Digital Blog Post #A- Chapter 1

Becoming a 21st century teacher means having to convey 21st century skills and be familiar with 21st century technologies. Now, you may ask what are 21st century skills? 21st century skills include ability to think critically, make informed judgment, solve complex problems, think creatively, communicate and collaborate with others, use information in innovative ways, and take responsibility for ones personal and civic lives. The 21st century society is extremely technology based, especially in comparison to the 20th century. 20th century learning focused on proficiency in the 3 R's- reading, writing, and math. 21st century learning focuses on multiple literacies, including financial literacy, media literacy, information literacy, and cyberliteracy. 21st century technologies include computers, websites, and Web 2.0 tools. Teachers are expected to be knowledgeable in these things and use them to create interactive and inquiry-based learning experiences. Technology has had a massive impact on not only our society as a whole, but only the entire structure of learning and teaching. We now have unlimited access to enormous amounts of resources that, I believe, will aid in creating the best possible learning experience for students.

My second concentration is Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge, otherwise known as TPACK. TPACK is how teachers bring together three different forms of knowledge to produce exciting learning experiences. These three forms of knowledge are content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and technological knowledge. I think TPACK is extremely important for educators to be knowledgeable about because it is vital to student learning, in the sense that you must incorporate all three to be successful. This subject is an important one for me because I am a strong believer in catering to individual learning styles. I believe that in order to teach every student effectively, you must integrate every learning style. This relates to TPACK because you cannot just utilize content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge in this day and age. You must incorporate technological knowledge into your curriculum. In contrast, you also cannot just utilize technological knowledge and pedagogical knowledge either. In order to adequately teach and furthermore produce successful life-long learners, you need to fuse every aspect of TPACK together.

I also found interest in the thought that technologies enable teachers to convey concepts in new ways that would not otherwise be possible, efficient, or effective with other instructional methods. An example of this would be social media. Social media is thought of usually as just for fun and perhaps somewhat useless to learning, but it has been known to help navigate students through the challenges of adolescence, expand friendships, and encourage self-directed learning. In our society, if you do not have proper technological skills, you will not succeed in the working world. Teachers cannot teach you how to be technologically adept if they are not adept themselves, or if they are not provided with the proper resources.

In conclusion, there are many aspects to becoming a 21st century teacher. Growing up in the "iGeneration", we, as future educators, have an advantage. But technology is always advancing, so it is important for us to keep up, as well as learn how to effectively use technology and our knowledge of pedagogy to create a stimulating learning environment for our future students. I believe that we are paving the way for future generations and truly transforming learning with new technologies.


Resources:

 Maloy, R., Verlock-O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson. 

 Oliva, P., & Gordon, W. (2013). 20th vs 21st Century Classroom. Retrieved September 5, 2015, from http://www.21stcenturyschools.com/20th_vs_21st_Century_Classroom.htm

 Education- Am I a 21st Century Teacher? (2013, August 1). Retrieved September 5, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCwtsAp2VyY