Podcast for Technology

Podcasting is a way for students and teachers to be creating and contributing ideas to a larger conversation and a way for archiving that contribution for future audiences to use (Richardson, 2010).  This week I completed my first podcast about the use of technology by my students.  The first step taken was to survey my three classes of students.  This survey revealed a couple of interesting points.  The first was that only half of my students have computers at home they can use.  The point was that only 7-of 64 students knew about or used a blog or podcast.  This was very different from the information we received in class.  The most common technology used by the students were television, cell phones, iPods, game players, computers, and stereos.  The majority of students stated that they used technology primarily for communication and entertainment.  The last step that I did was to interview four students who have used technology alot in their lives.  None of the four students had ever done a podcast or even knew about a podcast.  The students were very interested and excited during this podcast, especially when they heard their voices.  This podcast was provided to each of the three classes, at participants request, and the students were extremely interested in trying this in the future. They were excited because they knewe this was going to be published and heard by others.

http://files.me.com/rmwebb/gi8q3f.mp3   

Richardson, W., 2010.  Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms.  Corwin,
      2010.

Technolgy Podcast

This week I completed my first podcast about the use of technology by my students.  The first step taken was to survey my three classes of students.  This survey revealed a couple of interesting points.  The first was that only half of my students have computers at home they can use.  The point was that only 7-of 64 students knew about or used a blog or podcast.  This was very different from the information we received in class.  The most common technology used by the students were television, cell phones, iPods, game players, computers, and stereos.  The majority of students stated that they used technology primarily for communication and entertainment.  The last step that I did was to interview four students who have used technology alot in their lives.  None of the four students had ever done a podcast or even knew about a podcast.  The students were very interested and excited during this podcast, especially when they heard their voices.  This podcast was provided to each of the three classes, at participants request, and the students were extremely interested in trying this in the future.http://www.archive.org/details/podcast%20108

Reflection of 21st Century Skills

"Today business is looking for lifelong learners that can learn, unlearn, and relearn using 21st century technology," is a quote from the website http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/ that has stuck with me.  This statement is profound because I feel this is what many educators will need to do in the future if education is to improve in this country.  In the past couple of years I have watched other teachers use technology to make learning easier and more interesting.  These classrooms seemed to be more engaged than other classrooms.  The problem was that I had very little, if any, knowledge of this technology.  As a result, Educational Technology was the major that I selected for my Masters program. I felt that this program would be a challenging, interesting, and a necessity for my future in education.

Over the last seven weeks I have learned a tremendous amount of knowledge about technology.  Prior to this class the computer and power point presentations were what I considered technology.  Since, I have discovered various other tools of technology such as weblog, wiki's, and podcast.  Students today are immersed in technology and understand how to use it. These are tools that can and will be effective to engage and promote student learning.  Although I do agree with Dr, Dede that most of them use it mostly for communication and entertainment (Laureate Education Inc., 2010).   As educators, our job in the future will be to teach these students how to use the technology they have to gain the skills they will need in this century.

Another valuable lesson that I felt was important is the role of the educator in today's society.  As stated earlier, students are immersed in technology and are considered digital natives (Prensky, 2001).  Students can receive vast amounts of information from anywhere in the world and at the same time send information anywhere in the world.  As a result, teachers have shifted from a lecturer or a giver of information to one who facilitates instruction and creates a classroom that is student-centered (Laureate Education Inc., 2010).  Teachers need to learn to listen to their students and allow them input into the planning.  This is frightening to me but I can see that it would be effective because the students would have to take ownership if they planned their learning.  Student would learn how to collaborate with others about curriculum development, teaching methods, class organization, and discipline; while the teachers are facilitators.

A statement that Dr. Thornburg made has helped me to reflect on what I do in my classroom.  This statement was that we need to do different things instead of doing the same things differently ((Laureate Education Inc., 2010).  This statement has helped me determine what I need to set as my long term goals.  The first goal is to learn everything I can about technology, especially technology that is available to me.  I have been using this technology as doing things differently and I need to learn how to do different things with that technology.  In the last few weeks I have completed blogs,a wiki, and a podcast; but I still don't feel comfortable with using these tools.  I need to use these tools more and learn more about them so that I can feel comfortable using them.  A good way to model learning these tools is by practicing in the classroom with the student (Keengwe, Onchwari, & Wachira, 2008).  This would be an ideal way to engage students because everyone would be learning.  A second goal of mine will be to allow the students to provide input in their learning.  This will be the hardest for me because of losing the control factor.  I do see the importance of allowing students to take control, while I facilitate.  They will then be responsible for what they learn and how they learn.  The problem that I see with this is possible backlash from the administration.

The class that I teach now is a scripted course that a teacher cant change to much.  We do use computers in this class along with a centers-based instruction. The checklist that we filled out the first week would not change.  I am being transferred to the high school after spring break and there are several thing that I will implement when I get there. The first thing will be to develop a blog for the classroom.  This blog would provide students with weekly assignments, homework, worksheets, and upcoming lessons.  The blog will be used to allow students to respond to lessons or material covered in class or just to ask questions.  This will be ideal for parents to contact me or check to see what work their children need to complete.  The next thing is to allow the students input into what happens in the classroom.  This will be the last eight weeks of school and it will help me evaluate and plan for the following year. 

Reference:

Laureate Education Inc., (Producer). 2010.  Program number 1: Emergence of educational technology [DVD].  Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education Inc., (Producer). 2010.  Program number 3: Emergence of educational technology [DVD].  Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education Inc., (Producer). 2010.  Program number 11: Skills for 21st century [DVD].  Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (n.d.).  A report and mile guide for 21st century skills.  Washington DC: Author.

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

Keengwe, Onchwari, & Wachira, (2008).  The use of computer tools to support meaningful learning.  AACE Journal, 16(1). 77-92.

Podcast

This week I completed my first podcast.  The podcast dealt with technology use of my students.  The first step was to conduct a survey of my students about the knowledge and use of technology.  Two interesting facts came from this survey.  First only half of my students have computers at home they can use.  Second, only seven of sixty four students knew anything about blogs and podcast.  These two facts were interesting because they were the opposite of what I had read in class. The next step was to interview four of my students.  I chose two females and two males. All four of them had used technologygy; however none of them knew anything about podcast.  All four were excited when I showed them how the podcast worked and they heard themselves on it.  All three of my classes listened to the podcast, at the participants request.  Students were generally excited and stated that they would like to try it in class. Click on the link below to listen to my podcast.  http://www.archive.org/details/myPodcast%20961

Partnership for 21st Century Skills

The world that we live in today is changing due to the advancement of technology.  Technology surrounds us in all facets of our lives.  We communicate, work, and entertain with all forms of technology that has made our lives easier.  Technology has changed about every facet of our lives, especially our children.  Children spend over a third or more of their day on some form of technology (Laureate, 2010).  Many children feel lost if they don’t have their cell phone, video games, television, iPods or stereo, etc.  Students today have shorter attention spans and learn differently than in the past as a result from a high interest in technology, multitasking, and learn to think at higher levels.  Dr. Thornburg states that students will need to learn skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, communication, collaboration, and information technology to be successful employees in the future (Laureate, Inc., 2010).  As a result, one of the biggest challenges today is how to efficiently educate the children of today and tomorrow. 

Educators need to learn to incorporate and use technology in teaching young people to be successful in the future.  This was my purpose for pursuing my Masters Degree in Educational Technology.  The website Partnership for 21^st Century Skills is an excellent site for educators, businessmen, or anyone else to develop the knowledge of skills that will be needed in education for the 21^st century.  This site presents the skills, knowledge and expertise students should master to succeed in work and life in the 21st century.  The site was very easy to navigate with an enormous amount of information to be accessed such as core subjects, skills, professional development, assessments, and learning environments for the 21^st century.  Other assets that this site addresses were various state initiatives, events and resources, and the tools and resources available.  An interesting and surprising realization that came to me is who are the affiliates of this site.  These affiliates provide a great deal of credibility to this site.  All of these deal with education, technology, and major businesses that can influence and change education in our society. 

One important point that stressed throughout Partnership for 21^st Century Skills is that U.S. schools must align classroom environments with real world environments by fusing the three Rs (Reading, Writing, Arithmetic) and four Cs (Creativity, Critical thinking, Communication, Collaboration).   This is essential for students if they want to succeed in the world once they are out of school.  The fact that this site combines the business world and educators is what is so interesting about this site. 

While this site is very useful and interesting, I feel some of their thinking is a bit noble and hard to believe.  They state that all students must have equal access to new technology if they are to be successful.  While I feel that some day this may happen, it seems more like a dream.  How will everyone get this access?  Many parts of this country and people simply cannot afford this technology.  In our district in San Bernardino, CA most students don’t have computers or other technology.  Students are not the only ones lacking but schools also lack in technology.  Another problem is many teachers don’t have the knowledge or experience to teach with technology.  These are two huge problems that are hard to change without funding in some way or another. Partnership for 21^st Century Skills answered many questions but these are two concerns that were hard to address.  However, associations such as this are needed if we are to succeed in changing our educational system.

Partnership for 21^st Century Skills addresses the fact that education must connect with students’ lives.  Students use emails, instant messaging, and chat rooms to communicate with friends; search online to explore their interests; express themselves fluently using new media; learn with educational software; play computer and video games; and chat or take pictures with cell phones (Partnership For 21^st Century Skills, N.D.).  Our educational must first change attitudes of educators and the world around education.  Education, support, and funding are needed for students to become successful in the 21^st century skills. Partnership for 21^st Century Skills is a good resource and place to start.

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Program number 11: Skills for the 21st century  [DVD]. Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (n.d.). Retrieved February 10, 2011 from http://www.p21.org/

Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (n.d.). Framework for 21^st Century Learning.  Retrieved

from February 10, 2011 http://www.p21.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=254&Itemid=119

Nicole's Tech Nook: Blogging in the Classroom

The idea of using the blog for journalling is excellent, especially for younger students. This would allow students to read and react to other student's writing. This would provide students with correct guidance of how to use the internet.
Nicole's Tech Nook: Blogging in the Classroom: " There are numerous ways one could use a blog in a classroom setting. Whether it be a showcase of student work or a ..."

Tech Savvy Education: Using Blogs in the Classroom

I am new to using blogs and am just beginning. You comments about creating space for students to share ideas is outstanding. Many of the students do this through writing notes in class anyway. How do you propose to include those students who do not have access to computers? This was a problem that I have been worrying about. Many of my students do not have computers or at least the internet.
Tech Savvy Education: Using Blogs in the Classroom: "@font-face { font-family: 'Times New Roman'; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-..."