After embarking on this 10 day digital challenge journey, my understanding of the importance of allowing myself to take risks, try new things, and engage in professional dialogue while utilizing various platforms and digital tools has been enhanced. I am beginning to feel as if there is a vast knowledge and understanding of the new emerging pedagogy that targets our 21st Century learners or generation Z (as they are now called this) within our classrooms and communities. Our students need to be stimulated, engaged, and motivated as part of the learning. They need to make connections so they can see how the “learning” is relevant for them! Textbooks, novels, and other printed forms are a great resource, but because of the speed of knowledge transfer, digital methods of communication whether it be blogging, performing a google search or using social media to search and discover new “ah-ha” moments or strategies becomes quicker, readily accessible and more up to date. These innovative methods are changing our society, educational practices, and workplace. However, we need to remember that we are humans and caring, compassion, and understanding, also have a significant impact on the development and learning of our students. I am a firm believer that our students may not remember every piece of curriculum we taught them throughout the school year, but they will always remember how we made them feel.
As I move forward to on professional journey, I will continue to follow various educators on Twitter in order to develop a grasp on new initiatives, ideas, and possible connections people are making across the world.This global audience gives me an opportunity to celebrate successes, tackle challenge and dialogue. Although becoming immersed in these technologies was challenging, it has brought new light which I hope to continue to develop throughout my career. I am very proud of myself for what I have accomplished over the past few months, and now it is about setting goals to continue to implement these technological tools on a regular basis. I need to learn to be more proficient with Twitter and Blogger so that I feel confident being a digital leader to others. I know that I will get there, I just need a little more practice. Eric Sheninger states “I don't find the time to learn and get better. I make the time to learn and get better.” Ultimately, no matter how much I move forward as a digital leader, I never want to lose sight of the people in front of me, my students and staff, and the fact that they need love and understanding. #PQP10
