6715 Course Reflection

The course, New and Emerging Technologies, has helped me to understand how technologies are continually evolving and transforming into newer technologies. At the rate that technology changes, I face the challenge of making decisions about which technologies to implement within my classroom. Another challenge I face is receiving administration support for implementing technologies due to lack of funding. Thankfully, this course has given me new knowledge about how to address these challenges and how to become a change leader.

As I reflect on the learning activity that I developed in Weeks 6 and 7 entitled, Changing the Game at My School, it amazes me how much I have learned in just a few short weeks. I have learned how to engage students through the implementation of an online game which allows me to use a non-traditional instructional method. Online games through their rich multimedia platform can engage and motivate students to succeed in school, especially “at risk” students (Clark and Ernst, 2009). Within my learning activity, I also reflected on how to develop various learning activities to address Lemke and Coughlin’s 21st century learning “change agents” (2009). Activities such as using the Internet to research information, creating a graphic organizer, collaborating with a partner during gaming, and writing a lab report to summarize information learned addresses Lemke and Coughlin’s (2009) “change agents” of democratization of knowledge, participatory, authentic, and multimodal learning. Further learning that I acquired through the development of my learning activity was through reflecting and evaluating the current needs of my school to find resources to help me implement system change. Change does not happen overnight, but happens through a progression of phases. Billings (2009) indicated that there are three phases (selling the idea, preparation, and implementation) that must be met to implement system change. I look forward to the challenge that awaits me in my attempt to implement system change within my school.

In addition to learning how to become a successful change leader, I have learned how to write a grant proposal to receive funding to support my learning activity. Before taking this course, I did not understand how to write a grant proposal, and had a fear of what was involved in writing a grant proposal. Now, I understand the fundamentals of writing a grant proposal. Writing grants can be quite beneficial in helping me to obtain 21st century technology tools and resources to support learner needs.

As I reflect on my current teaching strategies, many of my classroom activities have students engaged using computers and software to create projects. My students take ownership over their own learning because I am more of a facilitator than a lecturer. However, technologies such as online modules, multi-user environments, and gaming are tools that I want to implement within my classes in the near future. Although I believe my current teaching methods work for students, I realize that it is important for me to continue to seek ways to improve learning experiences for students. An immediate adjustment that I will make in my profession practice will be to stay informed about emerging technologies as well as to influence and lead the adoption of digital tools. One way that will help me stay informed and help me grow as a professional will be to join a personal learning network such as TappedIn. Personal learning networks encourage colleagues across the world to share resources and ideas that can lead to enhanced 21st century learning experiences for students. Through the additional knowledge that I gain from a personal learning network, I can also more effectively show colleagues how to implement digital tools into their curriculum. Although my master’s program is coming to an end, I will continue to seek out resources and other personal learning networks to help me grow professionally as an educational leader.

References

Billings, K. (2009). Lessons from the trenches. School Library Journal, 55(10), 26–27. Retrieved from the Education Research Complete database.

Clark, A. C., & Ernst, J. (2009) Gaming Research for Technology Education. Journal of STEM Education: Innovations & Research, 10(1), 25-30. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Lemke, C., & Coughlin, E. (2009). The change agents. Educational Leadership, 67(1), 54–59. Reproduced with permission of Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development in the format electronic usage via Copyright Clearance Center.

6715 Course Application 4

View my presentation below to learn about how online learning in K-12 schools can fill instructional gaps and support authentic student learning.

Online Learning in K-12 Schools

View more presentations from jlowe1988.

6714 Course Reflection

The course, Reaching and Engaging All Learners through Technology, has reinforced the notion that students are diverse in their in their interests, learning styles, intelligence, and learning profiles. Because of student variances, this course has also reinforced the implementation of Differentiated Instruction (DI), Universal Learning by Design (UDL), and technology tools to reach and engage all students. I have learned many new technologies to Differentiation Instruction and learned how to adapt instruction using UDL to meet the needs of diverse learners. Dr. Carol Tomlinson discussed that the goal of UDL is to reduce barriers for all learners; whereas, the goal of DI is to open the classroom to provide more avenues for students (Laureate, Inc., 2009). The technology tools that I have gained from interacting with my colleagues through the Differentiation Station assignments will help me provide many new avenues for students to learn content so that I can meet their diverse needs. I am excited to implement new tools such as Prezi and Microsoft Photoshop that was shared through the Differentiation Station. These tools will give my students another avenue when creating digital stories other than using the traditional Microsoft PowerPoint program. My students will be motivated and engaged when learning these new technology tools and I will be able to activate their recognition, strategic and affective brain networks as they use these tools to complete summative assessments at the end of a lesson.

An immediate adjustment that I will make in my classroom as a result of this course will be to implement my Learning Profile that I created through Survey Monkey located at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5TSTH9Q. Students will complete the survey at the beginning of each semester so that I can gather and evaluate data to understand my students’ interests, learning styles, intelligence, and learning profiles. Lauria noted, “Identifying students’ individual learning styles and showing students how to capitalize on their strengths can empower learners…” (2010). To increase my students’ successes it is important that I gather and analyze data to help me plan how to differentiate content, process, and product according to student’s readiness, interests, and learning profiles (Hall, Strangman, and Myer, 2003).

On a final note, I am grateful for all of the resources shared by my colleagues through the Differentiation Station located on our wiki at
http://reachingalllearnersthroughtechnologygroup3.wikispaces.com/. I will continue to visit this valuable resource as needed to help me further differentiate instruction for my students.

References

Hall, T., Strangman, N., & Meyer, A. (2003). Differentiated instruction and implications for UDL implementation. Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/publications/ncac/ncac_diffinstructudl.html.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Program 11. Learner Differences. [Motion Picture]. Reaching and Engaging All Learners Through Technology. Baltimore: Dr. Carol Tomlinson.

Lauria, J. (2010). Differentiation through learning-style responsive strategies. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 47(1), 24-29. Retrieved November 12, 2010, from ProQuest Central.

6713 Course Reflection

GAME Plan Reflection
As I reflect on my GAME Plan that I implemented at the beginning of this course, I realize that setting goals, taking action, monitoring progress and evaluating my progress has taught me to remain dedicated and focused on the goals that I want to implement with my classes. In addition, introducing the GAME Plan to students will help students meet the goals of problem and project based learning activities.

New Learning and Impact on Instructional Practice
Although I have put my goal of creating a blog on hold temporarily, I feel confident that I will have success with this endeavor in the spring semester. Furthermore, I believe that implementing a blog into my classes will motivate students to improve their writing skills. My goal of researching copyright laws has given me new information about copyrights, and I have several ideas of how I can teach this new information to my students. In addition to learning how to use the GAME Plan with students, I have also learned how I can implement digital storytelling when assigning projects as another means of assessing student learning. Having students create a digital story about the importance of observing copyright laws maybe an alternative assessment that I may use in the future.

Immediate Adjustment to Instructional Practice
The immediate adjustments that I will make in my instructional practice will be to include blogging as another avenue to improve student writing and to teach the GAME Plan to my students when they are involved in problem based and project based learning activities.

Using the GAME Plan Process with Students

In my content area, Business/Computer Technology, I am already addressing the National Education Standards for Students (NETS-S). Many of the NETS-S are incorporated into the Tennessee course content standards that I teach my classes. Because I teach students how to use different software programs, my students are required to complete several problem/project based learning projects. Ninety percent of the works my students complete are problem/project based learning activities. Teaching students the GAME Plan process is easy for me to implement. Using the acronym for GAME and then teaching students what each letter stands for will make it easier for students to remember the step-by-step process for any project/problem they complete. For example, if I want students to conduct research on a country that my students would like to visit, they would go through the process of setting goals, taking action, monitoring their progress, and then evaluating their learning. Part the assignment would require them to create an artifact such as a newsletter or brochure and finally share their information to the class through a digital story. This example demonstrates how I can meet all of the NETS-S which are: (1) Creativity and Innovation, (2) Communication and Collaboration, (3) Research and Information Fluency, (4) Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making, (5) Digital Citizenship, and (6) Technology Operations and Concepts. As a technology teacher, attending professional development seminars, and completing coursework through Walden, I am able to stay current on the latest technology and instructional strategies. The National Educational Teacher Standards (NETS-T) is my guide in directing my instruction and is used daily in my computer classroom. These standards help me think about the different types of learning experiences that I can implement for my students to meet the NETS-S.

Revising My GAME Plan

Last week proved to be successful in locating more copyright resources. I asked my school’s librarian for help and she located and shared the following resources:

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hills Library- Introduction to Copyright and Fair Use Tutorial

American Library Association

Crash Course in Copyrights

Medical University of South Carolina Music Department of Library and Informatics

Application to Instruction Practice
I have not seen much improvement to my instructional practice because of limited time to review resources and set up a class blog. I do foresee my students benefiting from these new activities when I implement them in the spring. My focus now is to catch up on teaching content standards.

Goals Still in Progress
My goals to promote student reflection through a class blog and to locate copyright resources so that I can teach students about safe and ethical use of using digital information will be in progress throughout this semester. It is my hope that during the Christmas holidays that I will be able to set aside time to work on these goals more and be ready to implement them in the spring semester with my students.

New Learning Goals
Due to limited time this semester, I am not ready to implement any new learning goals. I have been thinking about how I can teach copyright information to students. I am considering locating or creating a webquest. In the future I would like to implement more digital technologies that my students' are not familiar with such as creating a delicious account to bookmark sites and/or creating a digital story using other software programs other than PowerPoint.

Learning Approaches to Improve Learning
To improve my learning, I need more time. Instead of putting myself under more stress, I am modifying my plan to set aside time during the Christmas holiday for my Game Plan goals. I am looking forward to becoming more confident and prepared to implement my goals in the spring semester.

Evaluating My Game Plan

Game Plan Effectiveness
During the weekend I was able to take some time to look at copyright resources to use with my Desktop Publishing class in the spring. As far as my class blog, I have not set one up yet. I am behind in my course standards and do not see any way that I can implement a blog this semester. Up until the weekend, I did not feel as if I was making any progress toward my Game Plan. However, during the weekend I saw a small light at the end of the tunnel. Although my Game Plan has not progressed as I initially thought it would, I am making progress slowly.

Application to Instructional Practice
So far I have learned from another colleague that I can use Twitter to illicit resources and ideas from other professionals. I plan to set up an account soon. I also learned from my school’s librarian that there is a video on copyrights that I can check out and show my classes that is a newer version than the video I have been showing to students.

More to Learn
I still have to find more information about copyrights before I feel comfortable teaching a more in-depth lesson to students than what I have briefly touched upon in the past. Hopefully, I can connect with other professionals that will share their copyright lesson plans with me along with their best instructional practices. As far as setting up a blog, I feel fairly confident. Although I know that I can create and access a blog at school, I need to check with school administration and make sure it is okay for students to participate in a blog. I may need to have signed documentation from parents stating that their child can participate in a blog.

Arising Questions
What type of instructional strategy and/or technology tool should I use to implement my goal of teaching copyrights to students? How and what type of activity should I use to teach students about blogging on line and the appropriate language to use? How do I want my students to request permission to use copyrighted materials?

Adjusting My Game Plan
My Game Plan is a work in progress. I will continue to locate copyright resources through the Internet and through my network of colleagues. I plan to teach my Desktop Publishing students all about copyrights in the spring. In addition, I plan to implement my class blog in the spring. Further adjustment to my Game Plan will include evaluating my lesson plans and seeing where I can fit in instructional time to teach students about blogging.