As I began my first course with Walden University, Impact of Technology on Education, Workplace, and Society, I was looking to expand my knowledge in ways which I could better incorporate it into my own classroom. What I had not expected, was the direction we would be taken to think outside the box, through the inspiration of Will Richardson and his new book, From Master Teacher to Master Learner. (Richardson, 2015) We were all challenged to think about what constitutes powerful learning in our personal lives. He states that, “Lack of student engagement isn’t a technology problem; it’s a curriculum and pedagogy problem. It’s also a culture problem.” (Richardson, 2015, Pg.31) If we are to prepare our students for what they will face in their later lives, then we must consider how we can transform our teaching to instill a love of learning in them. Technology is not the answer, but it is an important factor that can enhance the speed at which student learning can take place.
In making a transformation into a 21st Century classroom, the roles of teacher and learner must change. Effective teachers are always self reflecting on their teaching practices, looking at what is working and what is not. In doing so for myself, I was beginning to realize that in order to accomplish the goals that the new Common Core Standards were designed to do, then my own teaching style was going to have to change. One of the changes that I had instituted last year was an increased use of collaboration. Dr. Shelia Tucker stated in her journal article, “Transforming Pedagogies: Integrating 21st Century Skills and Web 2.0 Technology,” the following,
“Collaborative Learning theory is the opposite of traditional learning whereby students are seen as being passive, isolated learners. Collaborative learning, which is in line with the new conceptions of learning, involves the mutual engagement of learners working together to solve a problem or working together on learning tasks.” (Tucker, 2014, Pg.169)
The teacher becomes more of the facilitator of learning, guiding the students to become active learners, charting their own paths to meet the goals the teacher provides them. This change of thought in teaching practices means that teachers are no longer the center of knowledge, but become learners themselves. Because technology changes at incredible rates, they must learn alongside, and sometimes from, their students, how technology can enhance the learning process.
The focus of this course has been on several different Web 2.0 technologies and how they could be integrated into the classroom. Working with Blogs and Wikis, students can use them to collaborate and demonstrate their learning with both their fellow classmates, and people from around the world. In his book, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, Will Richardson point out the power of using the Read/Write Web,
“That potential audience is one of the most important aspects of the Read/Write Web. The idea that the relevance of student work no longer ends at the classroom door can not only be a powerful motivator but can also create a significant shift in the way we think about the assignments and work we ask of our students in the first place.” (Richardson, 2010, Pg. 50)
By writing in Blogs, students can hold meaningful communications with others interested in the same ideas, thereby extending learning. Collaboration can occur within the creation of a Wiki, which can promote student research, creativity, communication, and critical thinking. Through the integration of these technologies teachers can meet the needs of today’s learners.
As I was working on this course, I was also considering what I would work on changing, in my teaching practices for the upcoming year. The materials that we read within this course gave me a renewed sense of excitement about the possibilities that I could work on changing. Two areas became the focus of a transformation that I plan on making. The first is with the ninety-nine students that I teach Writing to. My plan is to utilize Blogs for them to demonstrate their writing abilities for others to read and collaborate together, to improve their writing abilities. In my Homeroom classroom, I plan for students to create a Wiki site on Science standards they are required to learn for their testing. One potential problem that I will have to work to overcome will be the fact that my young students will be hesitant and unsure about the freedoms they have to learn. Due to their prior experiences in the classroom, I will have to work hard to teach them new habits of learning and responsibility. By changing the attitudes about learning within my students as the year progresses they will begin to become more self-reliant. These activities will help in the mastery students must make with the six ISTE standards. 1) Creativity and innovation, 2) Communication and collaboration, 3) Research and information fluency, 4) Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making, 5) Digital citizenship, 6) Technology operations and concepts will each be mastered as students work in both of my planned uses of technology. (ISTE n.d.-a) Mastering four of the five ISTE Standards standards for teachers, will also be accomplished for myself. This will be a step towards the continuation of a transformation of teaching practices, headed for a total redefinition, I began a couple of years ago.
As I move forward, the S.M.A.R.T Goals that I would like to accomplish over the next two years, will lead me towards a full transformation in all aspects of teaching and prepare my students with skills that will prepare them for their futures. The first, would be that by the end of the next two years, each of my students in each year, will be actively posting within their Blog page, with 80% of them writing content that engages others in conversation about some of their topics. The remaining students will have shown growth in their ability to clearly state their thoughts. My second goal will concern student design within a Wiki page. Over the next two years, all students in both classes will demonstrate they can research a given topic in Science, synthesize information, and make at least two contributions to each of the ten subject areas on the class Wiki page by March of each year. Growth will be measured, by the completion of Wiki page contributions, as well as 80% of all students will use the knowledge gained to score proficient on their state CST assessment, with the remaining scoring at least Near Proficiency. To accomplish these goals, I will continuously reflect and evaluate on the progress of each student throughout the year. I will help motivate and facilitate student learning, to help them reach goals I set for them, as well as these goals for myself.
All I have learned throughout this course can be summed up in six simple steps that David Cutler outlines in his Blog post, How to Become and Remain a Tranformational Teacher. 1) Constantly share best practices, 2) Find a trusted mentor teacher, 3) Commit to classroom observations, 4) Change things up, 5) Model the usefulness of what you teach, and 6) Caring beyond what you teach. (Cutler, 2016) I will commit to each of these, and continue to learn from those who have blazed this trail before me, but also mentor and help those who wish to follow me down the path of becoming a transformational teacher.
References
Richardson, W. (2015). From Master Teacher to Master Learner. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press. Pgs. 31,50.
Tucker, S. Y. (2014). TRANSFORMING PEDAGOGIES: Integrating 21ST Century Skills and Web 2.0 Technology. Turkish Online Journal Of Distance Education (TOJDE), 15 (1), 169.
ISTE. (n.d.-a). ISTE Standards for students. Retrieved November 5, 2015, from http://www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards/standards-for-students .
Laureate Education (Producer). (2015h). The changing role of the classroom teacher: Part 1 [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Laureate Education (Producer). (2015). Are your goals S.M.A.R.T.? [Multimedia file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
How to Become and Remain a Transformational Teacher. (2016, July 26). Retrieved August 14, 2016, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/become-and-remain-transformational-teacher-david-cutler