EDLD+5364

EDLD 5364 - Teaching with Technology

Reflection
__Self -Assessment__ The high expectations for the course, “Teaching with Technology” began shortly after I received the twelve required courses for this degree plan. “Teaching with Technology” stood out from the others, mostly because it applied to my job as an instructional technology specialist. I was disappointed to see that it was listed at the end of the sequence, and took a year and a half of patience before I would take the course. I rank this course as my top favorite and feel it surpassed my expectations. One of the most pleasing aspects of the course was the textbook, “Using Technology with Instruction that Works”. It will become a favorite resource to help meet the needs of 21st century teaching and learning. Robert Marzano’s nine categories of effective instructional strategies are combined with the seven categories of technology as the main focus in the book. Together they form the perfect fit for creating and inspiring unique learning experiences that ensure improvement in student achievement.

__Learn as a Learner __ Participation in the coursework itself was an experience of 21st century learning through our collaborations, productivity, and creativity while solving the scenario for our group project. We spent weeks planning our unit of study around the four simple planning questions: 1. What will students learn? 2. Which strategies will provide evidence of student learning? 3. Which strategies will help students acquire and integrate learning? 4. Which strategies will help students practice, review, and apply learning? (Pitler, 2007 p. 11) A valuable experience was using Google Docs for our online collaborations and planning. The learning experience has already been shared with others in my district to help them with their document sharing and collaborations. Another remarkable experience gained through this course was examining the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) website. CAST, is a nonprofit organization that strives to expand learning for all individuals (EPIC, 2011). We had to use the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework model to build our unit so that all students in our given scenario were given the same opportunities to learn the lesson goals. Most of my experience in education has been teaching gifted and talented students. There were few opportunities to work with students who had special needs or disabilities. Therefore, my challenge was creating or providing learning activities for the visually impaired student and the hearing impaired student. Many hours was spent in research and preparation to make sure we were reaching all students in our unit study. The experience of group work in this unit creation will always be remembered. It showed how together, we were empowered to tackle any situation and collaborate and brainstorm a plan. The results of working together as a team produced a better product than if each of us worked alone. We were all amazed and beamed with pride at our finished product. It is hard to pinpoint the most important lessons that were learned from this course, since there were so many. There were the three different learning theories, but the constructivist theory was the favorite from the start. It is one that promotes project-based learning where the teacher is a facilitator and where students are active in the classroom. They are sharing ideas, asking questions, discussing concepts, and revising their ideas and misconceptions (Dede, 1999). Another lesson is focusing on the education more than the technology, which says that we should allow the technology to become the tool to help students learn. This course taught me the three brain networks: recognition, strategic, and affective and how to allow technology provide ways to incorporate these in student centered learning. We were given the site to create our own electronic book to use in reaching those students who may have learning disabilities. Not only is this resource good to share with other educators, but it was also nice to share with my five grandchildren who will benefit from this fun activity for many years.

__Lifelong Learning Skills __ It is easy to see why this course is ranked as my all time favorite. I have gained wisdom and have added to this new attitude about teaching others technology. The research that I did for assisting special needs children will be lasting. It gave me a different appreciation for technology seeing how it empowers them and helps them to learn easier and not feel ostracized in the learning. This course taught me the value of collaboration and working in a group to create a product. I gained lasting friendships and plan to add them to my personal learning network. Together we were able to create an awesome project that surpassed anything that I could have created alone. I want to emulate this type of collaboration to help align our technology curriculum in our district. I think that we could create a great product with the type of hard work and collaboration that my group did for this class. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 27pt;">As you can see, this course has many lasting resources to use in helping others learn about the impact of technology in the classroom. More than anything, it’s important to remember that the education comes first and foremost, and technology is the tool that helps get the information and learning goals to the student. This course taught me a better methodology of getting technology into the classroom and into the hands of teachers.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoslki, K. (2007). //Using technology with classroom instruction that works.// Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Sprague, D. & Dede, C. (1999). If I teach this way, am I doing my job; Constructivism in the classroom. //Leading and Learning.// 27(1). Retrieved March 25, 2011 from the International Society for Technology in Education at [] Mason, Diane D. (2011). Lamar University’s EPIC course system. EDLD 5364 Teaching With Technology, Week 2: //Technology Strategies that Positively Impact Student Learning, Slide 6.//

= Google Site = =﻿Group DPD-"What's My Angle?"= =Wiki: "What's My Angle?" =

<span style="background-color: #a30505; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">Reflections

=<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">﻿Week 1 Reflection = =<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Week 2 Reflection = =<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">﻿Week 3 Reflection = =<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Week 4 Reflection = =<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Week 5 Reflection =

=<span style="background-color: #a30505; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Universal Design for Learning = =<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">UDL Lesson = =<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">UDL Reflection =

<span style="background-color: #a30505; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">My eBook =Geometry with George=

<span style="background-color: #a30505; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">Assignments