Action Research: Advantage in using Internet in Classroom

 Read Both Section of the Action Research.
( Power-Point Presentation and Submission Action Research )

PowerPoint Presentation : Link Below
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1hxaV55s5QyJPrntY0Oo1HQ1fRLFwy7xUa5gz-bloqqQ/edit?usp=sharing

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to investigate the advantages of using the Internet in the classroom of Fagaitua High School.  Today, education is more leaning toward using Internet in the classroom as a reliable learning tool. It is very important to investigate this issue, so that we can see on how students’ progress in their academic achievement.    This research will also find out if students are comfortable with how the Internet became an element within their learning experience. 

 Fagaitua High School is a coeducation institution and the majority of the students are second English speakers.   The research is focus on the high-school age group, which are 14 to 17 years old.   Majority of the students are well knowledge on how the Internet works. 

Objective:

The main goal of this research is to achieve the following objectives:

1.         Identify the advantages and disadvantages of using Internet as a learning tool.

2.         Determine the attitudes of adolescents toward Internet.

3.         Implement programs with Internet that help with students’ achievement.

Rationale and Significance

The adolescents that are involved in this research are all Samoan students. The majority are from villages where Internet is now available.  Only 10 percent of adolescents are IEP students.  There are 50% percent boys and 50% girls that are involved in this research.   All of the adolescents that involved in the research are marked as “Generation Z “. Generation Z or IGenration is refers to cohort of people that were born the early 2000s and are highly connected to the Internet (Prensky, 2001). Adolescents in Fagaitua High School have been using the Internet from elementary and are progressing in using of internet in high school.   Adolescents are comfortable in using of the Internet for learning purposes.   Since they use it at home and also in school through mobile Internet. It does not matter if you are a fast learner or a slow learner; Internet tends to connect the adolescent to the lesson that is been delivered.  Adolescents or IGeneration are more to the notion of having different perspectives from different professors, so that they can come up with their own conclusion on a certain problem.   So in other words Internet is their solution.  Adolescents see it as a valuable instrument in studying and communicating many different topics (Presenky, 2012). 

        The Internet has been a key factor in schools moving from a textbook oriented classroom to a more interactive classroom environment. It provides the students and teacher with abundant resources for learning and teaching.  Internet not only benefits the students and teacher, but also it benefits the parents as well. They can be more connected to their child’s education through the use of Internet.  With that being said, more and more schools are using Internet as a learning tool (Lui, 1999).

Students now have the variety of Internet sites that offer information such as online tour of art, museum, veterinary, school and countries, (Beard 2010).  In other words, students are experiencing the outside world within the classroom.

The Internet also enhances the various skills such as communication skills, writing skills, problem solving, critical thinking (Williams, 2013).  One of the most highlighted skills that are encouraged in using Internet is critical thinking.   Internet based instruction encourages critical thinking—thinking necessary to make connections, to explore different causes and effects and to evaluate importance (Buckingham 2010).   The 21st century generations have grown up in a digital environment and in many cases have advanced in some skills areas beyond their parents and teachers (Spencer & Toy, 2012). Everyone that is involved in the school system which includes the teachers and community should be educated on the digital environment and use it as a tool in developing students to into their social, emotional, physical and mental potential (Spencer & Toy 2012).

Another benefit having Internet availability in classroom environment it gives students the benefit to access to up-to-the minute information that would not be available in text form for years, collaborations with peers and professionals around the world, and invitations for electronic mentors (for instance astronauts, anthropologists, and others) to be part in class projects no matter where they live (Buckingham, 2010).  Information is the most important advantage of having internet in classroom.  Internet is a virtual treasure trove of information (Pakhare 2011). There is a lot of information that is on the Internet that can be used by students for learning. The information that is found can be an element contributing into their future endeavors.

I should closely look into the many benefits that are offered from having Internet availability in classroom.  It definitely helps the different types of learners and also stimulates students to be more active in class work.

Methods

This section focuses upon the following: a) Participants that are involved in the research; b) Sampling Methods; c) Procedures that includes data-gathering and analyzing; and d) Participants relations. 

Participants:  Students and Teachers are involved in this research.

            A total of 80 students will be used for this research. There will be 20 freshmen (9TH Grade), 20 sophomores (10th grade), 20 juniors (11th grade) and 20 seniors (12th grade).  These are the students that are attending AA high school .All of these students are using the Internet in class work assignments.

       Teachers that are involved are picked from the departments of AA High School.  A total of 20 teachers.  All of these teachers are using Internet as part of their class assignments.

Sampling:  There are two methods that we selected for this research which are survey and oral interview. 

     I used the convenience sampling to acquire a sample of students for this research. All of the 80 students are in my American Samoa history, Geography, World history and US history courses.  There will be given a written survey about the advantages of using the Internet as a learning tool in the classroom. The survey consists of ten questions. 

     I will also conduct an oral interview. The oral interview will pertain 20 participants for the interview. These individuals are participants of the research. There will be 10 girls and 10 boys.

The selections of the participants are select using an extreme case sampling. The participants are selected based on the amount of time of using Internet at home and school. In order words, the updated-student versus stone-age student.  Interviews will be based on questions about the second objective which determines the attitude of adolescents about Internet.  The interview is lasted for 20 minutes. 

    For the teachers we used stratified random sample to pick the teachers. The teachers are also given the survey. There will be 20 teachers that will be involved that are from Fagaitua High School.  Out of the 20 teachers, we pick 10 teachers for an oral-interview. The oral-interview consists of open-minded question pertaining the third objective. The interview will last about 20 minutes. 

Procedures: 

1.         The research proposal will be given to Principal Elvis Liufau and the board for approval.  I will give a memo to the teachers on the research proposal. Within the proposal will be a sample of the survey that is given to the students and teachers.

Survey

            I will conduct our survey within the class period that are been selected (participants). I will explain the purpose of the survey and why their input is significant.

Interview

            I will also conduct oral interview, which last of 20 minutes. This interview will be teacher based. The selection of teachers is based on an extreme case sampling. In this case, we select teacher based on their knowledge of using Internet. The concept that we’re using is veteran teacher versus rookie teachers. Veteran teacher is a teacher that rather use textbook and is not comfortable using technology etc. A rookie teacher is teachers that utilize all sort of sources include Internet and other means of technology for educational purposes. Within the 20 minutes, questions pertaining the objectives will be asked to the participants, note-taking during the interview. The notes will be used as field notes.  Sampling for interviewing teachers will be asked to teachers with the ability to use the Internet and teachers with little knowledge of using the internet.

Analyzing /Reporting

Field notes will be rewritten during that day of the interview. These notes and survey results will compile to see how students and teacher response to the given questions. 

Participants Relations

The name of the participants and the school will be confidential.  We will not share any information regarding the students, teacher and school.  The survey will not ask for names. 

Appendix A

Talofa! This is an anonymous survey to see the advantage of using the Internet as a learning tool. The findings of this survey will not be published. The data collected will only be used for EDCS 606, a Research Class in the Middle Level Masters of Education (MLMED) program. 

Gender: F or M   Please circle your response.

Age:

DIRECTIONS: Please circle the appropriate selection for each question as follows: SA = Strongly Agree         A = Agree        D = Disagree    SD = Strongly Disagree

1.         Internet encourages students to be creative.

SA        A         D         SD

2.         Internet encourages learning by connecting student lessons to real life situation.

SA        A         D         SD

3.         Students with Internet access in the classroom encourage learning by connecting with global views.

SA        A         D         SD

4.         Students that use Internet in the classroom are more self-reliant researchers and are less reliant of teacher help.

SA        A         D         SD

5.         Using of the Internet increase and encourages group collaboration among students in classroom.

SA        A         D         SD

6.         Students that are using Internet in the classroom are most likely to share their work with other audiences (outsiders).

SA        A         D         SD

 7.        Students with access to Internet in the classroom are distracted to the many social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter etc. 

SA        A         D         SD

8.         Students that are using Internet in the classroom have abundant information about their lesson then the student with only the textbook as the source.

SA        A         D         SD

9.         Students are mostly likely to see Internet as a credible source.

SA        A         D         SD

10.       Students with access to the Internet in the classroom are mostly likely find       

lesson more interesting than the text book version.

SA        A         D         SD

Thank you for Participating! Faafetai!

References

Beard, M. (2010). Internet offers benefit to children and classroom. Retrieved from http://www.wiu.edu/thecenter/articles/benefits.html

Buckingham, C. (n.d). The global classroom. Retrieved from http://circ.mtco.com/~cbclipse/columbia/wcited.htm

Lui, I. (1999). Internet available in schools. Retrieved from http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/STUDENTS/Lui/index.htm

Pakhare, J. (2011, December 01). Advantages and disadvantages of the internet. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/advantages-disadvantages-internet.html

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1-6.

Spencer, J., & Toy, C. (2012). Advocating for young adolescents learners in the 21st century. Retrieved from http://www.amle.org/portals/0/pdf/advocacy/mlem/advocating.pdf

Williams , R. (2013). The advantage of the internet in the classroom.. Retrieved from

http://www.ehow.com/info_8080271_advantages-internet-classroom.html

Haiku Website!

Post:  Create a page that includes an overview of the assignment, at least different 3 links, and a task that students complete to demonstrate their knowledge.Post link to your blog with a reflection of how you might use this as a tool in your class or learning environment.

Website: 

 https://www.myhaikuclass.com/alititai/american.samoa.history/cms_page/view/9189523

    The Haiku class website is an intriguing tool.   We teachers  should consider leaning to a technological based kind of learning environment.   Since my 12^TH graders are using Edmodo it is the same concept having this Haiku website.  The only difference between a Haiku and Edmodo, Haiku is more of website that post various assignments and learning activities versus the Edmodo it serve the same purpose but more to the concept of Facebook.

            I am introducing this website based to my co-workers since it’s a great tool to use within education. Common core emphasize critical thinking, problem solving etc. This website is a great tool for teachers to create learning activities based on common core standards. Since the world is more to the concept of technology why not grasp tools that can help improve student learning.  I am introducing my students to Haiku. It's a great tool to post assignments and it's also a great tool for them to familiarize with moodle based like website. Since majority of colleges are utilizing website , this is the beginning of my student to get a taste of a website based learning activity.

           My class course I created on Haiku is American Samoa History course. I posted the standard and benchmark.  Students will aware of the learning content because of the given benchmark and standard. I also posted a video and as well images so that they have a visual and audio learning activity. I think the outcome of this website will increase student learning.

          The class EDCS 480 has gave me a whole different perspective in technology and how to use them.  It has been a great class and I enjoy every aspect of this course. From Edmodo to Haiku it has been a great experience!

Assessing Student Learning

How do you assess student learning in your classroom?  What might you do differently to prepare student for the next generation of assessments base don the readings, activities and resources explored?  

There are several ways of assess my students.  In every lesson that I teach, I always try to find new ways in assess my students.   I see assessment as a way of seeing the results of my teaching as well as the student’s performance.  The results from the assessment will help me to improve or change the way I teach.   While students will see the results as a way to improve on what needed to be improve.

There are arrays of assessments that I used to assess my students.  In which included chapter test, mid-term exams and also assessment during class activities. 

The assessments that I always give out after an activity or lectures are oral quizzes, and discussion circle. Discussion circle assessment is when students are participating and engaging within the post-discussion on the given lesson. If majority numbers of students participate within the lessons this shows that they are

In Margaret Heritage article, it emphasized on the three stages of formative assessment. In which I find it helpful in assess my students.  One of the stages that I believe that I need to input within my assessment is “students feedbacks about their learning with advice on what they can do to improve” (Heritage, 2010).  These feedbacks will help student to see where they need to improve versus the feedbacks that only praise them in a way. Both comments/feedbacks are useful but I believe that feedbacks that draws attention to the student weakness.   Another argument that is made within the article that I am strongly agreed is that formative assessment is viewed as a tool within instruction. Format assessment is an instructional tool that can help students and teachers evaluate themselves.  

            In conclusion, there are various assessments in assess our students.  Only you understand the way your student function and how they are to assess.  The websites, links, workshops are all good tools in helping with the way we teach and asses.

Online Resources Tools and Resources

Online Resources Tools And Resources

1. Search  "Ear Mouse" in google
2. Read and compare the information on the following 3 sites:
-http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1949073.stm
-www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2006/06/02/1644154.htm
-en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacanti_mouse
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Answer the questions 3, 4 & 7 in a blog post:<o:p></o:p>
3. List some similarities and differences between these 3 articles.
4. Which site do you believe to most credible?  Why?  What would you do next to determine which is accurate?

5. Once you have answered questions  3 & 4 read the following article:
http://novemberlearning.com/educational-resources-for-educators/teaching-and-learning-articles/web-literacy-where-the-common-core-meets-common-sense/#

6. Visit the following sites to get ideas for your own classroom:
-www.freetech4teachers.com/2009/11/9-resources-for-website-evaluation.html#.UmrfImTk9cQ
-www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2010/11/reliable-sources-and-citations
-http://www.classzone.com/books/research_guide/page_build.cfm?content=web_eval_criteria&state=none

7.  Based on your own research and experience, discuss what you have learned in this activity about credible information and how you might teach your students to evaluate websites and other online resources.

             Ear-mouse is an interesting topic. The three main articles given on Ear-Mouse are from ABC Science, BBC News and Wikipedia. These articles have similarities and differences.With that being stated, this we will see on how credible the articles are and to see what other approaches in selecting a credible source.
             The similarities of these articles it relate to the topic ear-mouse.These articles emphasizes on the controversy as well as where did the Ear-Mouse originated from. It also draws the lines of how Jay Vacanti came about with growing a ear on back of the mouse.

The difference of these articles that each article elaborate on certain perspective. Wikipedia only gave a brief of what ear-mouse is versus the other two articles that simply gave an overview of what ear-mouse is about.  The Wikipedia website shows references and it links that can guide you on another section based on ear-mouse.

The ABC Science article articulates the years and it draws a timeline on the storyline of ear-mouse.  This article does not show any illustration of what the article  is about versus the other two articles shows illustration.  According Dr. Karl, picture misleads a lot of readers.  A picture without a caption tend to create whole lot of commotion.  The BBC news articles tend to highlight where people in British on waiting in line for the artificial liver. 
 I believe in both the BBC and ABC Science websites. The reason being is because if you look into the articles , there are evidences to advocate for their notion versus only references that was given out on Wikipedia.  Another way to seek through a credible sources is seeking articles with primary and secondary sources. The more valid sources states the more credible the article. 

Flipping Classroom!

Discuss your thoughts about flipping the classroom. What are the benefits, challenges? How might you overcome them?

            Flipping Classroom is basically "invert traditional teaching methods, delivering instruction  online outside of class and moving homework into the classroom" (Knewton, 2010).  I did not realize what I am being using in terms of teaching is called a "Flipping Classroom".  Since I still consider myself a "Rookie " in the field of teaching , my first year was a "disaster". A lot of my students were bored and was not interested at all. I spent summer of 2012, in trying to come up with new ideas on how to deliver my lesson. My second year, which I used the ideas of having activities in classroom and lectures home-base. This is where I see the difference within my teaching as well as the student learning. The students are now more involved and showing a great improvement in their academic performance through the using of flipping classroom method.

            There are a lot benefits that is set forth by using "Flipping Classroom". Like I mentioned before that "flipping classroom" create an atmosphere of "fun-learning". The students are excited as well as being more interact among their peers with using flipping classroom.  Benefits of flipping classroom are interaction among peers and students gained understanding on the given lesson.  Another benefit of flipping classroom is " teacher are more important than ever" ( November & Mull, n.d). Within this case, the teacher now set with array of resources and they are to formulate questions based on the given lesson.  

            One of the challenges of "flipping classroom" , some students tend to have limited resources at home. Some does not afford to have Internet connection and the tools to complete these tasks. One of the solution that was given out by November and Mull was, " school should provide opportunities outside of the standard school day for when the school library is open, allowing students to use the computers" ( November & Mull, n.d). This is a great idea in terms of having the students use their time by using these tools in completing their lectures at home.  Another solution to overcome this challenge is establishing a program within the school to use computers.

            Overall, the Flipping Classroom method is a whole-new way to approach into today’s generation. Since their way of learning is through activities and usage of technology. Why not utilize the skills of the 21^st century within our classroom. 

How do you currently network and learn about teaching resources? What have you learned from reading and watching the resources provided? What will you do to expand your PLN?

I consider myself as a “Digital Native” and is willingly to expand my professional learning network.  A lot of new learning resources that was coined by Dr. Kathy Martin , a professor at University of Hawaii at Manoa to use in classroom. For instance, edmodo, blogging, voice-thread and the list goes on. One the most intriguing learning tool  is “blogging”.  I am in the verge of develop a lesson in blogging.   It is a much fun and exciting way to put your ideas in a journal –manner and post it online.

 Another useful tool is  “Edmodo”. Edmodo  is almost similar to facebook.  Facebook is a social utility in which connect families and friends. In contrast where Edmodo serve the purpose of  students collaboration, sharing ideas in a secure online posting. They can access from anywhere at anytime. I pilot using of “Edmodo” to my 12^th graders. In results, they loved it !

            One of the social media site that I have yet used  in classroom is “ Twitter “. I did an account when it first came about and I stopped using Twitter. By reading the article on “ how to use Twitter in classroom” by Alan November and Brian Mull, I figured this is a new approach in bringing real problems facing world in classroom setting.  There a lot of ways that “Twitter” can be a powerful tool in classroom . As stated in the article, Twitter brings authentic conversation in classroom ( November & Mull).  Authentic conversation meaning real-life conversation on a particular heading or subject. In which , I find  Twitter a useful tool in terms of getting to current issues around the world. This applied to all subject courses in which they can applied was in taught in classroom and relate to real-life situation through “Twitter”. Another fascinated social media tool that is mentioned in the article is “Skype”.  Skype is a free Internet call to anywhere in the world.  In which we can use Skype as a tool to get representatives to talk more on issues on the given lessons.

            However, I am on the verge to expand my PLN by incorporating a lot of resources that was given in EDCS 480 course in the classroom. I will start inviting other teachers in my school to be part of this movement. So that we can develop a rigorous learning environment with the touch of technology !

Action Research

What are the benefits of action research? What experiences do you have conducting research that could help you in this process? What questions do you have?

Action research in education is basically the action research on a self-selected issue within your own classroom. With action research you will able to see effective ways to change teaching in order to increase student achievement. The purpose of action research in education is to develop effective ways to improve ways in teaching.  In order to understand action research you have to conduct an action research, and draws lines on the benefits of an action research.

In every experiment there are procedure that you need to follow. The steps are as follows: 1) Selecting a focus 2) Clarifying Theories 3)Identify Research Questions 4) Correcting Data 5) Analyzing Data 6)Reporting Data 7) Taking Informed Action ( Sagor, 2000).  It is the same with Ferrance Action Research cycle which is stated as follows identification of a problem area, collection and organization of data, interpretation of data, action based on data, and reflection ( 2000). One of the most important step is the initial step in which you have to identify or selecting a concern. If there is no concern/problem then there is no means to research.  Once the concern or problem is identified then a step of planning the course of action is next.  In which Ferrance ( 2000) calls this “problem-solving, not in the sense of trying to find our what is wrong but rather a quest for knowledge about how to improve”.  The idea of finding improvement is more rigorous in which identifying alternatives for the given concern/problem. 

There are various benefits of action research. One of the most intriguing benefit of an action research it provides a systematic framework of your own practice. According to Ferrance the benefits of an action research tend to focuses on school issue, problem or area of collective interest, form of teacher professional development, collegial interaction, potential to impact school change, reflect on own practice, reflect on own practice and improved communication ( Ferrance, 2000). These benefits tend to broaden alternatives in order to improve what is been already been stated as the concern. 

 Since action research tend to emphasize on the benefit of professional development, we do have a various groups on professional development in Fagaitua High School.  We tend to share ideas, collect data and find ways to improve a certain problem that is been constant within our academic learning. We form a professional development group called "ACHIEVE-3000" which focus on the students reading comprehension. Department of Education in American Samoa adopted the Achieve 3000 as a main source in improving reading comprehension. Here in Fagaitua High School, we use the program as our main source. We went through data of student's SAT performance and we came up with the idea of using all content areas except for Math to utilize Achieve-3000. We launched this program last-year and so far the test-results on reading comprehension is improving to 15% increase . We were overwhelm by the results . Technology plays a part within Achieve 3000. In which the internet as well as i-pads were utilize to conduct this program.  The picture below are some of the teachers that are involved with "ACHIEVE-3000" professional development.  This is a solid evidence of how action research is beneficial within the education system. 

    Yet, I still have few question concerning action research. Is is possible to draw any outside agency in helping with finding results of a certain problem? Are there any program available in helping collecting data? And how rigorous is the action research? These are few question on action research. Overall, this approach is very useful in terms of finding alternative and improvements based on the given concern...

Integrating Technology in Classroom!

How can we purposefully integrate technology and design learning experiences to engage young adolescents?

Technology in classroom within the 21^st century is a whole new way of getting students to college and career ready. Majority of educators are now integrating technology to enhance student achievement and preparing them on the fast-pacing society that we lived in.  There are many ways that we can incorporate technology within our lessons. One of the models that was coined by Dr. Rueben Puentedura that I believed that could pinpoint the advantages of technology within classroom is called “SAMR Model”.   According to the Adobe Educational Leaders, SAMR Model is a guideline on successful technology integration (2012). The layout of the Model was mentioned within the article.  I will only address the last element of the model, which is Redefinition because it one the effective levels within technology integration.  

One of the highly element of the  “SAMR Model” is the Redefinition. Redefinition level is where the redesign tasks using technology (Adobe Educational Leaders, 2012).  This level is where students are utilizing technology with the notion of having the skills of redesigning a given task. An example can be “Google Docs”.  I encourage my students to use “Google Docs “when they do their group work assignment.  They were able to edit, add any missing information within their presentation or group paper.  This allows them to utilize the given tools and execute there given assignment.  By using  “Google Docs” this allows them to edit on the same document while at home or any place that have Internet access.  Which I believe makes learning more fun and productive.

Another element that I believe that relates to Redefinition is “online-forum posting”. Edmodo allows students to post on online forum, which leads to student collaboration.  For my US Government class, I utilized Edmodo since I have military training; this is one of the tools that I connect with my students.  I post assignments as well as activities for my students to work on while I am away for a short amount of time. These kinds of technology ideas can trigger a 21^st century student into learning.

With all the latest technology, we should find ways for students to engage within lesson by using technology. These gadgets are part of students learning and it is our job to integrate within our lesson plans.

Digitial Citizenship

    "Digital citizenship can be defined as the norms of appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to technology use" (Ribble, 2013).  Within today’s society technology has play a significant role within  our daily routines. The target elements of technology are business owners and young adolescents. Young adolescents are facing a lot of dilemma on social media. Social media such as Facebook, Skype, Instragram and Twitter. These websites allows instant communication, sharing photos and posting status that express how they feel. With that being stated, we should teach young adolescents on the appropriate manners when using social media.  It is important to educate young adolescents about digital citizenship because it helps them realize on how some of their acts might affect them in the digital world
     According to Clark on an online article, “ How to tackle Digital Citizenship in five days”, we should teach our students that nothing online is private. All the messages, posting, photos sharing can be easily be access by anyone. Even if the Facebook website came up with the idea of privacy setting, all users should be aware of who they are friends with.  Majority of young adolescents has about 1,000 plus friends on Facebook and half of the friends’ list he/she does not know who they are. Which lead to the question is it safe to have that many friends? And that is why we need to educate out young adolescent on information shared on websites. One of the activities that were coined from Clark classroom activity, which I find it helpful, is asking students to delete any friends that they do not know of from their Facebook (2013).  This will help protect private information such as identity. Young adolescents are fully aware of how important to protect your identify and that is why we should teach within the classroom.
     Another emphasize concept within digital citizenship is digital etiquette. The appropriate behaviors that are shown on social media websites should be advocate by teachers within classroom.  These behaviors consist of posting pictures on social media websites. According to Clark, there are a lot of devices that inserted cameras in which some them can be in trouble because of posting pictures without the person consent. We should stress out on the daily basis that there are pictures that you can post and other pictures that cannot. 
     There are various activities that we can conduct in order for students to learn about  Digital Citizenship .For instance, sign-up your students on Edmodo.  You can post assignments and activities on the website and allow student to practice the appropriate behavior. You can overseen any acts that are unnecessary and correct them.
    We should start teaching appropriate behavior ( Digital Citizenship ) to our students. So that we can practice and draw any lines to any inappropriate acts online.

Reflection : Digital Native versus Digital Immigrants

In today’s classroom, a lot of teachers are adopting the concept of using technology in classroom. I am one of them teachers that advocate the usage of technology in lessons.  My name is Alititai L. Sagapolutele and I am High School teacher teaching History. 

I believe that technology is an essential tool in the classroom.  My goal as a teacher is to get students fully equip with the knowledge based with the 21^st century skills.  To achieve this goal, I have to utilize the tools available in today’s generation within my classroom. For instance, computers, cell-phone, tablets and other assorted devices.   

According to Presky in “ Digital  Natives- Digital Immigrants”,   Digital Immigrant instructors are struggling in teaching students (Digital Natives) because of  a whole different language they are speaking. I agree with Presky, you can never succeed in teaching a group of students that were born during the age of digital. I also can relate to this stage because during my high school years we tend to have teachers that are Digital immigrant where they are comfortable just only the textbook but not seeking to these new devices available. Now that I am teacher, I tend utilize means of technology so that my students are well equip for the outside world.

   The author also draws the differences between “Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives. An example of a Digital Native is an individual using of the email for sharing ideas then physically meet.  In contrary with Digital Immigrant an individual that is more into physically meet with everyone and share ideas. Since our students are Digital Natives we should conduct trainings for Digital Immigrants so that the students are engage within the lessons that are taught.  So we can prepare them for college and to obtain a job.

In the article, Partnership for 21^st century skills , it emphasizes on the skills that students should acquire in order to face the outside world (2009). The skills that were mentioned are critical thinking, problem solving and communication. In today's society these skills are highly recommend within your resume in order to get a job and a hold a college degree. 

The You tubes videos provided , “ Teaching in High Tech and Teaching in the 21^st century skills” shows dynamics of how we should go about in teaching students.  Like it stated in one of the youtube videos we are no longer the source of knowledge, we are the filter ( Teaching in the 21^st century-Video).  In which I support the concept because there are limitless information that are provided by using technology. Our job is to show them on to search good quality information and use it for reference. 

We as teachers should have that mind frame that the world is moving forward. In order for us to be effective and have students succeed in life, we should teach them the skills of the 21^st century by using the available technology gadgets.