Technology is now assimilated into American classrooms. Technology is no longer an option, and rather it has become a part of educational curriculum for the students' benefit. Collaborative projects, which are crucial in providing students with interactive/interpersonal skills, can be completed with the aid(s) of technology. Indeed, as the quote above points out, technology is shifting the paradigm of education as teachers are beginning to arrange lesson plans around Internet sources.
As Schrum and Levin write in Leading 21st Century Schools, computers have unlimited uses. I plan to use computers and technology in my classroom by setting up collaborative projects, particularly through wiki's. With wiki's, I can compose long-term projects for students to work collectively on. Even Schrum and Levin (2009) write that wiki's allow students to participate in the production of a long-term project dedicated to a specific subject (p. 50). For instance, I would like to begin a 'literary wiki' where students compose book reports through various means on a class wiki. Students may work together creating power points, podcasts, or videos to share their reaction to the books they have read. This would be rewarding to the students as they would be expressing themselves through various mediums and creative preferences. It also gives them the opportunity to work together towards a common goal. More importantly, as Wiki: Becoming a Reflective Practitioner states, wiki's also give students self-esteem, teamwork skills, and critical thinking practice.
One of the most important standards of ISTE (2011) regarding students, for me personally, is for students to communicate and collaborate as they work on technology skills. This is important to me because it gives students the opportunity to support one another as they learn particulars of the Internet. I wish I had learned how to use and contribute to a wiki earlier, so giving students this opportunity early on will only assist them in the long run as they are at a technologically-savvy advantage.
Educational Origami (2011). Retrieved 14 June, 2011, from http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/.
ISTE. (2011). "Digital Age Learning." Retrieved 14 June, 2011, from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students.aspx.
Schrum, L. & Levin, B. (2009). Leading 21st Century Schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Love your intro quote and subsequent explanation! I like your literacy wiki idea.. will you have students edit the actual pages? Or add to the discussion forum component of the page?
ReplyDeleteThanks for including an actual hyperlink to one of the web site references!! Keep it up!!
Some minor issues with your citations and references. If you provide a direct quote - make sure you include a page number. Also - when you start off a sentence with - As Schrum and Levin wrote... - you need to include the year of publication directly after you mention the authors. So it should look like the following: As Schrum and Levin (2009) wrote... - then at the end of the sentence... if you are directly quoting and using quotation marks, you can include the page number at the end - (p.50).
Check the resources on the course syllabus to learn more about proper APA references. Typically a reference begins with the author name(s) or organization name, year of publication, then title of journal article, book, or web page.. Also - you never include the author's first name - just the first letter of their first name. So for the last reference it should be
Schrum, L., & Levin, B. (2009)....
For your second reference, since ISTE is the organization - that should be first... ISTE. (year of pub). Title of web page. Retrieved from http://www...
Nice job!
Thank-you for your comments, Vanessa, they are helpful! For the literacy wiki page, which I am going to attempt to create for our wiki assignment, I plan to have students add to the discussion forum. This way, students can contribute individually while also commenting on each other's ideas.
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