EDUC 6715: New and Emerging Technologies

Throughout this eight week course we have explored the differences between emerged and emerging technologies and their impact on our professional paths. We have explored and discussed what is means to be a teacher leader and the implications this can have on school technology decisions. We were challenged to apply McLuhan's Tetrad as it applies not only to media but our adoption of emerging technologies for our classrooms/schools.

In our exploration of multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs), learning modules and digital games, each of us was asked to each was asked to develop a lesson plan, a plan for adoption and a rational for a grant proposal. Through my plan I have explored the use of the MUVE, whyville in my classroom to engage and instruct fifth graders in food chains and food web exploration. Through this course we were to explore the latest technology and strategies to decide if they were worth time and implementation. I determined that using whyville in my classroom would be engaging as well as rigorous for fifth graders in learning about food webs and using dichotomous keys. This technology is new to our building and will take time to gain acceptance with staff members.

There are a number of adjustments I plan to make within the next six months. It is important that I keep up with the current technology available for use in classrooms. It is not good enough to walk in to a Best Buy store. I find the magazine Tech & Learning focuses more on hard and software that I could use in education. Secondly, I need to keep the lines of communication open within our staff. I will only be able to bring technology into my classroom if I can bring others on board too. I plan to set up a wiki for our staff members and meetings to demonstrate how useful this platform could be. Finally, being a resource teacher, I team teach with other staff members that are willing to allow me to take the lead on lessons such as the MUVE whyville for science.

One thing many of us can agree on is that students need more communication and collaboration (encompassed in many of the above mentioned) to compete it the 21st century world.