Module+Four+Reflection

Description:
This week we read about and were asked to think about what it meant to be 21st century learners. We were introduced to several websites concerning students and educators using technology for better learning experiences. We also read a few articles and participated in the discussions concerning how we felt we contributed to 21st century learning.

Impact:
I like how the article "The Digital Curriculum" stated that a digital curriculum was a "conceptual framework". Too many times educators try to use a structured curriculum to teach the content and use lessons that are already done. The idea of the digital curriculum is far from this. It's not something that you just think of one day and implement the next. It's not just teaching a lesson and material, but a way to incorporate technology into the lesson and material to make it a more enhanced learning experience. Many students today are engrossed with technology because it's what they've grown up on. There is a problem though when it comes to their education because technology is not being used enough in the schools that can further benefit their learning. Students may be more apt to learn more and better if there was a way to adapt the technology that they have grown up with into the material they are learning at school. This is where the digital curriculum comes into play. If educators would buy in to the idea of supporting technology use in the classroom then learning experiences for students could be greatly enhanced. There is a right and wrong way to do this though. School systems must be able to get teachers on board with the idea first and then must implement the technology properly. It won't benefit anyone to just put the technology into the schools if there isn't proper training on how to use it. Workshops could be set up for teaching sessions on the technology and also small seminars that introduce certain ways to implement technological tools into the classroom. If we really sit back and see how much technology we really use on a daily basis we could also see the missed opportunties of how to implement it into our lessons. That's also what the digital curriculum is all about. It's not just picking a technology to use because it seems like the right thing to do. It's about "how can I use this technology to better enhance what I'm teaching". There are so many creative ways to incorporate technology into the lessons and make it fun and interesting for the students too.

Intent:
Although I don't have what's considered a normal classroom environment, I feel that I still help my students learn through the use of technology in the hospital setting. By using monitors for patient vitals, computer programs for patient information, lab results, and orders, and digital x-rays, I feel that I am helping my students enhance their learning in clinicals because they need to know how to use this technology to be able to take better care of their patients.Eventually I would like to teach my profession at the university level and feel that the information that I have been learning about the use of technology in the classroom would be so beneficial to the students' learning material in a different manner. I would love to incorporate some of the technological tools that I have leared about into lessons concerning respiratory. I think that some of the tools I have learned about would make the information so much easier for students to comprehend and give them a real learning experience.