Strategies for Success in the 21st Century Classroom

We all know that the 21st century classroom is different from that of generations past. There are many different tools that can be used in teaching but we have to make sure that we are using them in the best way possible.  Lessons need to be planned around engaging students and trying to make the lessons fun.  So whether we are playing games on a IWB as we review for a social studies test, following our daily routine using the IWB or making movies using our computers, it has to be fun.  If students are having fun, they will learn without even realizing it.

While I learned many different techniques in the Technology for Teachers class, I think the most important thing that I learned is that technology does not have to be scary.  If I don't know how to do something technically, I can ask for help or find a tutorial to take me through the process step-by-step.  I learned that collaboration among my classmates fosters closer relationships.  I can use this as a strategy in my classroom someday in order to form closer relationships among my students.  I was fortunate to have an instructor who understood this and used this strategy without our realizing it.  When it was pointed out at the end of the class, it was like a light bulb moment.  My instructor not only taught us technology and how to use it in the classroom but how to create a supportive environment where we all felt that we could be successful.

Effective Uses of Interactive Whiteboards

Gone is the chalkboard of the 20th century classroom, replaced by the 21st century interactive whiteboard. Is this a good thing?  All new technology is good, right?  Well, that depends on how it is being used.  Use of an interactive whiteboard can lead to gains of up to 31% in a classroom, if used appropriately.  Consequently, if it is not used appropriately, classrooms may show smaller gains that those classrooms without an interactive whiteboard.  The key is in knowing how to use the interactive whiteboard properly.  Teachers must still plan lessons carefully; they cannot rely on the interactive whiteboard to do the teaching for them.  It is an aid in teaching and not a classroom babysitter.

A teacher may have students use handheld tabulators to answer questions.  Their answers appear on the interactive whiteboard so everyone can see which was the most popular answer.  The teacher needs to take it a step further by talking about the answers that were given and asking students to explain their reasons for choosing their answers.  The digital flip charts can be a wealth of learning, but they will not achieve their purpose if their pages are filled with too many graphics or if a teacher flips through the flip chart too quickly.

Maybe try reviewing for that social studies test by playing a game on the interactive whiteboard. Or students can drag the correct answers from one place to another.  Cover up spelling words and have students uncover each letter as they attempt to spell the word correctly.  The student can even sound out the word as he is uncovering it.

Technology is a wonderful thing that can help raise students' grades but as in all things, it must be used appropriately.  Using technology just to use technology will not help students learn.  There must be a purpose and a method behind its use in order for it to be effective.

Digital Immigrants Living in a Digital Native World

Those of us who are digital immigrants, who did not grow up in the age of computers, iPods, and video games, feel as if we are living in a foreign culture when surrounded by the digital natives and all of the technology with which they were raised. In a very real sense, we ARE living in a foreign culture. The digital natives think differently than the digital immigrants. Their minds are moving faster and they become bored more quickly. Digital immigrants need to think like digital natives. Technology in school back in the 1960s, 70s, 80s, or even the early 90s looked much different than it does today. When I was in school in the 1960s and 70s, technology was a reel-to-reel film being shown in class. Or we had the filmstrip that was accompanied by a record that played music and narrated the filmstrip. Overhead projectors were my day's equivalent of a SMART board. Teachers also used slide projectors, and then there was the chalkboard. Most of these technologies have gone the way of the ink wells and as teachers, we must adapt. Teachers today need to use SMART boards in order to teach interactively, to insert videos or create learning games. Computers can be used to allow students to play education games in order to learn. All of the technology that is being used by students today can be integrated into learning. Asking students for their help with technology will not show immigrant teachers to be unknowledgeable, but will provide a collaborative environment where the students can help solve problems and feel good about bringing their expertise into the classroom.  As immigrants, we just have to figure out how to make it work.  It will not be easy for us and it will take time and creativity, but it is possible to bring the teaching profession into the 21st century.

21st Century Skills for 21st Century Teachers

The world is changing so quickly that it sometimes seems difficult to keep up with those changes.  It is imperative that teachers in this 21st century be able to adapt to change, otherwise we will never be able to keep up with our students.  We also need to demonstrate innovative thinking and be good problem solvers.  When we talk about "21st Century Skills," we are talking about the skills that are needed in order to survive and thrive in a world that has become increasingly creative and technology-driven.  We are interacting globally in the 21st Century, not locally as in prior generations. As teachers it is important that we learn these skills so that we may enter the world of the children we teach.  Children use technology on a daily basis; they find it fun.  They are digital learners and we must be technology-trained teachers.  To reach students today, we must make learning fun and we can do that through technology by using a Smartboard, podcasts, blogs, smartphones, iPods as well as other mediums.  As teachers we must meet students where they are and that place today is technology.

1.  What is WIKI?

2.  What is meant when a teacher is "hiding behind a blog?"  

3.  Is is necessarily a bad thing if students are more technically-saavy than their teacher?