MalindaDomire

EDTECH554
Spring2015

20th vs. 21st Century Classrooms

Afterahandfuloftechnicaldifficultiesincreatingmymovieandfor
thesakeofmysanity,Iamforcedtowriteadocumentdescribingthe
differencesbetweena20thanda21stcenturyclassroom.Iwillpainta
pictureofwhatIobservedthispastweekthroughvideoclips.

Tobegin,Irecordedmyownthirdgradeclassroomworkingonan
animalresearchproject.Theyfocusedonendangeredanimalsand
createdgoogleslideprojectstopresenttoclasses.Inallofmyvideo
clips,youcanseestudentsconversingwitheachotherwhilebeing100
percentengagedinthelesson.Theyworkedontheirprojectseveryday
foranhoureachday.Typically,eightandnineyearoldsdonotholdtheir
attentionverywellforanhouratatime.Thisprojectproveddifferent.

Next,Irecordedtheclassroomnextdoor.WhenIwalkedinto
observetheclass,acoupleofstudentsaskedtheteacheriftheycould
workontheiranimalprojects.Shetoldthemnotuntiltheycompletedtheir
volcanoprojectswhichproducedabunchofgrumbling.Myvideoclips
showstudentsworkingindependentlyonvolcanoprojects.Theyhad
giganticcardboardandtheywerecuttingandpastinginformation.
Therewerenodiscussionstakingplaceandtheroomwassilent.Ipulled
onestudentasideandaskedhimthefollowingquestions:

1.Whatareyoucurrentlyworkingon?
a. ReplyWeareworkingonvolcanoprojects.
2.Whatareyouusingforthisproject?
a. ReplyBooks,paper,andcardboard
3.WhydidyouaskMissPooleifyoucouldworkonyouranimalproject?

a. ReplyBecausewecanusethecomputerstolookup
informationandcreatefunthingsonthecomputer.

Ialsosatdownandtalkedwithmyneighborteacher.Sheexplained
tomethatsheknowssheisnotutilizingenoughtechnologyforwhatour
studentsneed.However,itisdifficultforhertoimplementtheuseof
technologybecauseofalltheproblemssherunsinto.Weuselaptopsin
ourclassroomswhichare10yearsold.Theyarenotsetuptoprintersso
printinginformationisaheadache.Manyofthegoodwebsitestouseare
blockedbythedistrictformultiplereasons.Shefeltitwastoostressfulso
thereforefocusedherlessonsthroughbooksandpaper.

Mystudentsinvitedtheotherthreethirdgradeclassesintopresent
theirprojects.Attheendoftheday,wemetasateamandtheteachers
wereextremelyimpressedwiththeprojects.TheystatedALLoftheir
studentswantedtobegintheirownprojects.IshowedthemGoogledrive
andexplainedallthewonderfulattributesithas.Oneveryimportant
attributeforourschool,isthatitautomaticallysavestotheinternet.No
moreflashdrives!

MissPoolesclasshadanideatheyweregoingtobeworkingon
thistypeofaprojectbecausethekidsweretalkingallaboutitatrecess
hencesomeofherstudentswantingtoskipthevolcanoprojectsand
moveontoanimals.OnceIhadgiventheteacherstheminitrainingand
theyhadabetterunderstanding,allthreeofthemwereexcitedandready
togetstartedontheirownprojects.

Whilecomparingthetwoclassrooms,Icanseemanydifferences.
Thefirstistheroleoftheteacherinsteadofbeingatthefrontofthe
roomlecturing,bothteacherswereabletomoveabouttheroomandhelp
students.Ihavetoadmit,mystudentsdidsuchanamazingjobanddidnt
reallyneedmyhelp.Thatleftmetimetocorrectpapersandplanforthe
future.Secondistheroleofthestudentstheybecametheteachers.It

wastheirresponsibilitytofindalltheinformationtheyneeded.Theyalso
helpedteachinformationtotheirpartneraswellastheteachingtaking
placeduringtheirpresentationstoalloftheclasses.Finally,this
assignmentfulfilledmanyofthestandardsonourNevadaEducator
PerformanceFramework(NEPF).Thenewlearningwasconnectedto
informationtheyalreadyknewabouttheiranimal.Theprojectscreateda
highcognitivedemandforallstudentsnomattertheirleveloflearning.
Studentswereengagedinmeaningmakingthroughconversationsand
discourse.Theywerealsoengagedinmetacognitiveactivityto
understandtheresponsibilityoftheirownlearning.Andfinally,the
assessmentwasbuiltintotheinstruction.

Ourschooltrulyhastoomany20thcenturyclassroomsanditisa
battletogetsomeoftheveteranedteacherstorealizetheimportanceofa
21stcenturysetting.Mygoalistochangetheiropinionsthroughgiving
themplentyofopportunitiestousedifferentprograms.Ihavetakenthe
firststepandwonasmallbattleinjustourgradelevel.Iftheythink
Googleslidesissuchanamazingtool,waituntilIshowthemallofthe
othertoolstheycanuse.