Updated Education Philosophy

The primary goals of education have remained the same throughout time—to equip students with the skills and knowledge necessary to become productive citizens and life-long learners. Even though the goals have essentially remained the same, education itself is continually changing, primarily because of technology. Technology has changed the way teachers teach and the way that learners learn. Technology can become the “wings” that will allow the educational world to fly farther and higher than ever before—if we will allow it.

As teachers, incorporating new technology as teaching tools is not enough. I realize now that this is just automating what we have already been doing in the past. It makes the job of the teacher a whole lot easier—saving us time and energy, but what is it doing to really help the students? We are teaching a new age of students—the "digital natives", one in which some of us ("digital immigrants)" are not as familiar. Teachers have to learn to use the same technologies that students are using and then incorporate them into the classroom not only as teaching tools, but to guide, instruct, and probe the students to utilize effectively in their learning.

My ideals of the role the teacher should play as well as the teacher objectives and student outcomes have foundation in both pragmatism as well as the constructivism schools of thought. I believe the role of the teacher should shift from being the center of instruction, to becoming a facilitator of student-centered instruction. Real-life situations should be used in the classroom to facilitate and teach problem-solving using cutting edge technology. Students need to learn to assess the uses of technology, determine which technologies should be utilized to solve the problem, and evaluate the solution for reliability and accuracy. Assignments should foster autonomy, increase students desire to take initiative for their own work, and create a setting to promote higher-order thinking. Teachers need to allow the method of learning to be as important as the subject matter being learned.

My objectives as a teacher are to create an environment in the classroom that reaches beyond the four walls of my room into the world to allow students to gain an understanding of the subject matter that they will actually be able to use, thus gaining an understanding of life experiences. I want students to make the connection between the educational content learned and life itself. Also in this environment, I believe that today’s digital students still have the need to feel recognized and seen as an individual. My goal is to make learning in the classroom personalized and show students that I not only care about them learning the content but that I care about them as individuals.

There is always a need for improvement. There are always new things to learn. As a teacher, I must constantly learn in order to be an effective teacher. In today’s educational realm, that learning process involves mainly learning the uses of new technologies and learning to communicate the subject matter in terms that today’s digital learner will understand. To be a successful teacher, my methods of teaching have to change not only because of technology changes, but because today’s students learn in an entirely different way.

Change is inevitable in today’s educational world. My teaching philosophy written in undergraduate school didn’t even include the word “technology”. My teaching philosophy today must change to include "technology" to be an instrument in allowing students to spread their “wings” and fly in this new technological age of education and of life.

Reflection 7

Educational technology has had a huge impact on how I will teach in the future.  I never knew there were so many technologies available to us and I still have so much to learn.  I would have been one of the teachers who was afraid of technology and just did it to do it.  Now I realize how important educational technology is to all students.  I understand that technology must be integrated into the curriculum.  It needs to be purposeful and meaningful.  I was also under the misconception that technology was too difficult to use. Between the websites themselves which gave explanations and the tutorials they were all very user friendly.  Through reading articles I think there is such a value in teachers collaborating together.  We can learn so much through each other.  We can also learn from our students and the students need to be collaborating as well.  I will make every effort to integrate technology my students curriculum.  I will not be afraid to try new technologies and ask questions. Eight weeks ago I would not have said any of these things or had any of these thoughts.  I will continue to use my blog as a reminder to myself of what I have learned and what I still want to learn.  I will continue to add new thoughts and ideas about technology.  There are so many technologies available to us that keeping a blog about them is a great way to keep track of them.

Reflection 6

My podcast was created about a wildlife video. I felt lost at first. I am very much out of my comfort zone with technology. 

What are your thoughts on the future of podcasting in education?

 I definitely believe it enhances learning in the classroom.  I think it is helpful to hear the professor’s voice especially with internet classes since you do not get to see the teacher face to face, hearing their voice and seeing their picture makes it more personable.  We talked so much about interaction this week with students and professors in the online class community.  Podcast are another tool to facilitate this interaction. 

- How will you integrate podcasting in your current classroom?

I will use podcasts in the future.  I need to take more time and explore podcast more so I do not feel as intimidated.  I think it would be great to explain assignments to students.  It would clarify any misconceptions they would have about any assignments if it came directly from the teacher. 

Reflection 5

Not Analyzing Internet Information: The Implications for Students
The Internet now is the number one source used by students in research. We no longer have to go to the library to check out tons of books and read through massive amounts of text to find the information we are searching for. Unlimited information is now available with just a few keystrokes. However, all of this information still has to be filtered due to the overwhelming amount of fictitious information available on the web. The filters at school stop some sites from being accessed, but students access it all at home. So even though the information comes to us in a much faster speed, it still takes some time to analyze each site to determine its validity. Students need to realize this now—before they get into college and in their careers. It is our responsibility as educators to teach these skills to our students. If not, they could be led far away from the truth without even knowing it.Information Literacy
I really thought that I had more knowledge about information literacy, especially since I teach students how to analyze websites. I was obviously wrong. My score on the Information Literacy Quiz was 6, which was only “moderately savy”. I have always warned my students to look closely at information on the web because anyone can put information out there, and I have warned them over and over again that just because it is on the web doesn’t mean that it is true. I teach students to analyze websites by analyzing the URL, looking at the author information, looking for update information, finding out who is affiliated with the site (usually in the copyright information), and by really looking at the content of the site for validity and bias. I always give an assignment at the first of the year for students to analyze at least two sites. I was not aware of http://www.easywhois.com/, http://www.archive.org/, or how to use the Link: in AltaVista to find all the web sites that were linked to a page. These are excellent tools, and I plan to incorporate these methods of analyzing sites as well as using the November Learning site next year in my lesson.MAPping Activity
For the MAPping information activity, I went to “California’s Velcro Crop under Challenge” site. This site was pretty easy to analyze. The name of the author in the URL (http://home.inreach.com/kumbach/velcro.html) gave away the fact that it was a personal site. The only other link on the page was for the author’s name. When you go there, you see “Who is Ken Umbach?” as the title, and the subtitle reads, “A Totally Bogus Biography." Another link takes you to a sound clip that I think says, “Enjoy this.” This to me was the author's way of saying, "Gotcha!" When I used the easywhois site to find the publisher, there was no match found--another bad sign. The history of the site, according to the Wayback Machine shows that the site was created in April of 2001. I looked at the other years for the site’s history and found it had not changed since first created. The links proved the site to be even more unreliable. The first linked site was to “Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators” to use for critical evaluation of web sites, and the second link was for “Hoax Websites”—which listed this site among the hoaxes. When I used different search engines to look up the subject velcro crops, this was the first site listed on each (Google, Yahoo, and AltaVista). I was always under the assumption that relevance was what drove the order of the listed results for a search from a search engine. I only now realize, after reading the articles for this class, that some search engines display results by the number of hits to the site. I am so guilty of almost always using the first few sites listed instead of filtering through more. After analyzing this site, I really don’t understand why this site was created. Why would someone even take the time to create this is beyond me. It really makes me wonder, how many more thousands of sites are there out there just like this?

When I was in undergraduate school, I really mainly used books, magazines, and periodicals from the library (the old fashioned way) to research. I really didn’t start using the Internet for research until recently, and I never really analyzed my sources the way I should have. Even though I thought I was doing a good job, I realize now after completing this assignment that I really was not.

Reflection 4

Spanning the Generations - Implications for Practice
After reading the article, Is it Age or IT: First Steps Towards Understanding the Net Generation, I am once again amazed at how different today’s students have become since I first started teaching. This Net Generation (as described earlier in the semester as Digital Natives), have grown up surrounded and immersed in technology. It is a part of their life that has always been there (at least for them). I grew up as a part of Generation X. I attended a small 1A school where there were no computers. I remember taking a computer literacy class and thinking how insane it was since we didn’t even have a computer in the classroom. I finally got my chance to use computers in college. I didn’t have a computer of my own, so I had to constantly go to the computer lab on campus to complete assignments. After graduating from college, I bought my first computer. That was then. Technology is now in the hands of almost every individual and a natural part of our life.

I was amazed at the fact that students still felt that the teacher was vital in the learning process. I loved what one teen said, “Learning is based on motivation, and without teachers that motivation would cease to exist.” Bill Gates said essentially the same thing, “Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important.” Our roles as teachers will always be to motivate students and encourage them in the learning process. Our methods of teaching are the things that must change. Incorporating technology into the classroom to allow students to explore and discover new ways of learning is essential for the Net Generation. They still crave social interaction, so technology cannot be the sole source of instruction. The teacher still needs to guide and probe students in the learning process, but the learning needs to be delivered in a way that allows students the opportunity to discover knowledge through interactive, engaging activities. Teachers need to encourage students to spend time to reflect on what they have learned, how they can use this new knowledge in the future, and what they still could learn to better their understanding of the concepts.

We are products of our environment. I do agree that gradually we will assume many of the characteristics of the Net Generation as we allow technology to become more a part of our own lives. Even though I am in Generation X, I do have some of the characteristics listed for the Net Generation as well--such as the attributes of being hopeful and determined, liking the latest technology and my parents, and disliking anything slow as well as negativism. My responses to the questions posed in the article were surprising to me. In some aspects I am moving forward slowly by allowing technology to become more a part of my life. In other areas, I still have a way to go. My responses to the questions were:

• Are you more comfortable composing documents online than longhand? I am more comfortable composing documents online. The reduction of time spent in writing, revising, and finalizing a document to me is cut in half. The less time I have to spend in this process, means more time spent doing something else.
• Have you turned your "remembering" (phone numbers, meetings, and so on) over to a technology device? I am guilty of letting my cell phone do my remembering. I don’t remember phone numbers—I put them in my contacts and dial from there. I rarely ever dial a number unless it is someone I am calling for the first time. However, I still have a physical calendar on my desk and at home that helps me remember my appointments.
• Do you go to meetings with your laptop or PDA? I do go to some meetings with my laptop, but not very many. If I had a compact size laptop, that might change. I do not have a PDA—yet.
• Are you constantly connected? Is the Internet always on whether you are at home or work? Is your cell phone always with you? I feel like I am constantly connected, but not as connected as my students. This past year we finally got DSL. I love it. I log on whenever I have the chance to check email, Facebook, and just to browse at home. At work, the Internet is always on from the time I get to school until the time I leave. My cell phone is always with me, but I don’t use it like most people. I actually talk on it to my friends and family. I still haven’t given in to total texting. I still like hearing people’s voices.
• How many different activities can you effectively engage in at one time? As a teacher and mother of two small children, multi-tasking is a necessity. Now I may not be as good at it as my students, but I can juggle talking on the phone, checking my email, watching the kids play, and cooking dinner at the same time pretty effectively.
• Do you play video or computer games? Playing video and computer games has never been one of my favorites. I didn’t grow up with video or computer games, so neither interests me. I would much rather curl up with a good book or movie any day.

Reflection 3

·         Portfolio Assessment
Assessment is crucial in education. But after reading the article, Electronic Portfolios as Digital Stories of Deep Learning, my ideals of assessment broadened and have changed. I am very guilty of using assessment primarily as a means of identifying weaknesses for individual students to discern what steps need to be taken next to help those students succeed. I was in control. My primary use of assessment has been assessment of learning not for learning. I can clearly see that I need to expand my assessment to be learner centered instead of teacher centered. Therefore, the AFL research based principle that I most related with was that assessment “develops learners’ capacity for self-assessment so that they can become reflective and self-managing.”

Last year, I have tried to incorporate portfolios into my science class, but I have never been really successful--mainly because the students didn’t buy into the "assignment." I believe that by creating the portfolios using an online source, like Google sites, students will feel more ownership in their assessment. It will be their own “showcase” to the world. I loved the description of portfolios presented in the article: “A portfolio that is truly a story of learning is OWNED by the learner, structured by the learner, and told in the learner's own VOICE (literally and rhetorically).” A great example of this was the link to the “Choices” digital story at the end of the article. The students would love to create this kind of story of their own learning!

I go to workshops to learn new ways of teaching and new technologies that can be used in the classroom. I take notes and am so eager to implement them, but without having the time to really learn to use them myself. This class has given me the opportunity and in a sense has forced me to take the time to learn to use technology to its fullest potential for the students. For this I am grateful. I see the use of creating my electronic portfolio as a means to measure my own learning of new technologies. By my personal increased understanding of the uses of today’s technology for learning, I can allow my students to use and grow their knowledge of those technologies while motivating them in the learning process to create their own digital stories of learning.

Digital Concept Map

Digital Concept Map

This is my digital concept map created by using Wordle that pieces together the concepts of my definition of educational technology, today's learner, the reality of education today, and the potential impact technology can have on education.

I believe that educational technology not only promotes learning, but increases the learning potential of today's digital natives. By utilizing new technologies in the classroom as effective teaching tools and by allowing students to use those technologies to create and expand their knowledge and ideas, quality learning is produced.

*I could not get picture of map to upload, so I posted the link in a seperate post*