Reflection of the Course Impact of
Technology on Education, Work, and Society
Incorporating
technology in the classroom is a vital tool in preparing students for work and
society in general. It is important that educators make connections between the
real world and the content they teach. To do this educators must stay abreast
with the current trends in the way communication takes place all over the
world.
Dr. Chris Dede
discusses a big trend in the way we communicate and collaborate. I now share
his vision of web 2.0 tools as a means of acquiring a collective wisdom,
forming “intellectual partnerships” (Laureate Education, 2010). As a
professional educator, this course has helped me expand my tool belt. Before
taking this course I had never set up a wiki. Now I can see using a wiki space
to help my students learn from each other and from others all over the world. I
can also use the wiki space as a tool for assessning what the students need to
know and facilitate their learning by providing resources on the wiki space.
This idea of virtual collaboration and shared knowledge is exactly what was
missing from my classroom.
This course has
allowed me to see that a teacher centered classroom will not work for todays
students. According to Will Richardson, in his book Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts: and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms
learning is not longer an independent process (Richardson, 2010). Richardson
(2010) believes the idea of the teacher having all the knowledge is long gone.
Students in todays classrooms must be “collaborators in the creation of
storehouses of information.
As part of this
course I have set two long term goals which will help me better serve the
students I teach. One goal I have is to take the perspectives I have gained and
share them through my blog. Whenever I successfully meet the NETS standards in
my instructional practices I plan to post them here. Secondly, I plan to be a
life long learner when it comes to educational practices. One 21st Century
NETS standards for teachers states that teachers will seek professional development
(NETS, 2008). I plan to use my RSS feed to stay abreast in the lastest and best
practices to help close the gap between my classroom and the real world.
References
International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE):
NETS for Teachers 2008
Laureate
Education, Inc. (2010). The changing work environment: Part 1 [Video Webcast]
Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/
Richardson, W.
(2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd
ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Thornburg, D.
(2004). Technology and education: Expectations, not options. (Executive
Briefing No. 401). Retrieved from http://www.tcpdpodcast.org/briefings/expectations.pdf
.
