Blog Post #A - Chapter 1

Being a 21st Century Teacher

          Being a 21st Century Teacher is a daily learning opportunity as technology is changing and evolving every day. The art of teaching is beginning to look differently in some parts of the world more than others and with that goes changes that some agree with and some do not. Below are just three concepts about this new way of teaching that will, if anything help us understand it a little more.

        To begin with, technology is becoming more and more common in children, even as early as eight years old! I personally have been using technology in school since nine years old. We are referred to as the iGeneration, students who are growing up using technology. We grew up using computers in school and cell phones, for example. To us, the iGeneration it's almost impossible to imagine getting school work done without our cell phones, iPad's, computers and more importantly...Google! There are even developmental games that start as early as a couple months old like the Baby View app as shown here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv_iVQdkuuM. There are, of course, factors that effect schools that are not able to easily access all these new advancements including, family income, race, and parental education.

 

        Secondly, the accessibility to all this new information is only at our fingertips because of the tools or gadgets we have. The most common ones we use today are our smart phones, laptops and iPads. We have all the answers at our fingertip with our phones. There is almost no limit to what we can research or do on our phones. Laptops seen like they're getting smaller and smaller and lighter and lighter every time a new version comes out but this is only to make our life, as students, inside and outside the classroom, as convenient as possible.


        Lastly, digital identity is something we all have, whether it be no technology experience or desire to even learn about it to your digital identity be all that people know about you. As a teacher, your digital identity goals should be to 1) Build a multimedia resume which is similar to a paper resume but one includes your tech skills which are always growing and changing as technology does also. 2) Learning resources and teaching tools. For example, I remember when FSW professors didn't like or require us to use Canvas; everything was done via e-mail or papers. Learning new skills is not only something teachers learn but the student as well. and 3) Modeling technology for students. Technology for students is an everyday thing we use. Whether it be a survey we're taking from our phones in class to uploading a new educational app, teachers are sometimes the only example, we as students see, of new technology uses. This is the new way of learning.

        In conclusion, becoming a 21st Century Teacher means being willing to learn changes in technology to then transfer that knowledge to students. Technology is a great tool that is changing our everyday world and how we interact in it.

Resources:

  Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc

 YouTube. Baby View - High Contrast Patters, Shapes and Animations for Infant Visual Stimulation. Retreived from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv_iVQdkuuM

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