New and Emerging Technologies - Final Reflection

During this course, I've learned a lot about the transformation of digital tools and the stages that technology passes through (McLuhan's Tetrad). I've also learned how to be a teacher leader and the different steps or approaches I can take to advocate for technology programs at my school. One of the themes of this course that I came across several times was that student learning styles are changing and as teachers, we need to consider that and be open to trying new things in our classrooms. Almost all students interact with some form of technology outside of school. In order to make learning relevant to their everyday lives, we need to bring some of that technology into school and show students how to use those tools in an educational way. By showing students how to successfully manage and organize the large amounts of information that are available to them, they will become better self-directed learners. With technology, students need to know that they can customize their own learning experiences. This course has provided an unlimited number of ways to customize curricula. We have studied different virtual environments, such as online learning modules (Moodle), multi-user virtual environments (Second Life), digital games, and creating personal learning networks. Teachers can be unsure about using certain virtual environments because they are unfamiliar with them. From my own experience, I was unfamiliar with MUVES, like Second Life, and was unaware of all of the educational benefits. I learned that there are many resources for teachers in Second Life, including professional development opportunities. Teachers can also meet in Second Life from different places around the world to share ideas and have conferences. Students are able to create avatars, build worlds, and collaborate. According to Will Richardson (2009), we should "be proactive in educating about social networking." Using MUVES creates opportunities for students to learn in a multi-sensory environment, problem-solve, and view content through multiple representations. A major benefit of using online learning tools is that it reduces student's threat of failure. In virtual environments, students can experiment with trial and error. Several software provides immediate feedback. What more could a teacher ask for?

In demonstration of my learning, I created a lesson that integrated digital mini games and other interactive web sites. The content area the lesson focuses on is Science, specifically, human body systems. Students watch a video clip from Brain Pop and discuss familiar systems as a class. During the explore phase, students work with a partner to interact with these web sites: Kinetic City - All Systems Are Go!, Inner Body, and Kids Health. While gathering information from these sites, students are asked to record notes on a graphic organizer. At the closing of the lesson, students take an online quiz. Through these web sites, students are able to navigate the body systems and focus on what they feel they need to. At the Kinetic City site, students play a mini game where they match body parts to their body systems. This game is very content centered, but gives students a fun way to learn. I was able to demonstrate my learning in this course through creating this lesson because I successfully integrated educational digital games that were goal-directed. Using these web sites, provides an example of how technology can enhance student learning and focus on multiple learning styles. I also constructed a report on influencing adoption and explored grant resources. I found several great grant resources and programs aimed at technology integration.

According to Fullan (2001), "change is a process, not an event" (p.40). Adjustments I will make to my efforts and teaching will focus on this thought. Change is ongoing and should be managed in steps. When I have a classroom of my own, I will create a mixed learning atmosphere. I will integrate the technologies I have learned about in this course based on the needs of my students and my own readiness. I will look into more professional development opportunities for myself and other teachers to learn about new and emerging technologies. I also now have the knowledge to locate funding and defend my choices of technology to administrators and parents.

Resources:
Fullan, M. (2001). Leading in a Culture of Change. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009) Virtual worlds. New and Emerging Technologies. Baltimore: Author.

Emerging Technology: Online Learning in K-12 Schools

My Voice Thread presentation on online learning:

http://voicethread.com/share/1180623/

Reaching and Engaging All Learners Through Technology: Course Reflection

The course, Reaching and Engaging All Learners Through Technology, has taught me a lot about UDL, differentiation, and integrating technology to make it all come together. Teachers can use technology as a tool to organize and implement differentiation in their classrooms. Differentiation is a way of thinking. Every student has his or her own way of learning. There are several different classroom elements that teachers can differentiate, including content, process, product, and learning environment. Throughout this course we have had the chance to practice creating differentiated lessons and plans to use in our classrooms. We have also created a Ning web site to share resources and work. Creating the Ning was a positive experience for me. I am glad I have had the opportunity to create different web sites with my classmates at Walden. Doing this has helped me become more familiar with them and how they can be beneficial to learning. I will be more prepared to use educational sharing sites with my students.

There are several ways that I can use the Differentiation Station (Ning site) to implement the principles of Universal Design for Learning and Differentiated Instruction. I can always look back at the UDL/differentiation presentations my group members and I created to refresh my memory. I could also use the ideas from these to show other teachers that I work with. Our Ning site has been an amazing tool for sharing resources. I will most definitely be returning to the site to use resources that have been posted. I like how on the Ning site there is the option of contacting someone individually or the group as a whole. We can also use the chat feature to discuss what we are learning or how we are using differentiation in our classrooms. The Ning site itself is supportive of differentiated learning in that it offers multiple ways to share information. For example, there is a blog feature, option to post photos or video, and a discussion forum. I will use this site to connect with my Walden classmates and perhaps even more colleagues in the future to share resources and experiences.

Adjustments I will make in relation to integrating technology to customize instruction as a result of this course include: matching technology the closest I can to learning outcomes or students' personal needs, using technology to differentiate assessment, and looking in to different types of technology (digital cameras, Ipods, response systems, different types of assistive technologies, etc..) that I am not as familiar with. I think a lot of our focus in our class at Walden was different resources offered online or from a computer, such as wikis, Ning, blogs, screen recording software, photo story and creating videos. I want to try to extend my knowledge to other types of technology. I'm glad that I now have a better understanding of how to design and organize educational resources, projects, collaboration, and assessments online.

Implementing UDL and differentiation strategies, while integrating technology as well, requires a teacher to be flexible and have a flexible classroom design.

*Links*
My group's Ning at Walden: http://waldengroup2.ning.com/

Dare to Differentiate (a wiki with tons of useful resources!) http://daretodifferentiate.wikispaces.com/

UDL Presentation

Student Survey

Here is a link to a student survey I created using different resources I found on the web.

http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/259771/student-learning-profile


Resources I used include:

http://surfaquarium.com/MI/inventory.htm
http://home.att.net/~clnetwork/co-op/misurvey.pdf
http://www.spannj.org/BasicRights/appendix_b.htm
http://www.oswego.edu/plsi/plsi48a.htm
http://www.scribd.com/doc/17020655/Student-Interest-Survey
http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html

Final Reflection: Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas

As my 8th course at Walden comes to a close, I will take some time to reflect on my learning. This class, along with my classmates, has taught me how to appropriately and effectively integrate technology into the areas I teach.

Learning the GAME plan has been beneficial for me because it gave me a way to organize my goals and constantly evaluate the progress of them. This simple system for managing goals can be used by anyone and would be good to pass on to students. By using the GAME plan in this course, I learned how to connect with teachers in different countries and about different assessment strategies using technology. Having the GAME plan and this blog to record in, gave me the motivation to reach out and accomplish my goals. Having learned these new things with my first experience of using the GAME plan, it will definitely have a positive impact on my instructional practice. Now that I learned new ways to connect with other teachers, I will always have access to sharing information with them and learning from them. Learning about assessments has given me more options for assessing my students and their differentiated needs.

Adjustments I would make to my instructional practice regarding technology in the content areas would be to try and best match up technology with the purpose of my lessons and to provide as many options to students as possible for creating final products of their work. I think it's important to use technology appropriately and it is the teacher's responsibility to make effective decisions when deciding what type of technology to incorporate into lessons.

Using the GAME Plan Process with Students

Now that I have successfully used the GAME plan process, I feel that I can more effectively use it with my students. In order to help students meet the NETS-S standards, I could use the GAME plan to structure students' goals. One of my goals for the students would be to have them eventually implement this plan on their own. Once students are familiar with the steps, they will become custom to doing it on their own and applying it to different areas in their life. The NETS-T and NETS-S are very inter-related because because they both focus on similar core ideas, which include creativity, digital age learning (collaboration), information fluency and digital citizenship, engaging in growth and transfer of knowledge.

There are different ways that you can use the GAME plan with students. I think it is important to make sure students are aware of the process of learning. It's also important to remind students that if they didn't fully meet their goal, it is not necessarily a bad thing. They will just continue the cycle by evaluation and determining how they will modify their plan until they meet their goal. The GAME plan can be easily applied to almost any lesson. Every lesson we teach should have a goal. We are also always monitoring student learning and evaluating it. The key is to get students more involved in the process. We've learned about many different tools on the internet that can help students with accomplishing their goals and staying organized. For example, blogs are a wonderful tool for student reflection. Implementing the GAME plan will help students become more self-directed learners.