What are your initial reactions to what you saw in the presentation? I was very surprised at the information I read concerning how other countries are much smarter than us. I was also very intrigued by computers being forcasted to have more capabilities than a human brain.
How are these changes manifesting themselves in your personal lives? professional lives? I noticed I use the computer much more than I every used to. I have a myspace where I keep in touch with all of my friends from college. I also use Google at least 4 times a day to find information. I used it today to look up recipes. What do we think it means to prepare students for the 21st century? I think it means preparing students for what is to come as far as technology. What skills do students need to survive and thrive in this new era? They need to be able to become entrepreneurs. They need to learn and utilize the newest forms of technology to prepare themselves for any type of career.What implications does this have for our current way of doing things? Our current way of doing things may be great in some districts, but in my district the technology is very far behind where it should be. The teachers are not trained in using technology and neither are the kids. I taught at a school before that each kid had their own laptop. That is what we need to strive for.Do we need to change? If so, how? Yes, we need to change. We need to hold many more in service days geared for technology.
How do we get from here to there? We Research schools that have great technology programs, we hold in services for teachers on how to implement technology. What challenges must we overcome as we move forward? The biggest challenge will be the resistance of teachers. What supports will we need as we move forward? What kind of training will we need to move forward? We will need the support of successful schools that have technology as part of their everyday curriculum. The training should be from those kinds of schools that have great technology programs that work.
Is it possible for a teacher to be an excellent teacher if he/she does not use technology? I think an excellent teacher is one that has all of the pieces of the puzzle to guiding a student toward success. Without technology, that excellence isn't there even if the teacher is a good teacher. Technology is a part of our future and we need to face that.
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