurture all multiple intelligences, which should include existential and spiritual intelligences…” (p.33) as well?

However when I took a second, more in depth tour of the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills (2004) website, and started exploring some of its tools and resources, the site surprised me; I discovered that it had much more to offer educators than I originally suspected. While I currently manage an in-school suspension (ISS) classroom, I am certified to teach Social Studies in my state, and hope to teach that subject in the future when the opportunity arises. In the “List of Publications” part of the web site, I found an impressive ICT Literacy Map of Social Studies, which gave several practical examples of tools, technology and learning scenarios for twenty-first century learning, thinking and outcomes that Social Studies teachers could use (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/images/stories/matrices/ICTmap_ss.pdf).

When I went to the “Route 21 Snapshots” part of the website (2004), I found a link to the Edutopia internet site, which I surprisingly found to be produced by the George Lucas Educational Foundation (2009). While investigating Edutopia, I watched a video entitled “Taking Class Outdoors with Environmental Education” (http://www.edutopia.org/school-environmental-studies-video). The presentation showed a progressive Minnesota school that has some unusual practices: no classrooms, students working in small groups on hands-on projects, and then working in their own cubicles when they wanted work alone, a community that helps grade students’ presentations and students routinely doing useful community service projects. The video specifically focused on students that were doing long term learning projects with the local environment. One group of students was observing changes in plants and a pond. Eventually, those students taught the information they learned to first graders in their school district. Another student was noting observations of animals in the local zoo. Care-takers of the zoo later used her information to track the health of the animals she observed. These students used twenty-first century technology during their projects and afterwards during presentations to peers, teachers and local community members.

Through this video presentation of “Taking Class Outdoors with Environmental Education,” (The George Lucas Eductaional Foundation , 2009) I was able to actively view an example of twenty-first century education practices in progress- rather than passively read theories about them as I usually do. I watched students develop the expert thinking and complex communication skills that Levy & Murnane (2006) attribute to being mandatory for students in order for them to successfully compete in the twenty-first century job market. I started to hold the opinion that while the new technology that the twenty-first century has to offer is now an essential part of learning, there are many other competencies being implemented in ways that are new and very different than how I ever experienced them as a student in the 1980s. Students with different multiple intelligence learning styles can thrive more now than ever before in this new style of learning that the Partnership 21^st Century Skills (2004) website and other sites and sources offer.

If we take nothing else from the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills (2004) website, we should realize that the world’s ways of living, learning and doing business are changing quickly and dramatically. Therefore, contemporary educators must keep pace with these new dramatic changes and ways of learning or become obsolete. Often I hear some of my peers complain that there are so many ‘learning fads’ that seem to quickly pass in and out of vogue, that they hardly give any new educational ideas any consideration any more. Teachers that are proponents of the new learning style must start to convince others teachers who are like my peers that the skills and ways of learning listed in the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills website and other similar sources are not a fad, but a wave of the future, which is already starting to manifest itself in the present. Further, they must lead by example, so the skeptical teachers will observe first-hand the success teachers can have with the new learning style in this new century. Finally, they must do what they can to convince parents and society about what must change with the educational system. Only when everyone becomes proponents of the information and ideas on the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills website will students’ education reach its maximum potential, and as a result give the students of today the best chance at succeeding in their tomorrow. 

References

Taking Class Outdoors with Environmental Education (2009). The George Lucas Eductaional Foundation. Retrieved March 25, 2009 from http://www.edutopia.org/school-environmental-studies-video

Kottler, J., Zehm, S., & Kottler, E. (2005). On being a teacher: The human dimension (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Levy, F., & Murnane, R. (2006). Why the changing American economy calls for twenty-first century learning: Answers to educators’ questions. New Directions for Youth Development, 2006(110), 53–62.

Partnership for 21^st Century Skills. (2004). Retrieved March 25, 2009 from http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/

Greetings. I am the full-time in-school suspension teacher who started this in-school suspension (ISS) blog. In this, my second post, I would like to discuss my idea of how I could effectively use a blog to help reduce or eliminate the time chronic repeat offenders (CROs) spend in ISS, which is located in a middle school that serves grades 6, 7 and 8.

I have noticed that most CROs, despite behavior-reward programs and meetings with teachers, parents and counselors, consistently appear to be uninterested in academics. Consequently, they are unmotivated to do well in school, which usually leads to them misbehaving and being assigned ISS. I realize that in addition to lack of interest and motivation, there may be physiological, emotional or psychological reasons for their behavior.

However, I have concluded that regardless of the cause of their indifference, if these CROs would take more of an interest in their classes, they would probably be more motivated to do well. They then might exhibit more positive behavior, and lessen or completely eliminate their time in ISS. Since the CROs usually perform poorly with their academics, the teachers in my school often give those students chances at major extra credit opportunities. Unfortunately, the CROs usually do not take advantage of these opportunities because they are uninterested.

My solution to this problem is to motivate those students to earn extra credit through an engaging learning experience with a blog that would also address the state standard Language Arts areas (which are areas that practically all of my current CROs need to improve their grades). Hopefully, with this task, they would not only raise their grades and have an experience that they would remember for a life time, but would also display a new interest in their learning with academics and technology, and ultimately reach a point of self-actualization.

For their learning experience, the CROs would be put into a group that would meet at specified times with teachers. This group would be working with Student Movement for Real Change (http://www.studentmovementusa.org/ ), which is an international non-profit organization that specializes in helping Kenyan, and South African schools and areas that are poverty-stricken and in severe need of financial aid. The CROs would first become pen-pals with South African or Kenyan school students through the Student Movement for Real Change Organization. The exchanged letters would be shared at the group meetings, and discussed. With the assistance of teachers, the CROs would also find out about their pen-pals’ land through additional research.

Once the CROs have developed a rapport with their pen-pals and they have taken a more serious interest their pen-pals’ lives, the CROs would then, with the assistance of technology teachers, create a blog, dedicated to their pen-pals’ land and plight. They would also receive guided-practice in letter writing. Since our school’s student council helps oversee and promote most of the fundraisers for our school and our school’s fund raising-interaction with the local community, for their learning experience the CROs would compose individual persuasive letters to our school’s student council (and also the world) and showcase them on their blog.

In their letters, I would require the CROs to meet specific, persuasive letter writing guidelines. In an engaging manner, they would describe the organization that they joined and a brief background of their pen-pals. They would outline the needs of the society for which they wish to raise money and awareness and give reasons why the student council should assist them with their cause. The quality of their letters would determine the amount of extra credit the CROs would receive for their Language Arts classes. Since most of their pen-pals would probably not have internet access, hard-copies of their persuasive letters would also be sent overseas to their pen-pals. The CRO’s audience would include the CRO’s parents/guardians, their pen-pals, the student council, the teachers involved in the extra credit project and eventually the entire school, the local community- and if the blog gets enough attention- most of the world.

Hopefully, my Language Arts/blog task would be very interesting to my CROs , and as a result would reinforce how to write a persuasive letter in a professional manner through technological mediums like blogs. In the short term, I hope that this experience would be the one that would get CROs to reduce or eliminate their time in ISS. In the long term, I hope that from my task my students would always retain a sense of the global community to which they belong, and the knowledge that being industrious with a mission can translate into feelings of empowerment, and making a positive difference in the world.

Any thoughts on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Theo

terryfoxfan

As an In-School Suspension (ISS) teacher, my technique for managing ISS is a relatively simple one that I inherited from my predecessor. Students who enter ISS must complete punishment writing. They then must continually work on classroom assignments silently for the remainder of the school day, raising their hands only when they need academic assistance or to use the lavatory. If they do not get their work completed during their initial sentence, students must return to ISS for additional days until all their work is completed.

I rarely have any disciplinary problems. My predecessor’s system is perpetuated exactly the way my school’s administration wants- and yet many students are repeat offenders, which prove that ISS is not fulfilling its original intention: to deter students from misbehaving in the future.

How can ISS be altered so it will fulfill its original intention while satisfying my superiors? Student and  teacher input and suggestions are welcome!

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