EDUC 6715 Final Reflection

In the reflection of Walden's EDUC 6715 about new and emerging technologies, the course really forced me to find out about the areas of technology that I simply have little to no knowledge. In my past as a younger teacher within the school setting, I have always been looked at by my own peers as someone who is a educaitonal technology guru, and a role model for implementing contemporary and highly motivating instructional ideas and activities for my students.

Yet within the past academic year or so, I have found that my own pedagogy has become slightly complacent as I have started to view myself as still a rogue forward thinking instructor at my school. Yet I have not developed any new ideas in quite sometime already. This class has forced me to do some real self reflecting about my current practices and whether or not I am simply getting lazy and content with what I already use in the classroom. If I ever do truly get one hundred percent complacent in the classroom, that is the day that I should truly retire from the educational profession.

I loved the ideas presented to me by some of my peers involved in this online cohort program. To keep myself new and afloat with modern educational ideas, I have learned that the Skype program is a great and relatively free way to communicate with each other about collaboration efforts. Also audacity is a great way to introduce my own students for their own podcasting ventures or desires to complete their own sound editing for various school projects.

Through these new ideas presented to me I have realized that it is not only essential to convince myself to make changes in my instructional practice, but also to my own instructional peers, administration, parents and the community for whom my school serves. Without the direct support of all of those who are shareholders overseeing in the success of their educational institutions real effective change in the classroom cannot truly be implemented as well.

EDUC 6714 Final Reflection

From sharing the resources together with my cohort members on the NING social community, I have gained a wealth of knowledge to be used in my classroom. Sharing everyones ideas while using podcasts and voicethreads, it is easily shown that these methods communication can be completed with my own students. Probably the most important resources I picked up from my group were the plethora of online inventories that I could use with my own students to learn their strengths, weaknesses and personality traits that I can cater their education around.

Using these inventories will likely be an immediate adjustment that I will use in my own classroom. I will also likely utilize the online homework system for my students from the University of Texas-Austin for immediate feedback for my students' math assignment. Lastly the PhET simulation software from the University of Colorado-Boulder will greatly supplement any of the major concepts I teach in physics that cannot be seen by neither the naked or magnified human eye.

EDUC 6713 Final Reflection

In this course, I have greatly learned some valuable perspectives into the education industry. This course has allowed me to push my own limits of my practice. Using Technology in the right manner that it was conceptualized, I am allowed to make sure that my instruction adequately meets the needs of all my students (from the general median to the exceptional student included within my classroom).

The progress has also allowed myself to make sure that I challenge and push students in different unique methods. Using the Problem-Based Learning approach, students are tied into the content of my curriculum by using real-world problems that the students can relate with in some manner. This approach also provides the student with a creative approach to guide their own learning and method to solving the problem that they are introduced to in-class. Ultimately this places further responsibility upon the student for their learning outcome rather than the teacher them self. This responsibility feeds the student to have a greater sense of how to use the technology tools in an educational role with an ethical manner. No longer would they perceive the tools as a method to flirt with their friends, but an avenue to accomplish great projects.

Lastly when the students are tied into the materials in this manner, they are appropriately meeting the standards put forth by the International Society of Technology Education for quality learning experiences. In my future, I will reflect on these standards and my experiences with this course and the GAME plan I developed and make sure that I am consistently improving my pedagogy for the benefit of my students.

GAME Plan in reference to NETS

The GAME plan for this course adequately allows our students to meet the technology standards as required by the International Society for Technology in Education. The project allows them plenty of freedom to lead their own learning in the problem based format of instruction. Such an idea fosters creativity among the class to determine the appropriate method to completing the project. Students also communicate via a 21st century industrial method in terms of a social online wiki. In compiling information on their wiki, they gain the background knowledge of their project by completing extensive research. By utilizing their research, they will determine the answers to the main questions of their project using critical thinking skills. The students will also create an ethical technology laden news episode which portrays their scientific findings to their peers. All of these ideas adequately meet the NETS-S standard which may be found here:

http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForStudents/2007Standards/NETS_for_Students_2007_Standards.pdf

Revising my GAME Plan

In this course I have learned how to differentiate my instructional methods to most effectively educate my students. In my classes a goal is to start incorporating various technology resources to further accomplish this task. In the NETS-T, I plan on tackling this issue by learning and modeling its use in the classroom before instructing the students on its usage. One technology resource I intend on using in the classroom in this manner is by podcasting. The students could verbally communicate on projects via this tool as they collaborate together on their various projects and I'm excited to see them being implemented with their activities.

Evaluating the GAME Plan

In the progression of my GAME Plan in EDUC 6713, I have reflected upon the following questions as they guide me in completing the necessary tasks for the course.

-How effective were your actions in helping you meet your goals?
One of my goals was to learn new assessment tools to use in the classroom that will measure another dimension of my students' learning. By using more open-ended short answer questioning within my laboratory reports that I newly expect of my students, I realize that the students are further challenged by demanding a higher ordered level of intelligence as they explain their answers.

-What have you learned so far that you can apply in you instructional practice?
So far I have learned how to diversify my instruction so that I realize how to reach the needs of not just the general student within my courses but the exceptional student that required individualized instruction.

-What do you still have to learn? What new questions have arisen?
As I have discussed in previous blog entries, I do notice that a digital storyboard activity is a necessary component of our GAME plans. I am critical and pessimistic that my current plan will not be conducive for the students to use one in their projects. I am interested in learning how to use such a tool in my classes and what projects would be best geared in using such resources as a component of the project assessment.

-How will you adjust your plan to fit your needs?
In the future I do have strong intentions to use a different problem based learning activity that is more conducive to using a digital storyboard program and software. As much as I love the alternative energy project that I proposed in the past, it is my intuition that there might be another activity and unit plan that will better fit the needs of this course. I am highly contemplating switching the GAME plan to the forensic mystery of the softball pitcher's death due to electro-static activity.

Monitoring the GAME Plan

As an update on the GAME plan I will answer the following questions to notify all my fellow cohort colleagues and instructor of Walden EDUC 6713 of my project progress.

-Are you finding the information and resources that you need?
Yes I am.

-Do you need to modify your action plan?
I may change my action plan to a project that may allow a digital storyboard lesson for it. Currently with my energy project, I'm having difficulty coming up with a digital storyboard lesson that will fit with it and looking forward into the course I realize it's a necessary component in the project's assessment.

-What have you learned so far?
So far I have learned how to diversify my lesson plans for those with exceptional needs and to choose the correct assessment for the right unit of study.

-What new questions have arisen?
If you notice two questions prior, I have completed storyboards in class before just never in a digital situation. It will be interesting to learn the software that will allow the students to accomplish this task.