Reflection on EDUC 6715

Working to create a technology integrated lesson that employs online gaming was very useful to me as a teacher. I have previously used simulations without technology and found them helpful, but not nearly to the degree that my lesson using Pyramid Challenge from the BBC’s website will be. Students today are not as easily engaged. Using any technology component instantly makes educational activities more appealing and familiar to them. I know I can count on my sixth graders not only being excited to plan, procure materials for, design, and build a realistic Egyptian pyramid, but I will be able to extend this activity thanks to a well-designed and valuable game interface. Students are constantly being asked to work on higher-level thinking and in collaborative activities and Pyramid Challenge allows them to do just that.

Perhaps even more beneficial to me as a classroom teacher though was working to understand the process of finding and writing grants so that technology tools may be made available in my classroom even if they are not at my school. Simple searches can yield plenty of results for companies and foundations that see the value of technology integration. Gaining access to those funds is a bit more challenging, but working to create a grant introduction that sums up my goals was very helpful in preparing for writing an actual proposal. Reading the variety of resources available to help teachers in this process was also beneficial so that I can be prepared to think like the grant reader would.

Some changes that I plan to make immediately to help me prepare to teach 21st Century learners will be to join more professional teacher organizations and to subscribe to online and print journals for educators. Throughout this course as well as my entire work toward my degree, I have been amazed at the information presented as well as the opportunities provided by these actions. Top experts in technology regularly report their research findings, webinars are held, conferences are advertised, and grants, fellowships, and participatory stipends are all made available for teachers via teacher organizations and journals. To be realistic, teachers want to bring changes to their classroom for 21st Century learners, but this is not possible without current information and funding. My new knowledge of these resources has been extremely helpful in this respect; creating change.

Online Learning in K-12 Schools

Hi All! Check out my presentation for my colleagues on online learning through Moodle!

http://voicethread.com/share/1017778/

Reflection on Reaching and Engaging Learners Through Technology

Working with Differentiated Instruction and Universal Design for Learning can seem like a daunting task at first, but as I discovered, it can be done effectively and seamlessly thanks to technology integration. A major way to eliminate the potential hurdles; including time constraints, accessing tools, finding resources, as well as applying strategies in a real classroom is to use social networking sites such as the Ning network established by my classmates and I.

Two main components of both UDL and DI are to be flexible and to also have an open mindset when working to apply these frameworks in class. The many resources my classmates and I gathered included articles informing teachers of the basics and history of these revolutionary ideas so that we can understand in what direction we should be working. We took it to the next level by contributing sources for UDL and DI lesson plans that were already prepared so that we could practice and get an idea of how to create model lessons of our own. Then resources that expanded our repertoire of technology tools that could be used in our classes to do a variety of tasks such as translate text to speech, pronounce terms, magnify information, and organize it graphically, along with many other amazing differentiation possibilities. And finally we presented our own lessons and gave each other feedback, which is invaluable for teachers as they prepare to use DI and UDL in their own class.

As far as immediate changes I plan to make for increasing technology in my class, I would have to say that I need to 'just do it'. Working on graduate courses as well as our recent freak snowstorms have caused me to have less time for putting the many ideas I have been getting in this course into action. I am excited and encouraged thanks to the hard work of my coursemates and look forward to moving forward in integrating even more technology.