Reflection: Final Blog Post

This course,Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education,Work, and Society, has helped me develop several technological skills as a professional teacher. One of these skills is the ability to create blog sites that enable me to incorporate learning not only for my students, but also for the parents of my students. I have also learned how to follow other relevant blog sites that are beneficial to both me and my students. I have learned the function of wiki sites and ways to incorporate the students in participating in this process. Finally, I have learned how to create a podcast in which I did a demographic profile for my class. It was really cool for my students to hear themselves on the podcast.

This learning process has greatly deepened my knowledge of the teaching and learning process because these are tools I previously was unable to use. Because of this, my perspective has changed greatly from teacher-centered to learner-centered. It is evident that these tools allow lessons and learning to be centered on the student rather than the teacher. My role now becomes one of a mediator/facilitator instead of the traditional role of presenting information to students for them to absorb. Using these tools students have the freedom and flexibility to "learn on their own" and help their classmates learn along the way.

I think I now have the basic skills to easily expand my knowledge of learning and teaching with the aim of increasing student achievement because I have found ways to convert the normal classroom experience to a 21st century classroom experience.

In my ninth year of teaching PE, I have experienced a few obstacles that will not allow me to instantly implement some of the technological tools I have learned in this course. The main obstacles are students access to computers and the time involved in trying to get into the computer lab. Being that I am in the gym or outside on the track the majority of the time, it is very difficult for my classes to implement the technological tools that I have learned in this class. A long term goal I have is to have equipment put in place that will allow students to exercise and play games interactively. Of course, the obstacle to doing this is finding the financial resources to make this happen, but perhaps I can hold fundraisers, such as open gym where the students pay a dollar to play basketball for an hour before school, in order to purchase this equipment. Another goal I have for transforming my classroom environment is to create a class blog that my students will be able to access and fully participate in. Not only do I plan to have activities posted on it, I also plan to have nutritional facts for parents and students. Another section would allow students to research sporting events and activities and also be able to contribute to the site.

Podcast Assignment: Profiling the Student's of Today

After surveying and interviewing my middle school students, I have learned a lot about their interests and understanding of technology. I have recorded a podcast of the demographic profile of my class, along with interviews with three different students on podbean. Please click on the link below.

http://roderickrussell.podbean.com/