Reflection Paper

This course has been an eye opener in terms of the various technologies that are available to us to incorporate into our teaching instruction.  Before this course began, I had participated in blogs, and was familiar with podcasts and wikis.  These web 2.0 tools have now been formally introduced through class participation and it is quite clear how they can be beneficial to enhance student performance. The consensus from the various students I interviewed on the podcast assignment was that technology use in school was exciting and enhanced productivity in the classroom. They also anticipate teachers finding more creative ways to integrate technology into future classes.    

Participating in this course has also expanded my knowledge of the 21^st century skills that our students are expected to develop to experience success in school and beyond.  Skills such as collaboration, communication, and critical thinking are just a few that have been identified as competencies that we should be focusing on in classroom instruction.  

 Our teaching methods to educate our students of 21^st century learning have also changed. The traditional teacher- centered learning classroom should soon be replaced with a student-centered learning environment.  This environment will give teachers an opportunity to assume a role more as a facilitator than the traditional role of standing up in front of class lecturing students.   Students will have the opportunity to use their critical thinking skills and creativity along with teacher guidance to learn and participate in class.

I think to expand my knowledge of teaching to the 21^st century learner and to continue to integrate technology into my lessons I will have to use resources such as the partnership for 21^st century skills website and our district technology liaisons.  Getting to know my students and understanding their strengths and weaknesses has always been a goal of mine.  I feel that including technology into my lessons will help increase student participation and motivation for many of my students.

Moving forward I will look for new ways to integrate technology into the classroom and transform my learning environment to a student-centered learning atmosphere.   I think to truly incorporate this into our curriculum it is imperative to get my physical education colleagues on board with the transformation.  To do this, I must continue to demonstrate or present the many positives to them of setting up our teaching environment in this fashion.  We are starting to incorporate more team or group oriented projects into our classes giving our students an opportunity to use their teams or groups to help enhance their learning.  Class lecture time will need to be reduced and classroom interaction to discuss essential questions or various skills and strategies will need to increase.