Reflecting on Teaching and Learning Using 21st Century Skills

This course has introduced me to, and offered me practice in the use of blogs, wikis and podcasts, all of which were new to me. Although I had used some as research tools in the past, I had never created any of these, and did not completely understand what each one even was.

“Knowing my way around” these tools has made me a better teacher in many ways. First of all, understanding what these types of postings are enabled me to explain them to students and assist them in using all three as research aids. I am, and they are, now able to recognize authorship, purpose and perspective when using these sources for research. In addition, although gaining approval to publish on the Internet is still “in the works” in my district, some of my students have created their own blogs, wikis and podcasts outside of school and shared them with me. Perhaps most importantly, I have begun the custom of learning TOGETHER with my students, and added that culture to my classroom. I have demonstrated how I use these tools to learn how to become a better teacher and to find resources for our class. In turn, students are using them for research of their own, both in my class and for their own purposes, and several have even created blogs and podcasts at home. I have become an expert of sorts to them; one to whom they both impart knowledge and technique, as well as ask for guidance.

With respect to my knowledge of the learning process, while I have always intentionally created constructivist learning activities in my classes, the Web 2.0 tools and ISTE standards and pedagogy taught in this class have truly enabled me to generate more leadership opportunities for students within smaller, everyday lessons. Prior to this course, my technology-based projects and web quests had been done independently. Now, I have added more collaboration to allow students to lead and facilitate within their groups, and learn from one another’s thought processes and organizational styles. I absolutely recognize the increased networking aptitude of this generation, and know well the desire of middle school students to work together, socially. When we study text and some primary source documents, I still need them to practice contracting their own meaning, but now ALL of my project-based experiential learning opportunities are collaborative.

I continue to expand my knowledge and understanding of changing technology and the ways in which the use of it support curricular goals by following several blogs and wikis, and using others to research these areas of interest. In addition, I have and continue to recommend sites to colleagues and my principal. I have begun to discuss with my fellow teachers, at meetings and occasionally at lunch, how publishing on the web supports the very skills they are most passionate about imparting, such as recognizing text structure, writing in different styles, with different voices and for different audience, etc.

Through the changes in my teaching style and the informal discussions with colleagues, I hope to continue to gain respect as one who is knowledgeable about technology applications, and how they can be used to both engage students and support our curricular goals. One of my long term goals is to gain audience with both my principal and upper-level administrators concerning how we can scaffold Web publishing and multi-media skills within our district. I would like to get at the root of what the reasons are for disallowing their use; intellectual, philosophical or physical (hardware related)? My second goal is to ensure students an opportunity to create group podcasts and publish to group wikis and class blogs at some point in their sixth grade year, and spread these skills among a few classes on each team. I am hoping a realistic plan for how to implement this goal might be to woo my principal into allowing me to pilot each with one class or small collaborative group, first, and then present the project to the superintendent’s office detailing all the language arts and ISTE skills used. Our district instituted both an APL (advanced placement) and an Upward Bound (alternative placement) program this year, both of which have been very successful. Perhaps if I used a small group from each of these to demonstrate how powerful these tools can be for ALL students, it would be well-received by administrators. Unless my journalism experience is totally outdated, this could be good public relations, and they may even recognize it as such.