Reflecting on the Impact of Technology on Education

I have recently been taking a course called Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society. While taking this course, I have come to an understanding of what technology can truly achieve in the classroom. Before the course, technology for me was mostly e-mail, presentations using Powerpoint, word processing and web pages. Web 2.0 has opened the door to many new ways to use technology in the classroom. Class blogs can cause the students to become enthusiastic about discussing classroom matters. They can allow students to engage in self-reflection and self-examination in a way with which they are familiar. Also they can become involved with their fellow classmates using creative thinking for problem-solving. These are skills they will need in the 21st century workplace. As a teacher, I can bring these skills into classroom use and prepare them for their future.
In this class, we were encouraged to change from being a teacher-centered learning environment to a learner-centered environment. The teacher should become a facilitator in the classroom not simply a lecturer. This was new to me. It is very hard to let go of the traditional role of the teacher. Gathering ideas about how the classroom learning should occur from the students is very unnerving. However, I can see how this might lead to more motivation to learn from the student when they have a part in the decision of what is taught and how it will be learned. As they take ownership of their learning, they will become more excited about what they learn. By bringing more collaboration into the classroom and real-world problem-solving, the students will learn to do what will be expected from them in their future professions.
This course has encouraged me to use new technologies as well as made me excited about what can be done in the classroom. I am now committed to searching for new ways to bring technology into the classroom to increase student achievement. There are many courses offered to teachers through the district and other educational centers where teachers can learn about how to use existing technologies in the classroom as well as introduce new technologies which are now available. Learning to use web pages and wiki pages in the classroom will enhance the student’s enthusiasm for the material by using exciting new technologies. They will have a chance to apply the technology they use daily for social networking in an educational experience.
Two goals that I have set for myself for transforming my classroom environment in the next two years are establishing a classroom blog to allow the students to be able to converse in Spanish with their fellow students and to use a wiki page for the students to set up their own vocabulary resource. One of the obstacles I am already facing as I have submitted proposals to the district curriculum coordinator is a fear for the security of the students and the fear that something inappropriate may show up on both. The district is excited about technology and wanting to use technology in the classroom but they have a fear of the unknown. I am continuing to work with the district office in researching how to use these resources with the security that the district requires. There are rules that will be established. I am using some of the rules that I have discovered on the internet that other teachers have used. There is also a fear from the district office that people will be graded for technology that they do not have access to. One way that this can be overcome is to allow students to use the computer lab during homeroom. The use of these tools in the classroom will allow the students to integrate technology into their learning experience. Working on the wiki page with other students of their group will give them the opportunity to develop leadership and technology skills.