Reflection For Course 6710, “Understanding The Impact Of Technology
On Education, Work And Society”

I’ve been a teacher for over twenty years and have acquired understanding of the psyche of teenagers, skill at handling the unexpected, flexibility, patience and knowledge of my content areas. However, I have not kept current with the field of technology and all the available tools it offers for the classroom. This course has been an eye-opener and a motivator for beginning to remedy this oversight on my part. I have created a blog and made postings there, collaborated on designing a wiki, worked with some of my students to record a podcast and then upload it for public access and read and participated in discussions about the new learning styles of today’s students. For most of these assignments, there have been moments of frustration and confusion, but I successfully completed them and experienced satisfaction in doing so.
In order to accomplish the technology applications I’ve had to correspond with my classmates and several colleagues at my school. This has resulted in my becoming more comfortable with the vocabulary of technology, getting to know others interested in technology in the classroom and in the expansion of my knowledge and abilities.
The concept that most of today’s students act as digital natives (Prensky, 2005), fluent in the terms and tools of technology, is the basis for the idea that educators must also embrace technological skills in order to effectively teach these students. That the brain functioning of digital natives actually differs fundamentally from that of the so- called digital immigrants (Prensky, 2005), is a novel idea to me. If true, then the traditional methods used for linear learning will no longer be as effective. Additionally, with so much information available to both students and teachers, the role of the teacher is changing from that of the expert to a facilitator who guides the students as they research, compile and analyze real life problems using their school content to do so. This will require a change in direction for me as I work to empower the students to take more control of their own learning. I do think that the best approach for me will be to use a variety of teaching methods, still lecturing on some days, while interspersing this with group work, games and collaborative projects. Having become more at ease with technology, I will be able to supplement each of these lessons with computer use.
Now that I have a broader basis of computer knowledge to build on, I will more readily seek out sites and applications which enhance my current lesson plans and that will help students master the core content while acquiring the needed 21st literacy skills. One long-term goal for helping to achieve this transformation in my teaching style will be to commit to one technology based project per class per grading period. These can vary from a student-produced presentation to a review of a web-based tutorial. A second long-term goal is to gain permission and guidance in setting up blogs and or wikis for my classes. This would require arming my students and parents with the information about these technological tools, how to set them up while ensuring the safety of the students and getting parental permission and involvement.
I’ve gained both knowledge and experience in the options and advantages of using technology in the classroom, at work and in society. When I looked back at my “Practices to Support 21st Century Skills” checklist, I find that in most areas I have moved forward in my use and teaching with technology. My hope is that I’m on my way to developing new habits and practices of teaching that meld my traditional practices with the new practices offered by innovative technology. As summed up by Trilling (2005): “
The challenges that our newly arrived Knowledge Age brings to learning and education are great, but the promise of a renaissance of learning in 21st Century Learning Societies is even greater. There is important work to be done in helping turn this vision of a global network of Learning Societies into a Knowledge Age reality.”


Prensky. Mark (2005). “Listen to the natives.” Association For Supervision And
Curriculum Development.

Trilling, Bernie. (2005). Toward Learning Societies And The Global Challenges
For Learning-With-ICT. Oracle Education Foundation.