21st Century Learners

As I am sitting here writing this, President Obama is talking about educating people in the USA to keep up with the rest of the world. I also just saw an article from someone who indicated that 21st century skills is a waste of time because students can't handle 19th century skills at this point. This past few weeks have shown me that to solve the problems students have with the 19th century skills such as reading, writing, and math, we need to engage students as to the importance of learning these skills. Engaging students in this age is going to need to infuse the technology of today into these core subjects. Using the information media and technology skills will help students develop a proficiency with the tools associated with technology. And while using these skills and tools, they will then work on improving their core subjects along the way.

Using technology such as the IWB will help the students use innovative thinking, problem solving skills, be creative and expressive, and adapt to change. As a teacher, it will be my job to create opportunities using technology to engage the students in the core subjects. Hands on lessons in reading, writing, and math could include games and lessons where students come to the board to interact. Group projects using technology would help communication and collaboration skills. Steering these lessons to increase learning in the core subjects will help life and career skills for the future.

This class has shown me the need for 21st century skills even more so with the loss of 19th century skills. Keeping the students engaged is a key to learning. I have been told by many teachers that kids today want to be entertained. This class has shown me that while it can be entertaining, learning is always going on when using 21st century skills. This is what has had a big impact on me as I look to teach. As far as what I liked about this class, the fact that we were allowed to be free and creative and share our learning as we went along. Then the lesson of how this caused growth in learning was made clear to us. This will be a big tool in the way I would like to teach.

Interactive Whiteboards

     The use of interactive whiteboards not only help students stay involved in the lesson, but they have been shown to increase the percentile point achievement of students when used correctly. The correct use of the interactive whiteboards should include it as part of good classroom practices. Too much glitz can detract from the main goal of the lesson, so the lesson should be clear and to the point. Keeping the information organized when using the interactive whiteboard will help avoid confusion. The use of interactive elements will help keep students engaged and increase the interest in what is being taught. As with all classroom technology, interactive whiteboards are a wonderful tool if used in a thoughtful and controlled way.

Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives

  The integration of technology is the act of weaving technology into the learning system so technology can be correctly used in the learning environment. With the integration of technology into the classroom, we can see that there are digital immigrants, or those who are learning technology, and digital natives who have grown their entire lives using technology. I am a digital immigrant with a very heavy bias towards the old ways, or an "accent" as it is called. When I was in K-12, the computers were the size of a room and used punch cards. Calculators where huge and expensive. Now with the dominance of technology, teachers have to learn to use the language and style of their students to help listen and learn from the digital natives to lessen their "accent" they speak from. Also the digital immigrants of today need to look forward to what is needed in the future as far as subject matter is concerned. This will help the immigrant and native come together in a more meaningful educational relationship.

ED110tslaviero: 21st Century Skills

ED110tslaviero: 21st Century Skills: The need for students to have innovative thinking, problem solving, creativity, expression, and the ability to adapt to change are them...

21st Century Skills

     The need for students to have innovative thinking, problem solving, creativity, expression, and the ability to adapt to change are themes of 21st century skills. Using engaging technologies in the classroom today with the help of a teacher will transform those learning experiences into the skills of the future. 21st century skills are becoming an essential part of everyday life. Being an older person that is challenged by technology, I would like to learn more about how it is used in class, what are the safety issues, and how to keep technology under control in the classroom.