When Technology Fails...

To say technology can be frustrating is an understatement. We've all felt it. You know how it's supposed to work, but it doesn't seem to do what you want it to do (or it crashes, etc.). An experience like that happened to me just this afternoon and I thought, what a good learning opportunity. I hear all the time, our kids know how to use this stuff, but I just can't seem to understand it or I get so frustrated with it. What is the difference between us and our kids when it comes to technology? There are several different things, but one that I realized - they don't give up. If something doesn't work, they try - try again. They figure it out. Isn't this problem solving? Maybe not in the way educators want or think of problem solving, but they're using their brains to figure out how to make something work.

Problem solving is definitely a 21st century skill and allowing our students to struggle a little when trying to figure something out is okay (this isn't only true of technology, but anything). Encourage your students to figure it out on their own and allow them to fail.

The next time technology fails you, remember...it's a learning opportunity!

Information, Media, and Technology Skills

Information, Media, and Technology Skills is another cog in the Partnership for 21st Century Skills framework. These, in fact, are emerging as the new set of literacies that today's students really need to understand: Information Literacy; Media Literacy; ICT (Information, Communication, and Technology) Literacy.

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills address the fact that we live in "technology and media-suffused environment" and schools/teachers who ignore this fact will quickly become extinct (that is my opinion - not the Partnership for 21st Century Skills). Many teachers fear the idea that if technology becomes a part of the educational system, their services may no longer be required and they'll be out a job. Who, then, will teach them about the literacies of the 21st century? Those teachers who continue to ignore these new literacies will be the ones who become extinct, but not because technology will replace them, but because teachers who understand how to use and leverage the technology to engage and teacher students will replace them.

Will you become extinct or will you choose to better understand how the face of education is changing?

Wes Fryer's Landscape of 21st Century Learning

Wesley Fryer, a leader in educational technology and someone that is in my Personal Learning Network, recently spoke at a conference in New Zealand. He posted his presentation on slideshare. I highly encourage you to watch/listen to his presentation. It is an hour long and definitely gives you something to think about.

Thoughts for the last days of school

Wesley Fryer is a well respected advocate of technology usage in education, which I believe is a key component of being a 21st century teacher. If you do not subscribe to his blog, Moving at the Speed of Creativity, I highly recommend adding this to your "must-read" blog list.

Wesley's blog post last night truly hit the nail on the head when it comes to teachers attitude of the last few days of school and, if I'm being honest, I was one of those. I, just like the kids, was always ready to be done with the year and would do my best to keep the kids occupied while I finished getting my room ready to close up for the summer. It's not a pretty picture, but it's the truth.

I hope, as I have grown as a person and an educator, that, if I choose to get back into the classroom, I will not be that teacher anymore. In many other ways I was a 21st century teacher, but the last week of school - not so much.

Wesley was quick to point out what his ideas are NOT advocating (no rules, etc.), but made excellent points about how schools can foster a student-center environment. One of his examples is the way that Accelerated Reader is intended to be used and the way some schools actually use it - even to the point of punishment. The schools, of course, do not view it as punishment, but, as I think we can all agree, because the students aren't allowed to go to recess, the students view it as punishment. They are not allowed to do something they enjoy. Rather they are forced to do something they may not be good at - in the eyes of students...punishment. How many times do we force education down the throats of students instead of truly teaching them to love learning. Definitely one of the major roles of a 21st century teacher is instilling a love of learning. Often times this may mean finding the one thing the student enjoys and teaching them how to teach themselves using that one thing.

He also wrote to something I discussed in a previous blog about 21st century teaching is often a fundamental change in schools and the way people think.

"As I continue my work as a 21st century educator, I grow increasingly convinced that the fundamentally coercive nature of our public education system in the United States must change in basic ways. We, as a society, have grown accustomed to an educational system which is compulsory and therefore fundamentally coercive in its nature. This coercive side of education becomes most clearly unmasked in May, as we draw closer to the end of school. Students sitting in class a week from the end of school may understandably ask, “Why are we here?”"

Do you want to coerce learning or be a facilitator of learning? Personally, I choose facilitator.

By the way - I have recently joined Twitter. I'm JennAFuzz and Wesley Fryer is wfryer.

A Must-Read Blog Post

This is a blog post about students taking the use of technology into their own hands! I highly recommend reading....

http://students2oh.org/2007/12/10/student-technology-leadership-collaborative-learning/

What do you think? I love his term "stutechie"! :)

Bringing School to the Information Age Article

It's been a while since I posted. It may look as if I have posted 2 times in one day; however, the post right before this, Web 2.0 tools, has been written for a while, I just forgot to post it! If you did not read that, please visit that post to gain a basic understanding of what Web 2.0 tools are.

The place where I work gets several educational magazine subscriptions, one of those being Edutopia. The subscription being passed around to me and my co-workers is the July/August 2007 issue (yes...sometimes we are a little behind, but we still read the information!). There were several articles I felt worth of sharing, but the one I really want to high-light is the editor's note.

Please read and add your comments!

Editor's Note: Bringing School to the Information Age
written by James Daly, Editor-in-Chief of Edutopia
July/August 2007 Edutopia Magazine Article

I feel like this article hit the nail on the head! The last 2 paragraphs really express the need that students have for schools and educators to "jump on board" and began to use technology in their classroom. I know there are several teachers out there who still do not see this as a need, but whether or not they see it, the need does exhist. I also realize there are many teachers who see it as a need, but do not know where to begin and are even scared of the technology. The good news - people, like myself, exhist to help you in those frightening endeavors! Never be afraid to ask for help. We welcome that and are excited to encourage and assist you along the way.

For links to additional articles I thought were outstanding from this issue, please visit my wiki and click on the Instructional Technology Articles link in the sidebar.

Welcome to My Blog

Students of today crave technology. Some teachers of today shy away from technology. Never a good combination. Why this blog? To encourage and inform teachers about becoming a 21st century teacher for our 21st century kiddos. They are wired differently and they learn differently. Yet there are still teachers out there who teach like they were taught.

What's the harm in this? We learned it just fine the old fashioned way and look how we turned out - just fine! The problem is that our kids have to know how to communicate in a global economy. There are skills that kids of today have to know and understand that weren't important when we were going to school. I plan, in the days to come, to blog on the different skills that a 21st century student needs to have that, in a "traditional sit in your seat and listen to me talk" classroom does not provide.

I hope that you learn something from this blog. That is the intention. My mission is to help teachers be successful using technology in their classroom. Feel free to comment (even if you disagree!!) and add your own "2 cents".

The plan - to blog at least once a week (if not more) on issues relating to integrating technology into the every day classroom. Sometimes it might be as simple as a link to a great article. If you're an avid user of technology - good for you! Please share your expertise with us. If you're ready to use technology, but not sure where to start, hopefully you'll find some great things to get you started. If you're convinced technology is for everyone else but you, I hope you keep reading to "prove me wrong". The world would be boring if we all had the same opinion, but how much richer the conversation is if there is discussion!

May this blog help at least one teacher to realize the importance integrating technology into every aspect of their teaching!