Journal+Reflection+7

Interesting Technology Links

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This grant process so far has been very useful in trying to identify technology problems, successes, and plan for the advancement of technology within my district. Having the opportunity to collaborate with other stakeholders in my district has been insightful and fruitful. Technology integration will be critical in the future to help students learn and achieve in the 21st Century. While I was going through some things to create my video about my teaching strategies there were two strong feelings I had. The first concerned the importance and impediments to technology. This course has further reinforced my belief that technology must be a major part of the future of schooling. Students are utilizing technology as their main mode of information gathering and creation. Students utilize their available technology to do so many things and we need to be working to help these students harness and extend their abilities. To do this the main impediment is there will have to be a paradigm shift in the thinking of teachers and students alike. Teachers and students will need to realize that learning and teaching must be a collaborative team effort where everyone brings their expertise, skills, and thoughts to help create new knowledge and learning.

One thing I think this course has also reinforced for me is that beliefs on both sides of the technology argument can get propagandized. There are those who are anti technology (or at the very least anti a certain technology (Mac, Social Media, etc.). This camp operates utilizing misinformation and fear about how technology will destroy education or will alllow students to do illicit things. Then there are people on the 21st Century technology side that believe ideas like this [|website] espouses. This website infuriates me more than the other group that fears technology. Those that fear technology can be swayed with information and exposure. Fear is a condition that can be changed.

The website concerning 21st Century skills shows a belief of superiority. Belief of superiority blinds a person to any rational thought and this site demonstrates something that is just as dangerous (if not more) to the 21st Century classroom's development than those that fear technology. This website essentially paints all classrooms who are not operating in the perceived 21st Century as archaic and could not possibly have created meaningful learning.

For example, the 20th Century classroom was described as "memorization of discrete fact, Lessons focus on the lower level of Bloom’s Taxonomy – knowledge, comprehension and application, Passive learning, “Discipline problems – educators do not trust students and vice versa. No student motivation, Low expectations, Driven by the NCLB and standardized testing mania.Curriculum/School is irrelevant and meaningless to the students."

While the 21st Century classroom was described as better than the 20th Century classroom in every way including apparantly solving diciplinary problems and not being dominated by standardized testing. This is the type of outright propaganda that bothers me about those who believe 21st Century classrooms are the end all be all. Yes I do believe in technology and its benefits to classrooms. But to act as if the 20th Century was nothing but a pit of despair is folly. I spent most of my educational life in the 20th Century. Moreover, I spent my college life in the 21st Century and truly nothing much changed other than the addition of technology tools that helped me extend my thinking in a new way. This romanticized view of the "21st Century classroom" is laughable. If the 20th Century classroom is such a hinderance to learning and all that was ever done was focus on rote memorization and low expectations, how is it that America has developed the very technology that 21st Century classrooms are supposed to use? It is amazing with all the discipline problems and low expectations that the 20th Century was able to expand the U.S. and the world economy by leaps and bounds and that we advanced past the wheel and inventing fire. The 20th Century demonstrated some of the greatest creativity, advancement, and learning the world has ever known.

The point of this is that education and learning will happen with or without technology. However, technology can help extend and compliment the tried and true ways and means of learning. The true path to better education is to avoid the path of the fear mongering of the "technology will destroy education and lead our kids astray" camp and the path of the romanticized "if you don't want to envision the 21st Century classroom as we do you are stuck in the dark ages" camp. We must make decisions based on whats best for our individual students and districts.

There is no doubt that education can get better with technology and I want to be a part of that change. I just hope I can do it considering I did come from the 20th Century classroom, just kidding.