MEd.
Program Standard 12
Teacher leaders will:
evaluate and use technology
for teaching and learning
Relevant
Courses in Program:
EDTC6433 Teaching with
Technology
Reflections
Original
Experience
Prior
to this program, I used technology in my classroom daily, but it was typically
only to deliver lesson. All of my lessons were taught through the SMARTboard
platform, or, occasionally PowerPoint and students rarely interacted with these
platforms. I used technology to communicate with parents, and created a class
website to keep parents apprised on their child’s progress. Students also used
Chromebooks and tablets regularly, but mostly just to type up final drafts
after a writing project, and to occasionally research. At the time, I thought I
utilized technology in my classroom very effectively. I used Chromebooks more
than my colleagues, and created SMARTboard lessons daily. Now, I realize that
is so much more to using technology effectively in the classroom.
Learning
Through this program, I came to the realization that while
technology will never replace great teaching, the use of technology can
undoubtedly increase student excitement, and engagement. The use of technology
in my third-grade classroom immediately increases engagement among my students
and evokes a sense of excitement and possibility. There is so much value in
this engagement. It is conducive to creating a thriving classroom environment leading
to substantial learning. Through
my research and this program, I discovered how I can best use technology to
innovatively and creatively enrich what we are already learning through
self-preparedness and confidence, intentionality, and creativity.
The ISTE standard of using technology to
advance student learning, creativity, and innovation (ITSE1) is something I have
really employed in my classroom in a relevant and valuable manner since taking
this course. While I cannot create my own curriculum and methods of integrating
technology, I can use technology to innovatively supplement and enrich what we
are already learning. I am constantly looking for ways to get students more
excited and invested in what we are learning. I have found that integrating
technology into our lessons or content has increased student engagement. I
previously associated technology as adding something to my overly full plate;
however, through my research and interaction with my colleague’s research
through this program, I have found that this is not necessarily the case. It is
entirely possible to use technology to supplement and enrich what I would be
teaching anyway.
Through my research I found that the use of technology is
connected to academic achievement (Robin, 2008). This allowed me to rethink my
perspective of considering the use of student centric technology to be a
deterrent from all of the content that much be covered. When technology is used
with intentionality, and when the teacher is comfortable and skillful using
technology, it does nothing but enrich student learning. Perhaps my reluctance
to utilize technological resources in the past stems from a lack of
“familiarity and confidence” with various mediums (Pucket, Cabuk 2004). With
educational technology constantly growing and changing, in order to use
resources to support student achievement, I must be proficient and comfortable
with the resources. This knowledge has allowed me to rethink my reluctance and
reevaluate myself and understand that powerful technology integration starts
with me obtaining the confidence to utilize it as a teaching tool.
Through this program, I have learned a multitude of
creative and innovative ways to incorporate technology authentically in my
daily lessons. For example, I specifically learned more about WebQuest, which
uses teacher chosen, and specific scaffolding, to enhance lessons (Wang &
Hannafin, 2008). This is extremely helpful in my classroom because it allows me
to be extremely intentional to ensure that the use of WebQuest aligns entirely
with my student target to support my lessons. This program has inspired me to
use WebQuest both in my whole classroom setting, and with small, afterschool
groups. I am happy to report that this does not detract from what I must
accomplish in a day; in fact, it does the exact opposite. This strengthens my
lesson, and even increases student excitement and engagement. Technology also
allows for students to be inventive and creative in their learning. This
allowed me to consider options in which to use technology to create
“collaborative learning, group work, and accessibility” (Mazur, Brown,
Jacobsen. 2015.) Formerly, I have considered the use of technology as relatively
individualized in my classroom, but this sparked my interest in using
technology as a tool for students to collaborate and inquire in small groups.
This concept of using technology to support collaboration amongst a small group
actually inspired a unit that I taught that allows students in table groups to
explore culture and identity using sources I have picked on their tablets. This
aligned with and enriched a lesson I would have taught anyway, and proved that
technology does not need to take away from curricular materials, but actually
can supplement and enhance a lesson.
Impact
This program has completely changed how I use
technology in my classroom, along with my mindset regarding technology. Prior
to this program, I thought of integrating technology as something additional to
add to my plate. As teachers, that prospect can be daunting as we are already
stretched so thin. This program has shown me that integrating technology should
supplement my lessons rather than replace them, or add more. I now consider
ways to integrate technology into work we are already doing.
Through this program, I was able to delve more deeply
into collaborative mathematic experiences for my students. I found that through technology, I can create collaborative
math lessons and units that aligned with my curriculum, and student targets. These
lessons have been created through WebQuest which, largely, approaches learning
with technology collaboratively. ITeachers can create and utilize collaborative
lessons in which students “enjoy their collaborative and interactive nature”
(West, 2012). WebQuest is also conducive to providing specific, timely feedback
and data, as the platform is managed by the teacher. Using WebQuest has not
only increased collaboration and assessment data, but has also allowed for me
to develop more creative mathematic experiences for my students through
technology.
This course has also increased my students’ involvement
in our SMARTboard lessons. Kershner et al. (2010) elucidates that interactive
whiteboards can be used for small group lessons, or intervention in order to
encourage authentic collaborative learning experiences. This particularly
pertains to my classroom because I had been looking for a way to incorporate
technology-rich math experiences for my students, while still differentiating
to meet various student needs. Small group, rather than whole group math
instruction using my SMARTboard has not only increased student math
engagement and interaction with technology, but has allowed me to formatively
assess my students in a small group setting. Students can engage by taking
turns interacting with the smartboard.
This program has encouraged me to consider the most
creative, engaging ways to incorporate technology into my lessons.
Artifacts:
References
Judge,
S., Puckett, K., &Cabuk, B. (2004).. Journal of Research
on Technology in Education 36.
383-396. Retrieved October 7, 2016, from http://www.eric.edu.gove/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content.
Robin, B.
(2008). Digital
Storytelling: A Powerful Technology
Tool for the 21st Century
Classroom. Retrieved October
8, 2016 from https://canvas.spu.edu/courses/10314/files/271987?module_item_id=101733.
Kershner, R., Mercer, N., Warwick, P.
et al. Computer Supported Learning (2010)
Can the Interactive
Whiteboard Support Young Children’s Collaborative Communication and Thinking? Retrieved from
Mazur,
A., Brown, B., Jacobsen, M., (2015) Learning Designs
using Flipped Classroom Instruction. Retrieved
October 6, 2016 from http://www.cjlt.ca/index.php/cjlt/article/view/26977
Wang,
F.& Hannafin. (2008) Integrating Webquests in preservice teacher education. Educational Media
International. 45 (1),
59-73.
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