Part I Reflection

After reading part 1 of Leading 21st Century Schools: Harnessing Technology for Engagement and Achievement, I was introduced to the steps being taken in getting teachers, students, and administrators skilled for the 21st century. As we leave behind Web 1.0 and move towards Web 2.0, we enter a digital age where customization, communication, and collaboration are incorporated in day to day tasks. The skills required of students, teachers, and administrators had changed significantly over the last decade. In order to prepare students to be able to adapt to the rapid changes in technology, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills initiative suggests infusing information literacy, critical media literacy, and information, communication, and technology (ICT) literacy into every subject. It's comforting to know that there are now National Education Technology Standards for students, teachers, and administrators.

As a fairly new teacher with little experience designing and implementing curriculum, I found part 1 helpful. It gave me an understanding of where we are now in regard to digital citizenship and where we hope to be. With the upcoming class of Gen Zers, having been wholly immersed in the digital lifestyle, we as teachers and administrators definitely have to keep up with technology standards.

Prezi

Creative Media on Prezi

Prezi is a tool that functions like a PowerPoint that zooms. I really like this tool because it gives the impression of a sophisticated, high-tech presentation-- but it is easy to put together. The above presentation is a portfolio I put together of my latest digital media creations. In a distance learning environment, this tool would be helpful in presenting information. It does not require any uploading to servers, which is convenient when trying to share the presentation. It is easily embeddable in any blog, with the exception of Wordpress, as it does not allow embedding. In that scenario, Prezi provides a link to the presentation. In my computer literacy classes, I would definitely have students use this tool to present all the documents or projects they created. As an instructor, I think using Prezi to break down the basic components and uses of a computer would keep students interested with the zoom in and zoom out features.

Google Forms

Google Forms is an excellent tool to gather data you're interested in. The multifunctional capabilities can definitely foster the creativity and critical thinking of students. When gathering data, it is important to know what you will use the data for so that you can set the correct parameters. Take the above survey for example, before creating the form, I wanted to know how many people actually care about what they look like in regard to style. There can be varying levels so the parameter is based on a scale from 1-5 or pajamas to diva/divo. When there are choices available to students in how they want to gather information or display it, there has to be a little bit more thought that goes into their planning. I can imagine a forms/survey tool being used in my computer literacy classes in gathering the comfort levels and progress of my students, perhaps even introducing them to the survey/form tool for their own personal use.