Teaching+With+Technology

__**Teaching With Technology**__
__Week 1__ As a teacher who has made use of technology in the classroom since the very beginning of my teaching career, I was pleasantly surprised by how much the week 1 readings have challenged my thinking. I am really looking forward to learning to incorporate technology in more constructive ways. As Sprague & Dede(1999) clearly illustrated with scenarios they presented, using technology is just the start. "Technology is not the key to the learning experience Elizabeth’s students enjoy, just the infrastructure that makes her efforts productive and sustainable. The key to an effective learning experience is the student-centered, meaningful, and engaging experiences Elizabeth provides, all based on constructivist theory."

I truly appreciate that we are not only learning how to use more constructivist methods, but also experiencing it first hand. Through the group project we will see what it is like to be a student working with a group to solve a real problem. We are making use technologies that are new even to many of us who consider ourselves "techies". I can't wait to finish this course and reflect upon the learning I have "constructed".

I must say though, that the video about the cyborg technology was a little disturbing. I felt the digital immigrant in me getting nervous as I watched that video...

__Week2__ As James Kulik's(1994) meta-analysis provided in John Sachter's(1999) literature review clearly outlined, the multiple studies conducted to find the effectiveness of using technology in the classroom yielded both positive and negative results. I was happy to see that the research found that students performed better on achievement tests, had a positive perspective on their education and also learned more efficiently when they received computer-based instruction. As a kindergarten teacher, however, I was surprised and disappointed that many of the studies that reported negative finding were about the elementary level. I took this information with a grain of salt as 9 of the 14 studies were analyzed were in the 1980's and likely outdated. Technology has certainly been updated since then, and is much more kid-friendly.

If I was not already using technology in my classroom, reading Michael Page's(2002) study would certainly have pushed me to start. The overwhelmingly possitive results of his research are enough to convince the biggest skeptics. I am sure any teacher would jump at the oppurtunity to increase their student's achievement. I was very interested to learn that students learn better from their peers that from the dialogue of their teacher. I will certainly make it a point to allow more time for student-to-student interactinon in my classroom.

__Week 3__ The videos this week really showed me how much more digital the student of today are. I was really impressed by how versatile and well balance Cameron was. Even more amazing is that he incorporated technology into nearly every aspect of his life. Howe incredible is it that he would think to record himself to analyze his puck handling skills. I was astonished to say the least. I can't wait to see what my students will use technology for.

Using UDL's lesson builder was incredibly tedious. I cannot see creating the 5 to 10 lessons I go through each day with my Kindergarten class with that program. I do understand the value of ensuring your lessons are flexible and are individualized to meet the needs of the students in your classroom, but this is something that many teachers do naturally. I know for example that when we do handwriting in my class that I will not need to help Laura to practice her writing. She will likely opt to write sentences rather than the letter we are working on and I will praise her for that. Whereas Sam will need me to come and adjust his seat, help him to place his fingers in the "stearo" trainging pencil grip and then hold his hand as he forms the first few letters. The other students fall somewhere between the two students and each may need something different in order to be successful. All of these things, simply cannot be planned or put into words. It is just what teachers do.

Soloman & Schrum (2007) presented many incredible ways the newest technology tools are being incorporated in schools. I am one of the teacher sponsors for the newspaper club at my school, so having the newspaper online really interested me. It is amazing that 481 high schools are already sharing their newspapers on www.myhighschooljournalism.com. I honestly think that when our school's paper is added, it will be included in the site's "best of the best" section.

Further, there was many ways that wikis were reported being used. It is truly amazing that students are starting to have a way to collaborate on homework from their own home. Now parents can tell if their child is really studying in those "study groups".

__Week 4__ Chapter 7 of Rose & Meyer's text __Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning__ finally made it absolutely clear for me how testing is not a fair representation of the knowledge and skills a student possesses. The ideas presented in this chapter were so progressive as were most of the readings this week. I certainly had to let the idea of individualized assessments with "supports" swim around in my head for a while. I kept thinking how difficult it would be to differentiate all the assessments for all the students in an elementary classroom where there are approximately 20 kids. I couldn't begin to fathom making it happen in 7-8 classes of 20-30 students in a middle or high school classroom.

The videos this week however did give me a little hope. The video, __The Collaborative Classroom: An Interview with Linda Darling-Hammond,__ discussed the restructuring of schools, so that students spend longer periods of time each school day and more school years with the same teacher or teachers. With this type of restructuring we would be allowed the opportunity to really get to know the students and truly differentiate for them. All the videos for this week really presented a brighter outlook for education.

__Week 5__ I really like the idea of being transparent with students. It makes sense to show them rather than just tell them that the effort that they put into their studies correlates to the grades they receive. It is wonderful also that the students can be developing their technology skill and self management skills simultaneously. I never consider making use of technology in this way. I have only used it for content delivery, assessment, and communication. Though my students would have a tough time making a graph, and they do not receive grades, I know that I will be able to adapt this idea to help my students.

Using the web to create individual assessments is also a fabulous idea. I can see using this as a parent/child homework assignment. It would benefit parents to see the level their child is on as they work to complete differentiated, developmentally appropriate assessment activities. I could easily create assessments with powerpoint. Correct/incorrect answers would give immediate feedback and also give a score at the end.

__Final Reflections__ 1. What outcomes had you envisioned for this course? Did you achieve those outcomes? Did the actual course outcomes align with those that you envisioned?

When I found out my next course was “Teaching with Technology, I was very excited. I was sure that this course would be the most aligned with what I was interested in learning and what I went back to school for. I hoped that I would be challenged in such a way that is would make me reevaluate my current instructional practices. I expected to have the opportunity to have the opportunity to learn new ways to incorporate technology in my classroom. I was certain that the information we would be learning would be immediately applicable to our current classrooms and school. It was my hope that we would be able to try new techniques and tools and then also discuss them without others in our cohort to learn more from their experiences and to help them gain insight as well. Last, but not least, I wanted to learn if the use of technology is actually benefiting students.

2. To the extent that you achived the outcomes, are they still relevant to the work that you do in your school? Why or why not?

During week one, we read many studies on the use of technology and it’s effectiveness. These studies made it abundantly clear that the use of technology is not only effective, but also essential. As a technology leader for my campus, I need to know that my instructional strategies are research based. I can also point these proven facts out to any of my coworkers who our hesitant about using technology. Our texts presented ideas that I know will be useful to many of my colleagues. It will allow them to have their students use technology in new ways that will help them to better understand the curriculum and also develop their self-management skills. During week four, Rose & Meyer (2002) presented ways in which tests are not fair indicators of the knowledge and skills students possess. I intend to work to remove the factors they outlinded as barriors to assessing the true abilities of students and help others on my campus to do the same.

Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). //Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning//. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Chapter 7. Available online at the Center for Applied Special Technology Web site. Retrieved October 5, 2009, from http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/

3. What outcomes did you not achieve? What prevented you from achieving them?

The main outcome I did not achieve was gaining new strategies that are applicable to my current teaching position. I know than this is mostly related to the choice that was made by my group. I have always been one to go along with the flow, so when my team suggested creating lessons for 6-8 graders, I was hesitant, but I agreed. I had a very hard time thinking of lessons for middles schoolers because that area is so far from anything I have ever taught. As a Kindergarten teacher, I am used to extracting activities from many of the k-12 professional development sessions I attend and adapting them to meet the needs of my students. There was so much valuable information that I know will be wildly successful for upper grades, but so much of it was too advanced for me to make use of it. For example, I really loved the idea of having students graph the effort they put into their studies and seeing how it coorelates to their grades, but my students don’t even receive grades.

4. Were you successful in completing the course assignments? If not, what prevented or discouraged you?

I was able to complete all my assignments, but with quite a bit of difficulty. The first week I still had not received my textbooks, and was under the impression that all the readings were from the book. Thus, I was very discouraged to participate in the discussion board. Then during the second week, my grandmother was moved into hospice. She had been battling diabetes for many years and then contracted a staph infection. She was doing poorly and finally passed away during week 3. On the same day that she died, I went to the doctor and found out I also had a staph infection, which I likely obtained when I was visiting my grandmother. It has cleared away for the most part, but I was very distracted by the two events. Now, as I am working to complete my reflections, I will also be attending the funeral this Saturday. Through it all, I have been working hard to stay on track, but I know I have not learned all that I could have under different circumstances.

5. What did you learn from this course: about yourself, your technology and leadership skills, and your attitudes?

This course made me see that there is so much more I could be doing to help my students. I know that I will be more constructive in my practices and allow my students to drive the learning more often. I found while watching many of the videos from Edutopia that I am not as progressive as I would like to think. Some of the ideas presented there made me cringe. For example, I love the idea of having more time to really get to know my students over many years, so that I can differentiate instruction, activities and assessments to better meet their needs. Teaching a grade level other than Kindergarten, however, is a very scary thought for me. I would really be leaving my comfort zone. It made me understand how teachers who are reluctant to use technology feel. The education system and it’s educators have a long way to go before we will be a true edutopia.