Week 12 Post

K12 Online Conference:

Probing the Prospects of Paperless Pedagogy

Presenter: Jason Neiffer. From: Helena, Montana.
According to Neiffer, why should educators consider the prospects of a paperless pedagogy? First, this creates a major reduction of wasted paper. Secondly, paper shuffle and classroom procedures can be lightened, and even eliminated. Thirdly, a paperless classroom environment helps students prepare for the future.

Neiffer's overall goal with these prospects is to help move students and teachers to a more digital, paperless classroom. He has made several changes to several of the high school courses that he teachers, including the Newspaper Production class. In this class, he has implemented Web 2.0 tools which has led the way to a more paperless environment for students since it gives access to google sites. It also enables each member of the class to have his own email and thus more easily share information between peers. The newspaper can also be created outside of the traditional print newspaper environment. In one of Neiffer's other classes, World Cultures, he has put the most effort into creating a paperless learning environment. He gave the course a technology make-over due to problems with dated resources and out-of-date textbooks he kept running into. His goal in the make-over was to create a system online where students could use interactive resources to study and share about current events. He re-worked the class and assigned it to a computer lab so that it would not continue to be a tree-eating operation. Overall, he achieved a paperless classroom in both of these courses and increased student accountability with online, recorded assignments. He also believes that he increased student engagment by implementing the use of technology. Throughout this podcast, I realized that a positive attitude for each day (as Neiffer stresses and demonstrates) as well as a re-working of the class system to be more technologically friendly may be necessary for current and future classrooms. A paperless environment may be the key to future engagment and efficiency in the classroom.

21st Century Learning Plato's Way

Presenter: Elizabeth Helfant. From: Sydney, Autstralia.
While there is a risk in letting go of some control in the classroom when a teacher implements technology, there are endless opportunities to learn in the classroom due to technology in today's day and age. Personalizing is the key to helping kids and teachers connect even in the midst of technology. A personal blog is very helpful in doing this, as Helfant explains, especially when students know how to create quality blogs and leave quality comments. Within her Australian classroom, communicating and connecting across the world is a major part of these students' lives. Blogs enable students to learn words and to be creative in how they respond to questions.

In this podcast, students share how they can upload pictures to their blog to share with the children around the world. One girl shared about how she made a book and published it to the web on her blog. These students also use online, interactive games in their learning environment (as long as the games are age-appropriate and engaging). For example, students may engage in Wii tennis and then are required to look up the tennis terms online. They then define and post these terms on the blog for others to see. Overall, I learned that there are rich and authentic ways to develop connections to the English language as students create and maintain their blogs. In addition, as students learn to be responsible users of blogs and forums, they can meet new friends and gain confidence in using technology alongside learners across the globe.

You might be a 21st Century Leader If...

Presenter: David Wells, From: Westford, Vermont.
Wells is the principal of his school K-12 school. He believes that leadership from his desk and the technology desk have much in common. According to Wells, "How can you be a 21st century leader in school? Do you need to be a pro in technology? Not necessarily. You must have core values regarding how students learn and how teachers teach." In addtion, he also states that 21st century school leaders must promote a learning culture, encourage excellence, manage a safe, efficient environment, and act with integrity to promote equitable access to technology for all learners. Therefore, technology and leadership goals are closely linked and can reflect each other. When principals think about their jobs as school leaders, they must also think about how to integrate technology into their educational environment. School leaders, including principals, should plan to include technology in their schools for the benefit of all. As Wells stresses, school leaders need to realize that technology is everywhere. Technology can't be an add-on, it needs to be integrated into everything. He also encourages teachers to help their students talk with digital tools in a responsble manner, because this promotes good citizeship. At the end of this podcast, I was encouraged to keep this conversation about technology and leadership going by asking myself, "How would I like to grow as a digital-age leader?" As an up-and-coming teacher, I want to grow as a digital-age leader by becoming more technologically savvy in my lesson planning, especially with the use of the SMART board and other online tools. I also want to help my students become repsonsible users of technology inside and outside of my classroom environment. I believe that I can be a 21st century leader!