Course Reflection Integrating technology into the classroom is an aspect of education that is gaining popularity. As the workplace evolves and upgrades technology, so must education. I have personally received an upgrade in technology recently in my school. New laptops, kindles, IPads, desktop computers and Smartboards have been installed throughout the school. The arrival of new technology has influenced me to learn more about using the technology in my classroom. Over the past few weeks, I have become familiar with integrating wikis, podcasts, and blogs in education. All of the technology seems useful in the future to connect students, parents and teachers. Learning about integrating technology into the classroom has given me a better perspective of the teaching and learning process. The field of education is changing and teachers need to change to reach the needs of all students. Today’s students are digital natives who require 21st-century skills in order to succeed. I believe teachers should embrace technology and use it to their advantage whenever possible to help prepare students for the future. Teachers should design lesson plans that implement technology and promote collaboration. Technology is a powerful tool that allows students to communicate, research and learn very efficiently, and teachers should use these outlets to their advantage. Technology allows students to explore and be independent during the learning process while using problem-solving skills. Teachers are able to use time more efficiently and guide the student as they explore and learn instead of teaching to the student constantly. Setting up blogs and wikis for communication and learning will allow students to learn on their own as well as from each other. In the future I will continue to expand my knowledge of technology by completing the Technology certification program at Walden University. I also plan to enroll in Professional Development classes offered through my district that will assist me in utilizing any new technology offered. I also plan to use most of the skills learned thus far including wikis and blogs for students to collaborate and use interactively. As the landscape of technology and teaching change, I intend to stay modern and open-minded in my own practices. Within the next two years, I have a few goals I would like to achieve using technology in the classroom. The first goal involves using a blog in the classroom. According to Richardson (2010), blogs can play an important part in the classroom. I would like to incorporate a blog specifically in the areas of Language Arts and Social Studies. Students can write reflections on class readings and also respond to the reflections of others. This will help improve collaboration and communication between classmates and also touch on typing, reading and comprehension skills. I would also like to employ a wiki in the classroom when assigning group work. Students can post information found for research projects on the wiki and participation can easily be monitored. The use of a wiki would also give students the opportunity to comprehend, type and communicate. Overall, utilizing technology in the classroom will benefit both teachers and students by requiring 21st-century skills and completing tasks more efficiently. References Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.