As the summer draws to a close, so does my first
technology class for my master’s degree.
This marks course number four for me in my program, and by far the most
fun, exciting, educational and rewarding.
In the past six weeks I have been exposed to, learned about, and am now
using blogs, wikis and podcasting.
The most exciting aspect of these new technologies is the opportunity to
continue their use to improve my classroom teaching and communication with
colleagues and parents. Being a
digital immigrant (Prensky, M., 2001) I was always slightly fearful of how to
go about using these basic Web 2.0 tools, and the fear kept me from
incorporating them into my teaching. To say that this class has stretched my
technology knowledge, abilities and confidence is quite an understatement! I am
now excited about the new opportunities these tools will offer my students for
collaboration, critical thinking and problem solving activities as they explore
the world of music.
Students
that occupy the seats in my classroom learn in such a different manner from my
first students 32 years ago, and even more so from how I learned as a
student. To be the most effective,
engaging teacher I can for these modern-day students, I must understand and
appreciate their familiarity of technology, their demand for instantaneous
information, and be willing to acknowledge and incorporate the information and
knowledge students bring to the classroom (Prensky, M. 2005). Rather than being the source of all
information for my students, I need to position myself as a facilitator for
them, helping them make sense of the wealth of information that is at their
fingertips.
As
an instructor of music, my title is director; I am a leader. Students look to me for direction. However, not all activities need to be
teacher-led. As I work to
incorporate learning experiences into my classroom that develop the necessary
21st-Century skills in my students, those experiences such be
developed around students sharing, planning and creating with one another. Giving students the opportunity to
collaborate as they use technology to explore music will engage and motivate
students and provide them with a quality-learning environment.
I
have just barely scratched the surface in my learning of ways to incorporate
technology into the classroom. I
look forward to implementing blogs, wikis and podcasts into my teaching this
year. I am sure I will continue to
learn and refine my objectives and goals as the year progresses. Luckily, I have more technology classes
to tackle over the next twelve months that will provide me with continued opportunities
for technology growth and development.
The more tools I learn and implement with my students, the greater their
experiences become.
Words
look nice on paper, but it is the action that really matters. Technology can be valued and
appreciated but there must be a plan for how it is to be incorporated and used
in the classroom. A goal I am
establishing for my classroom this year is to have students in grades four and
five use blogs to respond to various music selections. I plan on devoting one class period
each month towards this activity, first modeling for the students blogging,
listening and responding, and then having the students blog after listening to
selections. Another goal I have to integrate more technology into my teaching
and classroom is to work with my students in grades two and three with
composition programs. Again, I plan on starting with small steps, working first
together as a class, and then having the students work in pairs to write short
melodies and then have them play their melodies on our melody bells.
With the completion of this first technology course and the
beginning of a new school year, my lesson plans are growing and changing in
regards to the use of technology.
Things that occurred rarely will now happen much more frequently, such
as designing instructional activities that require student collaboration and
providing students with the opportunity to share and present information
through a variety of mediums. I
also hope to become a colleague that others can turn to for help and advice
with technology. Being a teacher
from an older generation, I hope that I can be a role model and resource for
other teachers that find themselves fearful of how to begin using technology in
their classroom.
References:
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital
immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5).
Prensky, M. (2005). Listen to the natives. Educational Leadership, 63(4), 8–13.
