Overall Learning Experience
Two years ago I started my first class in the University of Northern Iowa's Master of Instructional Technology. Little did I know how much of an influence the next two years would not only have on my teaching career but on my personal life as well. As a business teacher, I have always viewed technology to be an important part of a student's high school career. I realized the students' of today were "natives" when it came to technology compared to many of us "immigrant" teachers (Prensky, 2001). Technology was used in my classroom on a daily basis. After the last two years, my views on the importance of using technology have not only increased but have changed as well. Technology should not be used just to be used; it needs to help aid the students in their learning. Students are getting tired of "powering down" when they come to school and will soon start demanding that schools get with the times (Prensky, 2001). My time in the 2010 Instructional Technology Master' cohort has provided me with the tools I need to successfully keep the students "powered on" while also learning important skills needed for their future.
Areas of Growth
The first area of growth I had over the last two years was the new Web 2.0 tools I learned how to use. From the very start, I learned tools that have greatly benefited my life. In the Media Planning and Production class, I was involved in a group project that created a Google Tools Tutorial website. Being new to having a Gmail account and the tools provided with the account, I was very intrigued with the possibilities these tools had, especially being able to share information. Now, I consider myself a Google Tools guru. I presented the website we created at a professional development for the school I work at when we became a "Google" school and have helped numerious teachers with questions. I use the tools daily in my class and it is great for collaborative work. When I was choosing where to create my eportfolio, I decided to use Google Sites because of how these Google Tools have become an every day part of my life.
Another area of growth I had was learning ways to organize a successful lesson with technology being implemented to enhance learning. Not let's be honest, teachers do not have the time to sit down and work out a full lesson plans like what we prepared for our master's classes (Preparing for an Interview Unit Plan, Creating a Personal Learning Network Using iGoogle Lesson Plan, RWLD for Entrepreneurship Lesson Plan, and Creating a How-To Video Using Jing Unit Plan). However, each have helped me to think of ways to better organize my lesson plan. For example, in Preparing for an Interview Unit Plan, we used the Gradual Release of Responsibility lesson structure. Now when I plan my lesson plans, I keep in mind the simple "I Do, We Do, You Do" structure (Levy, 2007).
I would say my biggest area of growth is how my views of using technology in the classroom has changed. Like I mentioned, I have always felt technology should be used but was more concerned with the students still learning the facts and materials. Technology was used to showcase what the students learned. Now I see it as a tool to use as the students are learning skills to prepare them for every day life. Students can access information from the palms of their hands, literally. So do we need to be assessing students on the knowledge they know or how they can evaluate all the informaiton that is available to them to solve a problem or complete a task? As a teacher, I am really considering how I run my classroom and plan to start focusing on what skills students need to be successful employees in the 21st century workplace.
Professional Goals
My goal as a business teacher has always been to prepare students to be successful employees in the workplace. I used to believe that in order to do that I had to teach them facts about the workplace. In the last two years, I have learned I need to focus more on skills needed for the workplace. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2009) found that “effectivecitizens and workers must be able to exhibit a range of functional and critical thinking skills, such as information literacy, media literacy, and information, communications, and technology
literacy” (Information, Media, and Technology Skills section, para. 1). Employers are looking for employees with skills not with a wealth of knowledge. So my goal now is to find ways to teach students the skills needed to be successful in the 21st century workplace. My paper written for the Technology in Education class, Web 2.0 Tools Help Prepare Students for the 21st Century Workplace Paper, has already given me a head start on how I can use Web 2.0 tools to help students learn the skills needed for the workplace.
Another professional goal I have is to share my passion for technology use in the classroom with other teachers. As I integrate more technology into my classroom, I am seeing results in students' performances. By giving students options on what technology tool they want to use, it is amazing how the creativity levels seem to increase throughout the project. The school I work with is implementing 1-to-1 computers next year and I have already discussed with my administration on running professional development. By completing the The Dream School 1-to-1 Implementation Plan Presentation for my Coordinating Technology in an Educational Setting class, I have been able to start organizing ideas of how to help make this implementation a success. My goal for next year is to become a resource teachers can come to get ideas of technology tools to use but also the best way to use them to increase students' learning.
Strengths, Limitations, and Considerations for Future
I feel my greatest strength is my desire to improve how I teach to meet the needs of my students. I can honestly say I have never taught a unit the same way twice in my eight years of teaching. With the material I have learned from my master's courses, I have a variety of new ideas I want to try to increase my students' learning. Technology does not scare me and I am not afraid to take a risk. If it does not work, I am willing to take the time to try again.
An limitation I have is working on finding the right ways to implement technology into the classroom. While I have learned many new tools to use to help with this process, it takes time. Being a new mother and full-time teacher, it is hard to find time outside of the classroom to work on this. Hopefully by completing my master's, I can now use that time to implement all the wonderful tools and ideas I learned in the master's program and from my wonderful cohort.
So what are my plans for the future? First of all, I want to spend some time implementing the technology tools and instructional techniques that I learned into my classroom. Then, I hope to help other teachers find ways to successfully use technology in their classroom. The last plan I have is to start looking into using digital games and simulations to teach students' business skills. After researching the effects of digital games and simulations for my literature review, I feel this is the way of the future. However, I think it will take baby steps to get there in order to prove their effectiveness to students, teachers, administration, and parents.
Final Thoughts
Two years ago when I was looking for a master's program, I came across the Instructional Technology Master's Program at the University of Northern Iowa. It has changed my views as a teacher and I hope what I have learned will help me to become an effective teacher. More importantly, the people I have met through my cohort have inspired me to become a better person. A wealth of ideas have been shared between us and it has been an honor to work with these great teachers and people. Even though the last two years have definitely been a whirlwind, I have been changed.
References
Levy, E. (2007). Gradual release of responsibility: I do, we do, you do. Retrieved from http://www.sjboces.org/doc/Gifted/GradualReleaseResponsibilityJan08.pdf.
Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2009, December). Framework for 21st century learning.
Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/documents/P21_Framework.pdf.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital game-based learning. New York: McGraw-Hill.