Reflection #4

Today we used the 4-A protocol again: one assumption, one agreement, one argument, and one aspiration. The author makes a few assumptions. One, he assumes teachers and students have access to a variety of technology. He also assumes students have the basic building blocks to complete multimodal learning. I do agree with Bean about the power of integrating technology and multimodal learning into your classroom. This is one thing I will work on integrating into my classroom. I argue that technology and multimodal learning is the end all, be all. There are still many areas in our life where print and paper is still vital. As teachers we need to balance the traditional with new norm. I agree that technology is the wave of the future and will be a staple in our classrooms. At the same time, we can't jump too far into the future when some of the "old technology" is still relevant today. Bean (2010) writes "...85 percent of new jobs created will involve working with knowledge and problem-solving. During the next seven years, the number of information technology jobs emergining is expected to grow by 24 percent. In the new emerging economy, large hierarchical organizations will be replaced by fluid, small groups of highly educated and creative people who work in a borderless fashion on the Internet" (p. 97). I agree with his statement; however, not every student will be in these small groups (they are called small). Students still need the skills to navigate any type of job. We discussed how some schools today are being too "specific" and not engaging students in all content areas. There has been an influx of speciality schools: arts, technology, health science, etc. Shouldn't we expose students to all these areas, not just one?

I do aspire to intregrate technology into my classroom this year. One way I will is to utilize the Freerice website as a quick open or close of a class period. Students will review vocabulary while contributing to a positive cause. I will continue to explore and increase my knowledge of Google apps, including Google groups, Google sites, and Google Docs. I will also utilize the PollEverywhere site as another way to engage students in the classroom. This is a create formative assessment tool to use.

Overall, this book made me think about many different things: integrating technology, using multiple modalities to introduce information, and it made me think about the future of education. There is so much going on that sometimes I feel overwhelmed. At the same time, Bean made many assumptions about students and teachers that felt unrealistic. He gives many great ideas but he doesn't give the reader the "how to". This is one thing I wish the book had and would have made it a better read.