21st Century Blog Reflections

Blog #1: http://www.techsavvyed.net/

The first blog that I chose to review calls itself ‘a practical guide to technology in the classroom’, and I would have to agree. The first thing that I notice on the page is that there are several different subcategories for this blog, which I can appreciate, as it is nice to be able to find what I’m looking for quickly. The left wall of the blog has tags, which are kind of neat because they let a person locate these topics if they have come up in the blog, sort of like its own search function.

I found this blog has a lot of information about the skills related to 21^st century teaching – there are several ‘How To’s which are useful when using technology, including screen recording, enabling restrictions, and even how to use technology to assess in the classroom. I think this exhibits the idea of the teacher as an ongoing learner – we are able to learn how to do new things, becoming content experts as we learn, which allows us to incorporate these ideas into our classrooms.

I also like that the site provides examples of 21^st century learning, as there are student examples of a variety of tasks in several different subject areas, including the one listed below, which shows a fifth grader demonstrating problem solving strategies in the classroom.

Many of the examples of technology in the classroom provided on this webpage are excellent examples of blended learning. The videos show the teacher facilitating lessons, rather than driving them, which I think is essentially what blended learning is all about. Clearly, this blogger has a good idea of how he wants his classroom to run, and has tailored his blog to model this.

Blog #2: http://blog.mrmeyer.com/

This blog is not what I would call a conventional 21^st century learning blog in that it is not really about technology in the classroom, necessarily. Dan Meyer is a former teacher who is trying to help revolutionize the way math is taught in the classroom, and is someone I follow quite closely when considering my own teachings. He is one of Tech & Learnings 30 Leaders of the future, so clearly he has some ideas when it comes to 21^st century learning.

I find Dan’s blog incredibly helpful, as he has several different ideas for how instruction should change. First, and foremost, his philosophy is one of teaching through what he calls perplexity. One of his TED Talks discusses breaking all the text away from a problem and turning it into an engaging question that students want to answer. He uses something called “Three Act Math,” where Act One introduces a central conflict and allows for hypothesis (what is clearly too big/small, etc), Act Two provides some tools that would help students answer the problem from Act One, and Act Three is the payoff – providing students with the resolution to their problem. This is a neat type of blended learning because it allows students to work at their own pace, and choose their own tools to answer problems. Digital links are provided which allow students to access online tools to help them with their problem. As well, the Three-Act Math problems on his website provide a teacher guide to enable teachers to facilitate and reinforce with students.

Further, one of Dan’s blog posts is titled “You Don’t Have to Be The Answer Key.” The concept is that allowing students to hypothesize and learn on their own terms allows for us to be peers, collaborators, and co-conspirators in math, rather than just telling students how to do things all the time. 

In addition to Dan’s different viewpoints in the classroom, he provides a variety of different technological learning opportunities – he has an entire subcategory of his blog called ‘tech enthusiasm’, which provides a slew of activities that teachers can use in the classroom should they so choose. 

Dan does a good job of reflecting on what has been successful and unsuccessful for him, as well as providing opportunity for other teachers to reflect on the same, and it seems almost like an ‘advice column’ between a variety of teachers discussing professional development, dos and don’ts, and effective strategies.

I like that everything on Dan’s website is free to use – he provides tons of content for teachers to borrow liberally but also offers a forum in which other teachers can contribute and provide extra. It is an excellent resource for math teachers, especially those looking to ‘flip’ the classroom and provide authentic, engaging lessons that students have ownership over, and it is easily one of my favorite sources when I am trying to find something interesting, different, and effective to use in my classroom.

Blog #3: http://edutech4teachers.edublogs.org/

I chose this blog as my third to discuss because it was rated as the overall winner for best teacher blog on edublogs as chosen by the edublogsawards website. Having spent a bit of time looking through the blog, I can see why they consider it to be an excellent resource.

First and foremost, nearly every post has to do with some new, interesting piece of educational technology. Usually, these posts are articles that don’t just provide information describing the ed-tech, but also provides tips and hints about how to incorporate educational technology into the classroom. As an example, I read a post called ‘Flip the Classroom with Slackmath.’ Slackmath incorporates algebra and QR codes together, allows students to select topics for which they want to learn more, provides them opportunities to practice their skills, receive feedback, and then consolidate with solution videos.

It seems to be as though this blog is primarily resources for how to flip the classroom, providing ways for teachers to incorporate multimedia, mathematics, and mobile technology in the classroom, allowing for learners to complete problems and receive immediate feedback.

I like that this website even provides for people who consider themselves to be ‘tech gurus.’ The author has a tech tip section which refers to the latest and greatest Web 2.0 tools, attempting to provide even the most skilled techie with new opportunities to incorporate new resources into the classroom.

In all, these three blogs provide a lot of opportunities for teachers to consider the blended/flipped learning experience, as well as giving teachers a chance to be perpetual learners, firming up their ‘tech savvy’ in the meantime.