CHAPTER 1

1 Becoming a 21^st Century Teacher

*TODAY’S STUDENTS AND TECHNOLOGY*

Students of today’s generation are part of an “iGeneration,” those who grew up with technology as a constant feature of their everyday lives (Maloy, Verock-O’Loughlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2013, p. 3)

            Although I did grow up with technology, students nowadays grew up even more immersed in technology than I, as they are members of an iGeneration.  I grew up watching television, and playing with computer games and my Game Boy while students nowadays grew up with cell phones, tablets, all forms of video games, and etc.  An eight-year-old student of mine showed mastery using her iPad to search up how to spell words she had difficulty spelling using the web as well as a dictionary app.  The existence of today’s iGeneration makes me understand how important it is for me as an educator to learn how to incorporate educational technology into my curriculum to create engaging and meaningful lessons for my students.

*21^ST CENTURY LITERACIES AND SKILLS*

“To live and work successfully in this new century, students must have the basic competencies of reading, writing, and computation, and an array of technology-based literacies, including proficiency with technology tools, the ability to build relationships and solve problems collaboratively, the capability to design and share information, the capacity to analyze and evaluate information from multiple sources, and the capability to handle information in ethical ways” (Maloy et al., 2013, p. 11)

            Literacy evolves with time.  Literacy no longer refers to just printed texts, but also to digital texts.  I think it is important for teachers to be able to teach their students to be capable of comprehending texts of printed and digital forms, and that come from multiple sources.  Furthermore, it is vital to teach students to be competent in array of technology-based literacies and to become proficient in using technology tools because today’s society is immersed in technology.  College and career readiness now includes prepping our students in these competencies.

*TEACHING 21^ST CENTURY LEARNERS WITH 21^ST CENTURY TECHNOLOGIES*

“1. Internet technologies teach students how to access and assess online information and act as digital citizens. Examples include WebQuests, virtual field trips, interactive educational websites, and webcasts.” (Maloy et al., 2013, p. 13)

            Although I was incompetent at researching by using the Internet, I was forced to use the computer pretty often to conduct research projects and papers ever since I was in middle school.  I really wished the young me was explicitly taught how to use internet technologies; I even wish the current me can be explicitly taught how to.  As a future educator, I will be incorporating many technologies in my classroom and will remember how important it is to teach certain skills explicitly in order for my students to master the skills.  Moreover, I think that it is vital to teach students using WebQuests and interactive educational websites because they are very engaging and promote inquiry-based learning in students.

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***FOOD FOR THOUGHT…***

1)    Have you ever felt surprised by how well a child could use technology?  Describe your experience.

2)    What kind of lesson would you bring in a digital text for?  Why would you use a digital text as opposed to a printed text for this lesson?

3)    When and how did you learn to use internet technologies?

Work Cited

Maloy, R., Verock-O’Loughlin, R., A. Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (n.d.). Transforming

learning with new technologies (2nd ed.). Pearson