Really?? Only Six Months?

I cannot believe that it has only been six months since I met Dr. Smirnova. Amazing how my thinking has changed. When I first sat down at our first and only classroom meeting for Literacy and Technology in June, I knew that I was in for a real challenge. Being such a "digital immigrant", I knew that I would have to work my brain to its fullest to keep my head above water. However, as I believe I have mentioned before, through much outstanding teaching at the Mount, as well as keeping my nose to the grindstone, I have come to strongly believe in my own ability to learn. (I hope that confidence in their own ability to learn is something that I will be able to help my own students develop.)

I thought technology was cool, it was interesting, it was fun. Now, after two classes with Dr. Smirnova, I have come to understand that technology needs to be an essential component of our classrooms. Through the resources made available to us in Literacy and Technology, as well as in General Methods, Dr. Smirnova has made it clear that the world of education cannot isolate itself from a method of communication that now is a pervasive part of our world economy. The ability to access quality information, share ideas and products, and communicate responsibly with people all over the world, is innovating our world of business. This world has changed drastically and quickly in the last few years and will continue to evolve. We, as educators, cannot respond slowly, or we will be doing our next generation a tremendous disservice.

It is an exciting time to be an educator, figuring out what we need to do to help our students be prepared to work and contribute to this new economy, as we shift from an industrial economy to an information economy. As educators, we need to advocate strongly for the technological tools our students need to access information, tools they need to be familiar with, and help them to learn to discern quality information and sources. We need to help them discover ways to use technology to help themselves learn.

What is really cool is that just as we are realizing the importance of constructive learning, we have available to us a tool that makes constructive learning and inquiry learning much more feasible option for the vast majority of students in our nation's schools. No matter where you live, or how much money you have, you can find out what any animal looks like, you can talk to NASA scientists, or listen to a tutorial on how to play drums.

We live in an amazing age. It is time to connect the world we live in and the world we are preparing our students for. As we learn in methods, you have to start with your goal. If our goal is to help our students be successful in the world that they will live in, we can't keep teaching for a world that no longer exists. We need to figure out what they will need for this one. Then, talk the talk, and walk the walk.