As part of my master’s degree at Walden University in Instructional Technology, one of the courses I needed to take was “Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society.” One of the bases of this course is to explore the outcomes of technology use on today’s students and future workforce. An emphasis of the course is to help ourselves become more acquainted with 21st century technology and how to implement it into our classrooms in order to produce students who are ready to get a job in the 21st century workplace.


We have been asked to explore an organization called the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. They are an organization that promotes the use of 21st century skills in America’s schools. One of the places that you can find out more about this organization is their website. Here, they provide resources, tools, and useful links to help educators incorporate 21st century skills into their classrooms.


We were asked to preview their website and share what we thought about it. After looking through their website, I was surprised to find so many neat resources and tools that they had available. I honestly remember thinking, “How did I not know about this site?” After looking more closely into the organization itself under their “About Us” section, I was pleasantly amazed at how many national business and corporations support this organization. Some of the leading technology companies in the business were mentioned: Intel, Adobe, Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Oracle, etc. were invested in this organization to help promote 21st century skills in our nation’s classrooms. I did wonder how much money that these companies have used then to show their support and help districts afford the capital necessary to provide their students with these new technologies.


After viewing the website, I was wondering why Pennsylvania wasn’t on the list of states that have taken the initiative to partner with this organization. Actually, I was somewhat shocked that only 14 states were on that list (that’s only 28% of our nation!). As our students enter the 21st century workplace, they need the necessary skills that ready them for this endeavor. If an organization like the Partnership for 21st Century Skills is capable of influencing government (as is part of their mission), our students would see a change in the way that they are taught and tested. I myself, a high school teacher, would see a change in what I would be required to teach. (Yes, the mention of standards was included in their website). In reality, if the Partnership for 21st Century Skills is successful in their mission, the United States could see a dramatic shift in how our nation’s schoolchildren are educated and subsequently how they are assessed.


On a side note, I did find one absolutely great website after exploring the Partnership for 21st Century Skills website. It was created by Michael J. Gorman and it’s called 21st Century Educational Technology and Learning. This site has invaluable information on how to use, create, and apply the newest and latest technologies in our classrooms. He has a blog that you can view, as well as links to other technology. Be sure to check it out!


References:

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2010). Our Mission. Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=188&Itemid=110.

The move to blogs in my classroom

Taking that step into using a blog in my classroom seems like a huge step. My preconceived notions about blogs have not helped my enthusiasm towards them. Initially blogs were something that was completely unfamiliar. Then there was the belief that implementing them would be too complicated and time consuming. Now it’s more how to incorporate them into daily lessons. After reading both November (2008) and Richardson (2006), perhaps there is hope for me yet.

November’s (2008) idea to use blogs as a community builder seems reasonable. Perhaps that’s the first step in implementing a blog into my classroom. It would allow access of homework, events, etc. for not only my students, but my parents as well (p. 84). It seems like a non-threatening, easy way to start using a blog in my classroom.

However, using blogs as more of a student-centered forum would serve a greater purpose. Richardson (2006) also offers ideas on how to use blogs in a classroom setting. A few of them could definitely be used as extensions, perhaps even replacements, in my classroom. Having daily discussion prompts, journaling, completing writing assignments, collaborating on projects, showcasing work are all items that my students would love (p. 39). What seems really neat is that student work would be no longer be given to just the teacher. “The audience moves from teacher, to class, to world” (November, 2008, p. 81). What student wouldn’t love to have their work shared with everyone? It would give them such motivation and satisfaction to have others comment, share, express interest in their work.

One of the quotes that really influenced my decision to take that huge step into initiating a blogs in my classroom came from Richardson (2006). He said, “Blogs engage readers with ideas and questions and links. They ask readers to think and respond. They demand interaction” (p. 18). Getting positive, student-centered, perhaps even global interaction is absolutely what a 21st century classroom should be modeled after.

References:

November, A. (2008). Web literacy for educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Welcome

This blog was created as part of a technology class in my Master's degree program from Walden University.  Now if I could just implement this technology into my classroom...