After reading through all of the assigned material, I got a feel for the impact that technology should have on children. I enjoyed reading the C's of change and learning about the differencies between the different centuries. Incorporating technology into the classroom promotes exploration and discussion amongst all different types of students. Technology allows students multiple opportunities for exploring the web, and use of technological devices. I thought it was interesting when they talked about building comprehension and communication through collaborative internet inquiry projects. Working together with other students allows students to get to know one another and therefore help eachother out. By doing this, they are working on communication skills, through doing, and they are also learning more about topics by doing a special hands on interactive activity. I also think that allowing students to use the internet and other technological devices allows students to share the responsibility of being a teacher. Through the use of interactive collaborative projects, such as through google docs, and wikis, etc, students are responsible for participating in the technological activity. Technology also allows students to help other students, and therefore they are taking on the responsibility of teaching others. When students have a reason for doing something, and they realize that they have a sense of voice and identity through an interactive project, incorporating technology, it makes them want to take part in those activities. Students want to understand the purpose behind the activities implemented by teachers. Collaborative projects definitely do provide students with authentic audiences and purposes for writing!
I LOVE the idea of digital storytelling. I didn't realize how much it could help students understand purpose of completing and learning activites. The idea of the students "trusting" teachers and the other studnets in the class, really is key. If a student cannot trust anyone, then they will not be confident to participate in such activities. I totally agree about the importance of building a positive classroom environment. This article talked about the importance of empowering student voices, by setting a purpose for them, and providing them with an audience greater than the immediate classroom. I always find that when students are able to show off their amazing work to others, they are more apt to putting forth more effort. This I know in particular from previous experience when my principal comes in to observe the classroom and my teaching. My studetns want to make her proud, so they want to work harder. When I student taught in 1st grade a few years ago, I remember that at the end of our writer's workshop units, we would have an author's celebration and I would invite the principal, the vice principal, the superintendent, the curriculum specialist, and other important people to come in and let the children share their pieces of writing with them. The children really enjoyed taking part in communicating their ideas to others.
The Horizon reports helped me key in on the struggles and the criticisms for the reality of the implementation of technology into the K-12 curriculum. I think it was true that the technology progress is slow, in the fact that all faculty is at different stages, depending on the town and district in which you are working in. As faculty members, we are all experimenting with alternative forms of expression and we are exploring the differentiated options there are out there for us to use and implement into our already existing curriculum, and lessons that work. I think it is true that we, as teachers, can use what we already know about units and lessons that have been successsful in the past, and try and work to implement technology or other types of digital technological forms of teaching to help make our lessons and units that much more beneficial to students. Students need to be able to transfer their learning from content to content through multiple means of learning.
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