What if children looked like this when they come to school?
Final Reflections
As I reflect on the ocean-like quantity of information I have accessed to create this project, I am left with an odd sense of reassurance. This feeling is a result of several things:
1. I did not encounter very many technologies that I hadn’t at least heard of (i.e. I’m not that out of it).
2. I realized how much support is out there and if you want to know about something, you’re a click away from a lot of people that know a lot about it.
3. I don’t need to shy away from gaming, and probably shouldn't, just because it’s not my particular pastime of choice.
4. If I ever decide to use gaming in my own classroom, which I hope I’ll be brave enough to at least try, I will have a lot of research to back up my initiative.
Some of the key learnings I’m taking away from this experience are that:
1. Teachers need to play (complex digital) games!!!
2. A strong sense of self and the ability to perspective take is an important skill for a teacher.
3. The UDL is comprehensive and offers tremendous support for teachers.
4. There is certainly a place for digital technology in the early childhood classroom.
5. No matter how much I try, I cannot know everything there is to know about everything.
As alluded to above, I struggled to sort through the plethora of information on the topic of technology integration into teaching. It is reassuring to know that so much effort is going into discovering valuable ways to use digital mediums for learning. On the other hand, I often found myself becoming overwhelmed as it became this seemingly constant flow of information. A strategy I found helpful was to define my purpose in reading any bit of information and make sure to skim read to ensure that document was indeed of particular value. It was challenging to stop myself from reading articles and sites that I found interesting when I needed to be reading those pertaining to a specific part of my topic. Nevertheless, I learned a great deal about the types of information available.
One of the new questions I have coming out of this project is about transfer of knowledge. I recently read David Perkin's book Making Learning Whole, where there is an entire chapter devoted to the issue of transfer. Clearly children can be engaged with games and digital technologies, but how can what they learn be transferred into knowlege they can access later and in a different context? What is the best way for teachers to foster that transfer? If we're thinking about 21st century learners, then we know that they are likely preparing for jobs that do not yet exist. Therefore, transfer is an increasingly important skill. Perkins (2010) describes the successful fostering of transfer with a shepherding metaphor:
"The art and craft of good shepherding...equips educators to leverage the phenomenon of transfer for much more meaninful learning, but only if we take advantage of the opportunities" (p. 129).
A lot of transfer happens spontaneously but a teacher with strong pedagogical skill knows when and how to cease those teachable moments and shepherd students' transfer of knowledge and understanding. My next steps will be to determine how to best foster transfer of skills and ideas from activities such as gaming to real world problems.
Finally, I would like to finish with a very pertinent quote I read recently, that I feel summarizes the essence of our role in 21st century classrooms:
"In his book Education Nation, Milton Chen calls 1:1 access “the digital civil right of every student to participate in his or her own education.” I could not agree more and if we truly care about our students, then we will toss aside our anxiety and remember our primary role as educators to prepare our students for what they will face when they leave our schools. Since the world outside our doors is changing at a faster rate than any time in history, we should be seeing some shifts within our walls as well." (Larkin, 2011)
It’s time to change. The Learning Revolution has begun!
1. I did not encounter very many technologies that I hadn’t at least heard of (i.e. I’m not that out of it).
2. I realized how much support is out there and if you want to know about something, you’re a click away from a lot of people that know a lot about it.
3. I don’t need to shy away from gaming, and probably shouldn't, just because it’s not my particular pastime of choice.
4. If I ever decide to use gaming in my own classroom, which I hope I’ll be brave enough to at least try, I will have a lot of research to back up my initiative.
Some of the key learnings I’m taking away from this experience are that:
1. Teachers need to play (complex digital) games!!!
2. A strong sense of self and the ability to perspective take is an important skill for a teacher.
3. The UDL is comprehensive and offers tremendous support for teachers.
4. There is certainly a place for digital technology in the early childhood classroom.
5. No matter how much I try, I cannot know everything there is to know about everything.
As alluded to above, I struggled to sort through the plethora of information on the topic of technology integration into teaching. It is reassuring to know that so much effort is going into discovering valuable ways to use digital mediums for learning. On the other hand, I often found myself becoming overwhelmed as it became this seemingly constant flow of information. A strategy I found helpful was to define my purpose in reading any bit of information and make sure to skim read to ensure that document was indeed of particular value. It was challenging to stop myself from reading articles and sites that I found interesting when I needed to be reading those pertaining to a specific part of my topic. Nevertheless, I learned a great deal about the types of information available.
One of the new questions I have coming out of this project is about transfer of knowledge. I recently read David Perkin's book Making Learning Whole, where there is an entire chapter devoted to the issue of transfer. Clearly children can be engaged with games and digital technologies, but how can what they learn be transferred into knowlege they can access later and in a different context? What is the best way for teachers to foster that transfer? If we're thinking about 21st century learners, then we know that they are likely preparing for jobs that do not yet exist. Therefore, transfer is an increasingly important skill. Perkins (2010) describes the successful fostering of transfer with a shepherding metaphor:
"The art and craft of good shepherding...equips educators to leverage the phenomenon of transfer for much more meaninful learning, but only if we take advantage of the opportunities" (p. 129).
A lot of transfer happens spontaneously but a teacher with strong pedagogical skill knows when and how to cease those teachable moments and shepherd students' transfer of knowledge and understanding. My next steps will be to determine how to best foster transfer of skills and ideas from activities such as gaming to real world problems.
Finally, I would like to finish with a very pertinent quote I read recently, that I feel summarizes the essence of our role in 21st century classrooms:
"In his book Education Nation, Milton Chen calls 1:1 access “the digital civil right of every student to participate in his or her own education.” I could not agree more and if we truly care about our students, then we will toss aside our anxiety and remember our primary role as educators to prepare our students for what they will face when they leave our schools. Since the world outside our doors is changing at a faster rate than any time in history, we should be seeing some shifts within our walls as well." (Larkin, 2011)
It’s time to change. The Learning Revolution has begun!
