Buscher+final+project

=**Belief statement on 21st century learning design - classroom norms and routines**=

Exploring 21st century learning this week has been an interesting process for me because I feel like I am right on the edge of being one of the students we are thinking about. I consider myself a digital native, and I would say I generally know at least as much as my students about technology, if not more. I might say that I am more literate in digital media because I have more experience than my students using technology for educational purposes. Students are often quite adept at using technology for entertainment, but they do not always have the opportunity to practice transferring those skills to a learning environment.

In the article “Our Brains Extended” by Mark Prensky, he argues that technology is not just an optional add-on to enhance our daily life. He claims that technology has become a part of our mental activity that has extended our cognitive capabilities. As much as I am tied to my phone, I am also wary of being too dependent on technology. I think there is merit in knowing how to do things without technology and having information stored in my brain that I do not have to look up. However, as I thought about it, I realized that I am a different from my students. When I was in grade school we did not have cell phones or laptops. My family got internet in 4th grade, but it was very slow dial-up. Our students have been born with all of these technologies. They likely do not even know what dial-up is. Thus, I suspect that students do not find the same tension of wanting to use technology but not wanting to depend on it too much. Technology is just a part of their reality and it always has been. It is how they operate, so it is logical that it should be how they operate in the classroom.

Because of our increasing digital and technological world, there have been significant changes in the face of the working world. Advances in media have created new skills that employees need to be successful in their jobs, and these are the skills that we need to help our students acquire. These skills are listed out in the Digital Learning Manifesto in column 2. As a teacher, my job is to design the components in column three to foster the column 2 skills in my students, which will lead to a learning environment characterized by the components of column 4. It is challenging to separate part of the manifesto because they are so intricately connected. One component will always affect another.

The design component that I would like to focus on is Classroom Norms and regulations. I believe that if students are to develop these 21st century skills, it is essential that they know and understand what skills they are trying to develop. Thus, I want these skills to be common vocabulary in my classroom. I believe that the students need to collectively discuss these skills, what they mean, and how they are applied in the classroom. I want students to be empowered in their own learning, so I think that by establishing these skills in the classroom norms students will be conscious of the purpose of their learning. The 21st century skills will be not just something that they will hopefully pick up as they focus on their verb conjugations, but rather they will become learning targets in and of themselves.

In order to help the students view these 21st century skills as learning targets that they are striving toward, I plan to ask the students to engage in regular reflection to consider their progress for each skill. I will use a combination of Google forms and Google docs to help students to reflect on their learning. I see Google forms as useful for students to rate themselves and give me specific feedback on their learning and needs. Google docs will be used for the students to keep a journal. In this journal the students will be able to write more open-ended reflection, as well as track their progress through practice writing in Spanish.

If I have an increased focus on the column 2 skills as part of my norms, it will definitely impact the other components of learning design. My implementation of technology on a daily basis in the classroom will certainly increase. I plan to use Edmodo as a tool for students to collaborate and share ideas. My instructional strategies, curriculum, and assessment will all be affected because there will be a new underlying foundation for my learning design.

=Artifacts = 1) I have created a working document with the norms for learning that I would like my students to discuss and adopt. The form is a Google doc so I can share it with my students by posting it on Edmodo and Blackboard. I added a couple of norms that are not part of the manifesto, but that I think are essential for students. One of them in honesty, which I want to emphasize because I think the students need to be honest of their own learning progress. Norms for learning

2) This screen shot shows the small groups I have created in my Edmodo class site. I will use these small groups for students to discuss and post their ideas about the meaning of each of these norms and how they will apply in their learning. Students will have the opportunity to discuss in groups and post their ideas. Then, they will be able to read the posts from other groups and make comments, adding new ideas or writing why they agree/disagree.

3) I created a Google form that students would fill out periodically as a way to reflect on their progress with the norms. Norms reflection

4) Reflection journal through Google Docs. Students can potentially keep a record of their responses in a Reflection journal and add journal entries to describe their progress. I might ask them at the end of the period to think about one skill that they improved on during a given class period or week and students would write their reflection in their Google Doc journal. That way, they would be able to keep track of their progress.