This course, Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society, has changed my interpretation of 21st century skills and the integration of technology in the classroom.  Prior to this course, I was under the assumption that anytime my students used  technology they were gaining knowledge. I can now see how much more is involved when using technology in the classroom. The amount of skills needed for a 21st century student is staggering.  Yet, most of these skills are not necessarily technology related. Technology can improve our lives and help make things faster. However, what is truly needed for our students are the basic skills of self-starters, lifelong learners, critical thinkers, team players, and critical evaluators of information. Technology is one medium for teaching these skills to our students.  I have expanded my knowledge of several technologies that can engage my students and expand their knowledge of both the target language and the 21st century skills. For example: blogs, wikis, and podcasts, to name a few. I feel more confident in using these resources, therefore I feel more confident in assigning projects to my students using these resources also. 

My focus now is not only to teach my students to speak French, but to challenge them to expand their vocabulary of the target language and to use any resources at their disposal to communicate in French. My goal is to help my students feel comfortable and confident in their language ability and to continue to perfect their French. I understand how my students desire to be engaged and challenged in my class. I witness how my students become disinterested in teacher-centered classes and I strive to empower my students to take more control of their education and to vocalize their needs for their education. We sit and share ideas on how to study, which apps help them memorize their vocabulary. I assign projects that are able to be completed with the use of technology and in group settings. 

My journey towards increasing student achievement has just begun. I will be completing my Masters work in Incorporating Technology in the K-12 Classroom at Walden University. I am excited to expand my knowledge of the 21st century skills and incorporate them into my lessons. I have taken several professional development workshops on Google Docs and iPad apps, yet I have been uneasy to incorporate these into my lessons. Now with these Walden classes I am understanding the larger picture in teaching with technology. I can see how 21st century skills are being incorporated with technology to increase student learning. I am excited for my next Walden classes so I can more fully plan for technology and 21 st century skills to be the focus of my lessons. I can no longer simply teach verb conjugations but must teach a future world citizen. I have already begun to garner help from my students in learning some new apps and I will continue to do so. I have given my students more freedom to use any software program that they are comfortable with to complete assignments. 

I have very lofty goals for the next two years. I know that I will come up against some obstacles in attaining these goals. I want my 8th grade classes to have a sister class in either France or Quebec. I am hopeful that this sister class will be able to Skype with my classes so that they can have authentic conversations and explore each other's cultures. As of right now, Skype is blocked at our school. We would need to install the software on the computers and there is simply not enough time to load every computer, or so I have been told. There is also the fact that our computer labs are not always available to use so I would have a difficult time scheduling it. I am hopeful that I will get permission from my supervisor and principal to make it a requirement of the course to have the students Skype the sister class students at home and video tape the conversation/assignment so they can turn it in for a grade. 

My other goal is to have my students create video journals once a week to post in their French class blogs. I would like my students to hear how well they are improving over the weeks of the school year. I am sure my administration will approve the video journals, however, I am unsure about the blogs, since our school is concerned about privacy and outside influences on our students. I am also worried about students not being allowed to use their computers and smart phones at home for the assignments. Currently, I have two students whose parents limit the amount of work they are allowed to do on computers, even if it is for school. I have a lot of work cut out for me but I am up for the challenge and ready for a new 21st century French classroom. 

Since this course has begun I would say that I have become more willing to share and engage my students in discussions about the class assignments and how they would like to complete them while keeping my objectives in mind. I also feel that I am more willing to use technology and 21st century skills in my assignments. I don't just want my students to create a postcard, but a video blog about visiting a monument in Paris, detailing important facts about hours of operation, price of admission and closest public transportation. I am proud of how my mind is shifting to a more 21st century skill set for my lessons. I can only get better from here. 

Ok, so here is my first podcast! Thank you to my GarageBand geek husband, Mark,  for teaching me how to incorporate music into my podcast. He also played to role of my students. Thanks, hon!

Enjoy, everyone.

Corrie's Walden Technology Survey

Thanks,

Corrie

Partnership for 21st Century Skills

After taking some time reviewing the Partnership for 21st Century Skills website, http://www.p21.org, I will admit I am feeling very overwhelmed. I appreciate the amount of information that the website offers. I was able to click on many links to further my knowledge of the skills needed for today's students. There were multiple links for resources and guidelines for educators, community, and policymakers. This site goes above and beyond to help all of the key players make a better educational environment for our 21st century students. I was able to navigate to find very detailed explanations of the skills for the 21st century and ways to implement them in my classroom. I feel the site is very informative, however, there is so much information my head began to swim and I became bored very easily.

The most exciting aspects of this site, for me, were the P21 blog and the List of Exemplar Schools. I felt more interested in hearing about projects that the students were involved in and how these schools were incorporating the skills into their curriculum. I liked the fact that I could see examples of work and visit the school's websites.

When reading the blog, We Were Wrong – A Lesson on Early Grade 21st Century Learning, I was slightly saddened. I thought about my daughter, a 5 year old, creating a presentation about preventing stray animals in our town. I thought about the skills needed to create a visual and oral report and the confidence needed to present the findings to a crowd and I wanted to protect my daughter. I do not want my five year old to have to be worried about doing those types of projects, feeling that she is too young to have those skills. Then I stopped and laughed. I was one of "those" parents, protecting my child from growing up and coddling her so she wouldn't need to challenge herself. Oh no! My teacher mode clicked on and I realized that I would never help her grow and become that 21st Century Learner if I continued to think that way. I do not want to stunt her abilities or contain her enthusiasm. I want a confident self-assured daughter and the only way I can see to help her to that goal is to start teaching her the 21st Century Skills now. This resonates with me when I think about my students, also. I do not want to prevent them from obtaining their 21st Century Skills, but to help them become valuable future employees and bosses.