21 Century Literacy Framework: Reflecting on Technology in My Classroom

A friend asked me today to think back on one tech project I Incorporated in my teaching this year.  She suggested using the NCTE framework and I am so glad I did.  I discovered some changes I want to make in the future.  I realized that I could gear future projects using the guiding questions of the framework. I thought I would share it.

Reflecting on Technology in the Classroom

Project: Exploring Our Community and Maps

This year I invited my first graders to record the process we used to explore some Social Studies standards that focus on exploring our community and maps.  That is, we documented (using the Mac desktop camera) the plans for the project as it unfolded, sharing where we discovered ideas,  questions we had and decisions we made.  We also used the software iMovie for recording and sharing the project.  I learned to burn the movie to a disk and then share this project with parents using the projector and sound system.  The experience was rewarding.

 Reflecting on the Framework:

 

DEVELOP PROFICIENCY WITH THE TOOLS OF TECHNOLOGY

 As I reflect on this piece of the framework, I feel like the kids had experiences with new tools especially the camera.  They were challenged to share ideas and collaborate on the actual “map” project but were not problem solving with the specific technological tools.  Knowing the desktop camera is a bit limited, I would like to use this documenting idea with flips in the future for smaller scale partner activities. I think the problem solving will naturally occur as we learn to use them, observe the videos the kids record and talk about which tools make sense with the projects we are working on. 

 

 

BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHERS

 The creation of the project often was lead by me as many of my students were just learning to use the tools with me.  We did find that certain students had strengths in iMovie.  A particular student I remember jumped in to guide me through the software as he had an older brother who taught him.    I often would ask for his expertise and then ask him to teach others how to record and stop.  The overall exploration of our community and the idea of how maps help us happened without technology.  This learning came about in our reading about maps , sharing, thinking and discussion. 

 

DESIGN AND SHARE INFO FOR GLOBAL COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE A VARIETY OF PURPOSES

 With the project we created, I just decided to use a certain type of technology.  It would have been smarter to ask the kids which tools would have worked best for sharing information and how should we do it but again this year was about playing (especially for me…it sounds a bit selfish but I think we need to give that to ourselves).  

We definitely published and shared it authentically with our parents at our family night.  It suited the purposes we had as learners in our small part of the world, sharing the process of exploration, creation and learning. 

 

MANAGE, ANALYZE AND SYNTHESIZE MULTIPLE STREAMS OF SIMULTANEOUS INFO

 This piece of the project we were lacking a bit.  Resource wise, we used books we had on hand (just 2) and our background knowledge (which seemed quite appropriate for 6-7 yr olds).  This would have been interesting to locate local information and maps and pop them up on the smart board of our local community to even deepen kids understanding of our local community.  It may have changed the decisions we had about our map.

 

CREATE, CRITIQUE, ANALYZE AND EVALUATE MULTIMEDIA TEXTS

 The students were able to communicate their ideas in a variety of forms.  They explained their thoughts on camera and created pictures and details that expressed their learning about what would be important to include on a neighborhood map.  We used interactive writing to invite kids to write about the project.   Next time I would ask the kids to talk about why we used technology, what they learned and what we could do different.