Ten Ideas for getting started with 21st Century Teaching and Learning.
Becoming a 21st Century Teacher can be a challenge. In my own classroom I do struggle with some facets of utilizing technology and finding programs with appropriate skills to keep my young learners engaged and motivated. However, with a little research, time spent adjusting lessons, and utilizing available technology it can be done.
Lisa Nielson, the manager of Technology Innovation for the New York City Department of Education, wrote an article to help educators get started with 21st century teaching and learning in their classrooms. It was certainly an educational article especially for a beginner or someone who has just sta
rted the process of integrating technology into lessons and activities. There are many that believe that educators should be able to instantly become adept at using and introducing the various types of technology and networking that is available into their classrooms. Weaving technology into the classroom is a process and success is not likely if the educator is not familiar or comfortable with it.
Lisa’s Top Ten Ideas:
Equipment: Every teacher should have access to the Internet, a laptop, and a projector. After that, classrooms should have the availability for a laptop cart.
Innovation Integration Plan: Using these tools must be planned out and integrated into daily lessons and work.
Standards: Know your standards. Read and become familiar with the ISTE’s Educational Technology Standards. These serve as guides to drive instruction. http://www.iste.org/standards.aspx
Curriculum: Begin to enhance your curriculum with technology. The Partnership for 21st Century Learning created a group of literacy maps showing how to blend in Information and Communication Technology into core subjects.
http://www.p21.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=33
Professional Development: In order to have a positive integration of technology into the curriculum there needs to be well-developed professional development.
http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2009/03/professional-development-resource-for.html
Social Networking: Join a social networking site. No one is too old to learn how to function in these type of environments.http://www.facebook.com/
Blogs: Read educational blogs. There are blogs written by teachers for students, teachers for other teachers, blogs by parents, or students, and even principals for all to read.
http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/
Wikis: Increase communication and collaboration between educators with lesson summaries, projects, assessments, and much more.http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/
Online Safety: Be aware of some of the concerns of online safety. Check resources for teaching your classroom about Internet safety.
http://theinnovativeeducator.wikispaces.com/Internet+Safety+Resources
Assessment: Find and create a method for assessing and measuring the success of principals, teachers, and, students with the integration of technology.
http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2009/02/tools-for-principals-coaches-and.html
These ten ideas are just a few that can help any educator get started infusing their lessons and activities with technology. The websites listed above are fantastic for checking out technology standards, wikis by and for educators, a teacher blog, online safety, and professional development.
Integrating technolgy is definitly a process because it is always evolving. Young children are not exposed to as much technology as the older grades so I sometimes feel out of the loop on what is new. This class has made helped me be more aware. I have also found that I may not be able to use technolgy like wikis of websites for my children, but I can utilize it in collaborating with other teachers and with parents that have access to the technology.
ReplyDeleteCarol, thanks for the information. Looking at Lisa's top ten ideas I think there is hope for me!
ReplyDeleteI really liked #10, the assessment piece. The classroom visitation rubric will be beneficial to me just for self-evaluation. Thanks for sharing!