By Rebekah Polley

Prepare to Teach Digitally

Getting Everyone Up-to-Speed

Five on Five

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Because student’s individual learning styles and interests have not been addressed until recently, many changes will become necessary.

Teachers’ jobs in the classroom are going to considerably change. They are going to match students’ abilities and interests with strategies that will help them learn.

More individual work will occur, which allows students to review lessons that they did not fully understand.

Ferriter, W. (2010). Digitally speaking: preparing to teach digitally. The Key to Changing the Teaching Profession,

67(8), Retrieved from http://wyomingdropoutprevention.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Preparing-to-Teach-Digitally.pdf

Teachers must prepare for this new way of teaching. This article gives some ways that teachers can prepare:

• Become an active digital learner yourself to experience the kind of personalized, self-directed learning schools will need to foster.

• Create screencasts• Get familiar with asynchronous

tools Example: Blog, Email (different time, different place, same project)

• Use synchronous digital tools Example: Skype (same time, different place, same project)

• Experiment with digital tools that make customized learning possible

“Preparing to Teach Digitally” discussed becoming an “active digital learner yourself.” I feel that this is very important. Students today are so involved with technology. If you can relate to a big part of their life, you can open doors for willingness to learn.

This article also discusses the sway towards more independent learning. I think this is a great idea! Students know the way that they learn. If they can study independently with direction from teachers, I believe that they can do better.

The article also emphasized getting to know and understand your students. I believe that the best way to teach is to teach in a way that your student learn best. If this includes your learning to use technology, take the time you need. It will help benefit not only your students but also yourself.

Librarians and educators are trying to help bring everyone up-to-date on learning technologies and ways to teach these technologies.

Not only should 21st Century goals and learning strategies be developed; but teachers, students, administrators, librarians, and even parents should also be prepared for the change.

These goals will not be accomplished easily. It will be a process of learning.

Abram, S. (2010). The pipeline: getting everyone up-to-speed.

Internet @ Schools, Retrieved from http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com.proxy2.ulib.iupui.edu/hww/results/external_

link_maincontentframe.jhtml?_DARGS=/hww/results/

results_common.jhtml.44

This article gives many resources to get a jump-start on the goals being pursued.

• Infohio’s 21st –Century Program with the 21 Essential Things for 21st Century Success

• Jane Hart’s Pick of the Day• The Grandmommy: 23 Things• The Web 2.0 Classroom

Something that I found interesting in this article is that they did not focus on one person, such as the teacher, as the sole person that is going to have to be up-to-date with technology. Administrators, librarians, and even parents need to help in this area. If students can get help from all of these mentors because the mentors are up-to-date, students’ abilities can increase.

Something that I also noticed in this article was that the 21 Essential Things for 21st Century Success were self-directed lesson. I believe you are supposed to learn through “exploration and experimentation” with some direction. I feel that this is one of the best ways that I learn. I get to discover for myself what does and does not work.

Something else I noticed in this article was a need to teach students what they will be able to use in their future. Do not just teach what they need for a test but teach them skills and information that can affect their futures.

Before, professional development could be learned through a workshop. Now, teachers must take time to learn all the technologies.

This article interviewed five educators by asking them five questions about what does and does not work when training teachers to begin using technology in their teaching.

Why is ongoing professional development so important?

• Realize it is not just teaching a workshop over and over again, but listening to teachers and their issues with technology

• It has no endpoint What does each of you see as the most

successful model for providing professional development?

• Using a student support team to support• Teaching multiple things so that they can

combine their knowledge with one and incorporate that with the others

• Quality instruction

Villano, M. (2008). Five on five: a dialogue on profession development.

Retrieved from http://thejournal.com/Articles/2008/0

3/01/Five-on-Five-A-Dialogue-on-Profession-Development.aspx?

sc_lang=en&Page=1

Which types of teachers take to different professional development models better than others?

• Teachers who have experience with using a project-based classroom• All vary• Veteran teachers can adapt faster

Moving forward, what do you see as the biggest challenge to professional development?

• Comfort zones• Want to see that students are going to actually be able to do it• Time• Administrators and school board members providing the resources

depending on their use of technology What will professional development look like three to five years

from now?• Teaching life skills in school as a notion of connectedness• Change from training talks to talking about the impact in the classroom• Using students as a resource• Keeping professional development in a constructivist hands-on approach

This article mentioned that professional development is ongoing and never ending. There is always going to be something new to learn. I feel that teachers should always be learners and always willing to improve themselves to improve their students. Therefore, when new technology is released, become familiar with it to benefit your students.

A myth that I always thought was true was that younger teachers are better with technology because they use more of it. I was proven wrong. Yes, they may use a lot of technology. Because they are new teachers, they are still worrying about being a teacher. Older teachers are more comfortable with teaching and can focus on learning something new. I found this to be very interesting and true.

I also like the idea from this article about getting out of your comfort zone. I believe teachers should take the time to learn technology so that they can better help their students. It also prepares them for any questions a student may have.

Technology is becoming more widely used today. With this growth, teachers need to know how to use these technologies effectively. This will take time due to the complexity of some technologies but using technology in the classroom can benefit the students’ futures. Teachers need to be constantly informed of new technologies and how to use them and utilize them in their classrooms.