Tech Fluency: 21st Century Skill
Copy rights are attributet by AmpliVox.
Big words again! Twenty-first-century technology fluency!!! What does that mean? Technology fluency transcends apps, programs, and devices. It goes beyond that. It implies that learners are capable of using technology quickly and deliberately without even thinking about it. It is more about how mindful they feel about practicing their skills. They are confident and that what matters in terms of how fluent they can be and show how well they are able to communicate those acquired new twenty-first century skills.
It is clear that we as educators want the very best for our students, that sometimes we forget how to put them on the right track. Are we really preparing them for their future jobs? Well, if we think we are, please think again! We are completely ignoring to teach them what is outside those books and curricula. We tend to to be consumed to keep track of the number of lessons or units covered and call as an accomplishment instead of paying more attention to the bigger and more important picture which is to transform them to active learners who are able to gain life-needed skills to be successful in their future careers and as global citizens.
Thinking big is my next step. Our job shouldn’t stop at the door of educating them to pass an assessment but goes far beyond that. We’ll need then to prepare them to know how to employ their technological skills in the right areas of lives. It is our role as educators to support the development of technology fluency, for we will create a generation of digital learners who are well-supported and authentically can demonstrate their ability to solve problems and communicate their ideas well through social media sites for instance.
It is funny sometimes when we tend to crawl back to our comfort area and overlook at what is right there in front of us. Yes, it is not easy to seamlessly integrate technology into each subject and in every class, yet it is your responsibility as a twenty-first-century educator to hold yourself accountable of the vast sets of tools that are available for you and you are shying away from them for whatever the reason is. There are a lot of ways to shape your classroom to fit this century. Students are much willing to cooperate and they are able to succeed in a way that exceeds your expectations. That is certainly how I felt after going through this whole process of integrating technology meaningfully to serve the purpose of differentiation and engagement through motivation.
Comments