Today’s class was largely about validation for me. In reviewing the resources in class, I determined that my program is functioning at a relatively high level of technology integration. I am under the impression that Career & Technical (C&T) education, as a whole, is fairly adept at integrating technology into the curriculum. It seems inherent to most of our programs.  It was also nice to see that there are postings on the web relating to C&T education vs. the perceived need for a college degree (especially Anthony Cody’s blog “Higher Education or Hire Education: Questioning the Purpose and Value of College for All Students” on Edutopia).  C&T educators and administrators have been saying that college degrees are not always the key to a successful career, but few people seemed to listen. After viewing several of the wiki’s made during class today, a few things are becoming increasingly evident:

1. There is a significantly greater need to integrate technology into education.
2. Current and future students do not and will not communicate in the same manner as past students.
3. The context of what is being taught needs to be modified (memorization vs. locating information).
4. The use of technology will allow for learning beyond the confines of the typical classroom.

I also found it intersting that the environment was mentioned in some of the resources viewed by others in the class. This is becoming an increasingly important topic, which I am surprised is being addressed in materials dealing with the “cyber-world” and technology.

Although all of these items are fitting when it comes to addressing the education of 21st Century Learners, I am still struggling with how to implement some of the technologies in my curriculum (the primary exception to this is blogging. I can see a definite benefit and use to that technique). After all the earthmoving industry has been a “global” industry for more than a decade, so the equipment and techniques used to operate a machine in the U.S. are the same as they are in Europe and Asia. Since my program is largely a “hands-on” learning environment as opposed to a traditional classroom I am having difficulty with exactly how to incorporate wikis, tags, etc. into my class.

I have one additional thought that came to me a short while after I initially posted this. I will pose it in the form of a question: Can technology be detrimental to the learning process? Every year I have my 11th grade students develop resumes on CareerCruising.com. After they develop their individual resumes I have them save them and print a copy for me. I am amazed at how many students carry the “texting lingo” into their resumes. You is replaced with u, r is substituted for are, two/to/too is replaced numerically (2). I realize that this is done in the interest of saving time while text messaging, but apparently it has become the accepted way of writing for the students. Herein lies the problem, since it is viewed as extremely low functioning and improper in the world outside of texting and IM’ing.