Prior to my participation in EDU 302 Technology in the classroom grades 4-8 I was not aware of the vast resources and assistance that technology has to offer. As an educator in the 21st century I realize that there are many challenges before me that other educators have not had to deal with. There are always going to be changes and developments within the education field, and to be a successful teacher my colleagues and I need to gain knowledge and comfort with the use of technology in the classroom. It is my job as an educator to get students comfortable and fluent the technology to enrich their minds and education. As an educator in the 21st century I have to be creative, dedicated, flexible and most of all willing to accept and take full advantage of what technology offers.
In order to incorporate technology in the classroom I must open my mind to all the possibilities and resources that technology has to offer. Taking part in a technology course and creating units that have incorporated blogs, websites and web Quests have been a huge benefit to my future students and myself. I feel that it is very important to integrate technology and various teaching and learning strategies in the classroom in order to accommodate and assist each student with different learning abilities. Technology allows my students to experience things that they would never otherwise be able to. Using Google Earth is an amazing tool in which you can visit practically anywhere in the world. It is amazing that learning can now go beyond the four walls of the classroom and enter into another world. Teachers need to be creative so that students stay interested in what they are learning about and they expand their student’s ability and ways to learn. Educators that are creative can think outside of the box and take into account each students and what their strengths and weaknesses are.
Students in the 21st century are much more comfortable and knowledgeable about technology. They are of an era where technology should no longer be viewed as games and lazy but as a tool and resource. As an educator of the 21st century I must be flexible and be able to stretch my own comfort level in order to accept technology into my classrooms in order to benefit my students. I understand that nothing is cut and dry and at the drop of a hat something can change. I have personally worked on this a lot and know that I must master this skill in order to be a successful teacher. I personally feel that as an educator one must be able to change plans and scheduling at any point in time. Technology is such a great asset to have when it comes to unplanned events or last minute reminders. Technology allows educators to stay in close contact with parents and guardians without having to play phone tag. I really like the Google documents that are available for free because they allow educators this close contact with families. In order to gain the advantages that technology has to offer I must be willing to spend time gaining knowledge and comfort with technology.
Technology has not come into the classroom to take over and be the teacher. As an educator in the 21st century I have learned that technology is in the classroom to assist and broaden the teaching and learning that is occurring within the four walls. For an educator in the 21st century one must be willing to learn about and accept technology as a resource and not feel threatened by its ability to help students where they may not be able. I can not envision my classroom taking advantage of what technology has to offer because my philosophy of Education is to have students learn the most that they possibly can and to accommodate each and every one of them than technology in the classroom is required. I understand that there are educators that see only the downsides to technology and that it takes to long to learn and that it is easier to just stick to the plain old textbooks. However, I look at it as you get out of something what you put into it and as a 21st century educator you need to be willing to be flexible with your time and resources including technology, be creative because there are so many ways for students to learn and last but not least make sure that you are willing to incorporate technology into our students lives because it is only there to help them not to take over the most important role in the classroom which is the teacher.
