Integration Now!!

I went to a vocational high school for computer programming. My first year there they got mice for every computer. When I graduated, my college counted dBase, COBOL, Basic, and Fortran as foreign languages since I didn't know French or Spanish. Needless to say, whatever I did learn in those four years from 1990 - 1994 was obsolete by the time I'd hit college. Except typing. That skill will remain solid. But I have to admit, I'd chosen that path because I'd known, even then, that computers weren't going anywhere. And they haven't. They're everywhere. No matter where people try to run and hide, they are going to have to interact with a computer in some form. Sorry mom. You're going to have to learn how to work the remote!

As soon as a child is able to maneuver around a computer, they should be allowed to do so. Even though there is no Hal or Big Brother controlling us, it is obvious that computers are responsible for so much in our daily lives. To withhold a child from experimenting with, and learning from a computer would be a complete disservice to that child. This should be similar in classrooms as well. Most toddlers have experience playing with their parents phones (as a means to occupy them while said parent runs errands, shops, or tends to other business, etc...,) so why not continue this digital literacy right into their scheduled learning environment? Children are so much more capable of picking up and using information that they learn from a young age, why would we waste their youth and capabilities because of our ignorance? It would behoove us to invest time, money, and interest in our youngest generation and the technology that they will grow up with. My three-year-old niece already knows how to get out the laptop, set it up, and get online. I have to find the right website for her (Strawberry Shortcake,) but she knows exactly what to do once she gets there. I'm amazed by her. If she's doing this, with just a laptop, at age three, what will she be capable of, with so much more at her disposal, in a few years? An education that matches her capability is the only way to ensure that she stays this savvy.

A 21st century education is what we need to provide to all our children. In a 21st century learning environment there is no typical classroom, teacher, and student. It is an ecosystem where structures, tools, and communities come together and promote learning and interaction between and amongst people, whether in the same spot or in various locations. It MUST enable the student to learn in a relevant, real world; create applied and collaborative tasks, and support new technologies while expanding the students' ability to grow and learn in an ever-changing environment. We can never go back to classroom environments where students are mass-produced and schools are visually similar to the factories that surround them. As Daniel Pink discusses  here we need to redefine our paradigms and find ways to match children up other than because they are the same age.

One way I can include 21st century skills into a classroom would be to have a virtual classroom/class website. This would be helpful for my students who were absent and students who were very interested in maintaining a high average. I could work with several students who might become interested in maintaining the site and have them come to update it daily. They could meet in a group and determine other elements and pages that we could include. It would be a great way to advertise and submit entries to writing contests, communicate with parents, and let my administrators that I am looking to advance my classroom with the technology with which I am provided. Having a class website might enable me to plan further in advance and keep on track. It could have a profound affect on some students who might not normally keep up with class. Sometimes, using a different method of approach with a student could mean the difference between "having them," and "losing them." Most often, I am able to interest more students in participating if we use a computer. When I had a laptop cart in my room, I would just post quizzes and and assessments online. Students merely typed in answers and printed it or emailed it to me. It saved so much time (and paper) and they could access them at home too, so there were never any excuses for missing quizzes. Students became so much more responsible and it was amazing how much growth was shown. To me, that was as similar as in,  Extending Reader's Theatre: a Powerful and Purposeful Match With Podcasting, when the children were improving their reading fluency. Yes, I am saying that an irresponsible middle schooler is similar to a struggling reader. It's true. They are going through so much to figure out who they are - they are ALWAYS unprepared!