#3. The number of technology tool available to teachers is already daunting, and more are emerging every day. Given the value of these tools to enliven and support 21st century learning, what will you do to keep yourself informed about the options available to you? How will you manage your discoveries and work toward integrating them into your classroom?
The ability to articulate the desired outcome from the use of technology, will allow me to effectively articulate what I want students to gain from the use of technology when talking to technological experts, consultants, and other educators that are already using technologies in their classrooms. These individuals will have a level of knowledge, experience, and expertise in the use of a variety of technologies in the classroom, and can more efficiently help me as I navigate through the plethora of educational technologies that are available. Essentially, they will be helpful in directing me towards what I need. Upon identifying the ideal technologies to serve the learning purpose, I will maintain a technological resource database (weather through bookmarking, note taking (Evernote), etc.). In addition, as I use technology, I will maintain a journal of my experience of using it, in order to document the pros and cons, and the effectiveness or lack of in facilitating learning goals. Continuous collaboration with colleagues will help me gain insight on others’ experiences with the same, similar or different technologies and will help me in evaluating the use of different technologies, or modifying how I use current technologies. Realizing that technologies are continuously enhanced and upgraded, I will have to stay abreast the latest tools, and maintaining membership and participation in education technology forums, involvement in associations focusing on educational technologies, conferences, and professional development are ways that I can stay abreast changes so that I can implement them in the classroom.
References
Hartsell, T., & Wang, S. (2013). Technology Integration and Foundations for Effective Leadership, Information Science Reference.
#1. Different students have different learning styles and their learning styles influence their learning. As a teacher, you should understand your students learning styles when preparing for the classes. Discuss your understanding on different learning styles and its influence on learning.
Diversity in the classroom is not only related to cultural, gender, race, or other characteristics that are commonly discussed within the context. The different learning styles that students have in the classroom are a diversity issue that educators should also be aware of and sensitive towards. According to Benjamin Bloom’s Theory of Cognitive learning, students have different cognitive learning styles and aptitudes, with learning occurring from lower-order (novice) to higher-order (mastery) (Guskey, 2005). Furthermore, instructors can create learning environments that enable all students to benefit from the learning experience by implementing differentiation instruction. According to Levy (2008), students in the classroom have different learning styles (such as visual (see), audio (hear), kinesthetic (do)), beliefs, and attitudes, which instructors can accommodate by incorporating different methods of instruction to create an effective learning environment.
Educators who acknowledge this will use differentiation instruction to implement learning strategies to meet the different learning needs of students in the classroom. Differentiation instruction provides accommodations for the ways that students learn best by incorporating teaching methods that are best suited for individual students, and satisfy the different learning styles. For example, for students that are visual learners, instructors can meet their learning style by presenting information using multimedia technology such as YouTube, video presentations, PowerPoint, etc. Consequently, effective learning can be reinforced using technology by also allowing these learners the option to demonstrate their mastery of content using visual sources such as prezi, promethean boards, GoAnimate, etc. For Kinesthetic learners, the use of online simulation and games can help stimulate deeper learning through practical experience; meanwhile, lesson delivery using technologies such as podcasts, mp3, etc. can satisfy the learning style of audio learners. A good example of how this is implemented in classroom instruction can be taken from the way that Dr. Wang provided two different modes which students could access the “Blog in Education” lecture in the week 1 readings. Those who are visual learners would’ve found the PowerPoint format more effective for their learning style, whereas, audio learners benefited from accessing the lesson through the mp3 format. In addition, differentiation strategies were implemented as students used blog tec hnology, and were able to control their own experience by demonstrating mastery of lesson content using their own creative ideas to design their blog. Finally, as instructors differentiate instruction, they should also implement formative assessments, in order to provide feedback and correction to students to support mastery learning. (Guskey, 2005)
References
Guskey, T. R. (2005). Formative Classroom Assessment and Benjamin S. Bloom: Theory, Research, and Implications. Online Submission.
Levy, H. M. (2008). Meeting the needs of all students through differentiated instruction: Helping every child reach and exceed standards. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 81(4), 161-164.
Design-Plan-Act is a three part comprehensive process that educators can use in planning technology integration into instruction. It first takes a broad approach into instructor unit lesson planning by looking at the overall picture and identifying what needs to be covered, and what needs to be done, and ends with identifying the details of how the things will be completed.
The first stage of the process (Design) consists of developing a framework for the units’ daily lesson plans using the Dynamic Instruction Design (DID) model. This model provides a comprehensive yet flexible overview of the components that will be involved in the learning and teaching experiences (from beginning to end), and integrates the use of formative assessments that will occur during the process and summative assessment that will occur at the end. The inclusion of assessments in the framework, allows instructors to adapt to learners’ needs as they receive feedback and are able to make correction. In this stage, the focus is on getting to know the demographics, learning characteristics, learning styles, special needs, and diversity make-up of the learners (gathering objective and subjective data (assessments)); establishing unit learning objectives (considering state standards); identifying teaching and learning strategies that take into consideration the diversity in learning styles, motivations, and attitudes identified; identifying and selecting technologies to use to support teaching and learning to achieve learning objectives; and implementing a summative evaluation to identify areas for correction, and make adjustments to the lesson plan accordingly. Successfully completing the design phase ensures that instructors have maintained teaching goals and that the learning needs of students is the center of technology integration into the curriculum. This reinforces the idea, as stated by Duff and McDonald (2011) that “technology is a means to an instructional end, not an end in itself (p.26). Furthermore, Hartsell & Wang (2013) pointed out that the focal point of technology integration should be the needs of the individuals that will be using it and the intended purpose for the technology.
Once the design phase has been completed, using the DID model, the second stage of the process (Plan) focuses on the development of daily lesson plans, and identifying what components will be covered each day and how they will be presented, as well as, the types of formative and summative assessments that will be used. Here, instructors will identify the learning strategies and content that will be covered. Upon completion, the last phase of the process (Act) is where an instructional action plan will be developed. This is done by identifying the details of what is required (technology, resources, classroom environment, tools, etc.) that will be need for the daily lesson plans to be successfully executed. The result will be a checklist (to-do-list) of things that are required to carry out strategies and meet daily lesson plan goals and objectives. This last stage allows for any loose ends to be identified, therefore, allowing for a closed loop process of lesson planning from the Design stage to the Act stage. By following these steps, instructors are able to clearly identify what strategies need to be implemented, and how they will executed them in order to meet the learning goals and objectives set, and ensure that students are gaining and developing from the learning experience in ways that would not have been possible or available if learning was not supported with technology.
References
Hartsell, T., & Wang, S. (2013). Technology Integration and Foundations for Effective Leadership, Information Science Reference.
Lever-Duffy, J., McDonald, J., & Mizell, A. (2011). Teaching and Learning with Technology. Fourth Edition. Pearson Education, Inc.