Friday, November 26, 2010

Reflections on Course-Embedded Assignments for EDLD 5364 Teaching with Technology

As the title of this class suggests, I had hoped to learn techniques to integrate various technologies into classroom instruction. What I received was that and more. Not only did I learn some techniques, but I also learned the theory behind why students respond to technology and how to effectively plan to efficiently use technology in the classroom. As Page points out in his 1970 quote from Flanders, "Most important, early in the movement to analyze classroom interaction, it was found that superior achievement could be found among classrooms in which the teacher attained complete compliance from students, but these classrooms also consisted of an environment in which the teacher supported and encouraged student initiative. (2002) This is very true of classroom technology. As students are permitted to engage in discovery using technology, their achievement increases.

What was also interesting was learning, and practicing, different techniques for collaboration with geographically separated people. I’ve never been a fan of group work, and doing it when geographically separated was at first a daunting task. I had hoped to achieve the outcome of learning to facilitate group work over distance without loosing too much time in the period between messages being sent and input being submitted from group members. I feel we accomplished this fairly well. Though there are areas that could be improved related to coordinating more efficient times and methods of communication, through time management and simple document sharing strategies, I feel we all learned a few solid techniques for virtual collaboration.

The outcomes gained from this course are more relevant to my current work than ever before. I have seen my own daughter (6-years-old) wake up before everyone else in the family, sneak downstairs to use the family computer, and play math game software she received at school just so no one will bother her. In reflecting upon the Edutopia interview we watched featuring Sasha Barab, children everywhere seem to have mysteriously decided, almost on their own, that they don’t care what kind of game is presented, whether it is obviously for learning or meant for entertainment. As long as it is an engaging game that offers rewards and challenges, to them the game is worth playing. (n.d.) Upon completion of my degree, I hope to attain an instructional technology specialist position with a school district, or lecture in a school of education at a University. By learning more about the tools available that can be used in the classroom, I can help teachers determine the most effective tool for them, or I could take this knowledge and share it with pre-service students so they have a full toolbox to take with them into their careers.

I am still relatively uncomfortable associating learning activities with the correct corresponding TEKS and NETS. I feel this is from not having a class that specifically addressed how to select TEKS and how to cite them in a lesson plan. We have been exposed to TEKS, told where to find them, but I would appreciate a full week summarizing the theory behind the TEKS and how to determine the correct TEKS and NETs for a lesson. I also feel that I didn’t have the opportunity to see technology integrated into every subject that would appear in school. Though this demand sounds like a lot, I don’t mean it to sound so. I simply would have liked, each week, so see a different digital medium applied in a different subject class. For example, Week 1: math; Week 2: science; Week: 3, English language arts; Week 4: music; Week 5: art. This may sound overly simplified, but I’m sure many teachers feel that besides overhead projectors and smart boards, there simply is no place for flavor-of-the-month digital technology in some subject areas. I would like to know the language to help them see differently.

I felt I was very successful in completing the assignments for this course. However, I didn’t like having to submit my notes to the academic coach in the form of wiki posts, as I have always felt that notes are a personal thing. The way a person organizes their thoughts related to a lesson to be learned can be confusing and difficult for others to understand. By having to submit my notes as an assignment, I felt pressure to make my own notes understandable to a mass audience. This took them from being quick reference notes, to being a project that had to be professionally edited and presented. Though I wasn’t discouraged, I felt that the extra step of creating, editing and submitting the wiki pages was a time consuming effort that would have best been spent doing other coursework. Our group assignments went well. For group work, the best course of action I found was for me as group leader to create a document in Google Docs that served as a worksheet, then I shared that document in a folder I created for the group, and members contributed to the worksheet. I was then able to summarize the group’s input into an assignment to be submitted. The shared Google Docs folder was also useful in serving as a repository for individual assignments that supported a group project. This saved having to call or email each other constantly with attachments that may or may not be admitted through servers’ security or mailbox sizes.

From this course, I learned that I have a pretty good grasp on time-management skills (there was a lot of work to accomplish the past five weeks!), and my tech skills are mostly on-par with trends in current classroom technology. Before this class, I hadn’t used wikis much, but I feel that I can now effectively use wikis to foster group classroom collaboration. My leadership skills came in handy and were relatively unchanged from this experience. I have been in the military, so leadership, time management, and problem solving fortunately are not issues that I struggle with.

What I did struggle with was the assignments for week 4 in that they were to be student centered learning products citing associated TEKS & NETs. Because of the nature of the assignment, I asked a more experienced classroom teacher and group member to take the leadership role during week 4. As we worked through the assignment for this week, I was reminded of a quote from one of the videos from week 3: "In the beginning, what we tried to do was motivate. And then if all things come together as they should, pretty soon we're just trying to get out of the way." (n.d.) When a teacher or technology facilitator plans curriculum for students, they really should do so with this concept in mind. Teachers should take on more of a facilitator role, and leave the learning to the students. When they are ready to take the reins, let them go. This kind of harkens back to week two and the quote "if I teach this way, am I doing my job". My answer is that as long as a teacher has explained the parameters of the assignment, the class has developed a standard of ettiquite as well as standard of performance, then a teacher should just supervise to ensure standards are met and prescribe additional practice as necessary.

Overall, the group members were great, very accommodating, and very punctual in participation. Since our group members are dispersed throughout the state, as group leader I took on these weeks’ assignments with the feeling that I was going to push members pretty hard to get the product I wanted, the standard I wanted, and the grade I wanted without waiting around for consensus to build. I figured the consensus would come after I had presented a draft summary of group work back for their evaluation. Cooperative learning, such as the type we particpated in, not only will help students be better prepared for the fast-paced, virtual workplace, but also provide students a base of support on which they can lean for help or for praise. Cooperative learning activities help build trust, comaraderie, and teamwork. They are also useful for self-checking progress of in-class activities, homework and for completing other routines. Studies show that there is a small improvement in outcome when students use technology collaboratively. (Pitler, 2007)

Page, M. S. (2002). Technology-enriched classrooms: Effects on students of low socioeconomic status. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 34(4), 389–409. Retrieved October 5, 2009 from the International Society of Education at http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Number_4_Summer_20021&Template=/MembersOnly.cfm&ContentFileID=830

Edutopia.org. (n.d.) Big Thinkers: Sasha Barab on New Media Engagement. Retrieved October 5, 2009, from http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-sasha-barab-video

Edutopia.org (nd). Digital Youth Portrait -- Luis. Retrieved on Oct. 5, 2009 from http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-profile-luis-video

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 139-154.

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