Technology in Classroom Podcast

After interviewing three current students, here is a podcast created compiling the data found:

My Podcast

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills Website

Without a doubt, the need to gear our students for skills that in all likelihood we did not focus on in our time in school.  How to get to this point though takes careful planning and construction of a pathway to make the necessary changes.  The Partnership for 21^st Century Skills website and initiative is confronting this arduous task and giving teachers and administrators a portal through which they can explore possible solutions on their own.

I think the website has a nice presentation and a load of valuable information, but one of the primary focuses seems to be on a chart I just do not understand: This one-

I understand that the framework for 21^st century learning is focused on teaching the core subjects with global and civic ramifications at the forefront, and that collaboration is imperative for the 21^st century learner, but I really struggle to see what all of the half-circles below the rainbow-like thing means.  Analyzing this diagram in Route 21 was definitely more insightful, I just did not understand why it was constructed that way.

The fact that only 15 states have taken the initiative is perplexing to me.  It appears that some of the more populated states with stricter guidelines and standards for students and teachers are missing (I.e. New York and California), but on the other end a number of smaller states are also not included.  Why has only about 1/3 of the country jumped on board with this initiative?  Is it because these are the only ones that sought Federal assistance?

There are a number of modern technology interfaces present on the website, like links to Twitter, but there is no blogs or message boards present- really?  It seems almost hypocritical for this website to push such a technology-based agenda and not be completely up to speed on all of the modern interfaces.

Despite missing certain components and having a diagram central to the message that seems confusing, the purpose and message that the website has to offer is not only valid, it is essential.  In order for our students to succeed, they must embrace the new way of learning and the new way that the business world operates and how it will in the future.  Because they must embrace it, we as educators must do the same to properly help them become literate in our new cyber world.

Blogging Hours Outside of the Classroom

It has to be pretty tough for the dog to eat this homework! 

When thinking about the ways that a blog can be incorporated in the classroom, the focus of this networking device would be done primarily outside of the “classroom”.  As a Physical Education teacher, the possibility to seek blogs or use them within the confines of a gymnasium just do not add up.

To me a blog is the new and hip teacher webpage that is shrewdly thrown together and may have random links.  If blogging is “in” then why not connect with the students that feel such a way right?

Student’s like videos and colorful stimulation too, do they not?  With the ability to embed videos and photos, blogs can become a great portal to send students to after the school day is over to complete a lesson.  This brings me back to a lesson on how to pitch I used with my baseball team and wanted to show them a really good video; this would be just the pathway.

By viewing these videos through such an interface, the students now have the opportunity to respond on the spot for immediate and more thorough input.  With activity being paramount in Physical Education, this also saves time in the class setting.

For students in grades 6-12, the ability to continue to enhance their literacy through a subject that is taught in a room without desks, pens or paper readily available is undoubtedly a benefit for the student.