In chapter 1 of “Becoming a 21st Century Teacher”, I came across three concepts that I felt were important to share my thoughts on. I find it very important to acknowledge the fact that our youth is now known as the iGeneration. The fact that over 90% of all children from nursery to grade 12 use computers coupled with the fact that the average tween and teen used entertainment media on an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes a day (a study done by Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation) should show us that our mass use of technology is not going away. Therefore, is important for us as teachers to embrace the use of technology in our classrooms. Since technology will be and already is such a huge part of our professional world, it only makes sense that we prepare our children with the use of the latest technology. With technology always changing, it’s important for teachers to keep themselves updated on what is out there and how to use it. I have found out for myself in my home-school that moderate technology has been very helpful for teaching my three children.
This brings me to the next concept that caught my attention called TPACK. I had never heard of it before and did not even know what pedagogical meant. With further reading and understanding of this concept, I see how important it is to integrate technology, content, and pedagogical knowledge into one teaching method. For centuries, teachers have relied on the content supplied to them and pedagogical knowledge. With the introduction of technology, teachers are not only able to bring in content from around the world within seconds, but they are able to bring in another form of teaching which introduces another avenue for students to use their brain. It has been said that some learn better from watching while some learn better from hearing and other learn better from doing. It would make sense that when you use all three of these learning methods at once, you will reach more students. I believe TPACK also works in a similar method. That is why when teachers can teach in all three methods of TPACK at the same time, they call it the “sweet spot”.
Furthermore, there are certain must-have technologies for students and teachers such as personal computers and internet access. Although we could function without these tools, they have become such a large part of our everyday living that it would not be beneficial to keep them out of the classroom. Moving past the essentials, there are other technologies that can be useful to students and teachers. Vodcasts, for example, have been very helpful for visual learners to gain more information while at home like Khan Academy, which is a great resource we use in our homeschool. Smartboards are another great tool for teachers. With these, teachers are able to quickly access data and display it for a whole class to see and use in an interactive way. One great free resource available for teachers now is Google for Education, amongst many others. I chose Google due to the overall database it provides. I also think tablets are going to be a huge part of future learning. Students can do their reading, writing and arithmetic where ever they are (given they are near a Wifi connection). If we get to the point where every student has one, teachers can start issuing assignments, podcasts/vodcasts, send links to helpful media and do so much more while not in front of the student. Who knows, perhaps in the future, we won't even have classrooms.
While I believe technology is a great thing for our children as the world changes, I still have a strong belief that using a pen and paper is something we cannot live without. With that being said, I plan to gain more understanding of what a 21st-century teacher is like so that I will prepare children to be able to handle the latest and greatest technology. I can start now by integrating it more into my own homeschool.
Resources:
Textbook- Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.
Website - Welcome to the iGeneraton, Larry Rosen Ph.D., Rewired: The Psychology of Technology (posted March 27, 2010) Retrieved January 20, 2016, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/rewired-the-psychology-technology/201003/welcome-the-igeneration
Website - Khan Academy (2016) Retrieved January 20, 2016, from https://www.khanacademy.org/
Website - Google for Education. Retrieved January 20, 2016, from https://www.google.com/edu/
Video Website - The Benefits of Using Technology in the Classroom, (published on Mar 16, 2015
-- Created using PowToon) Retrieved January 21, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rrKwyVU1DM
