The
teacher’s role is constantly evolving when it comes to the 21st
century learning experience.
We are asked to
provide an environment that promotes skills that will help students be
successful in the 21st century society and workplace. We are asked
to plan instruction to meet every learner, be it by readiness, interest, or
learner profile. We are asked to provide inquiry based learning opportunities
for our students that provide them with situations and asked them to provide
possible solutions. We are asked to provide engaging, authentic lessons for our
students, and we are asked to adapt our lessons based on feedback provided by
the students.
We are put in a
position where we need to constantly master new technologies and digital
learning tools that students are using at school, at work, and at home. Our
students are more digitally focused than they have ever been. They spend more
time connected and communicating with their mobile devices than any other
medium. To be able to do this, it becomes necessary to know the 21st
century tools that are at our disposal.
I recently read a
blog post that discussed nine digital learning tools every teacher should know
how to use, and the reasons behind them. One of the tools was an RSS reader –
which allows students to extract large amounts of specific information from the
internet. It is important that we understand how this works so we can
facilitate in student research by helping them make sense of all of the
information they are provided. Another example was Dropbox, which provides
students an easy method to share and access files from home and from school,
without needing to transport anything.
In a previous blog
post, I mentioned that we needed to be content experts – if we are to provide
students with learning opportunities using the various tools, it is important
that we have more than a basic fundamental knowledge of these tools. We must
take a tool and essentially master it. If we have a solid foundation in the use
of these digital tools, then we can empower students, and help them utilize the
tools in the classroom to the best of their abilities.
Chris, I agree with you. If we are to use these 21st century tools in our classrooms, then it is important that we master it ourselves. We can then utilize these tools more effectively in the classroom. In the end, the students will benefit. Our students today are spending more and more time on their digital devices and it is necessary for us, as educators, to support every student in their learning journey.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned Dropbox from a blog post that you reviewed. Have you used this tool before? If so, what do you think the benefits are for using it in elementary school?
Hi Kim.
ReplyDeleteI use Dropbox extensively from a professional perspective (as a 'portable drive') for myself and I use it in a school setting with my students. http://dropitto.me/ allows students to send files to my dropbox, which is an easy way for them to submit assignments and for me to track them submitting their assignnments. I consider it an invaluable tool so that I am not constantly lugging laptops, hard drives, etc. to and from school!
Thanks Chris. I am currently using Google Drive with my students (just began this year). It is definitely a learning curve, but I can see many benefits in it.
ReplyDelete