Teaching+with+Technology+-+Reflection

=Course Reflection=

I started EDLD 5364, Teaching with Technology, with very high expectations. My first introduction to the course was when the books— “Web 2.0 new tools, new schools” and “Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works” — arrived. After scanning through both books, I expected to complete this course knowing how to better integrate technology into the core curriculum. Then once I finally read the course syllabus, I realized that I would learn about different theories and strategies for using technology to support student achievement.

This course has met my expectations and has made me a better Technology Facilitator. I achieved the outcomes that I envisioned and others. Through readings and the use of the cast tools, I have gained a better understanding of why technology should be used to support the core curriculum. I know technology strategies to improve student achievement without having to purchase new software. I can also reference research that supports the use of technology strategies that improve student achievement.

The outcomes that I achieved with this course are more relevant now than ever. Teachers are eager to try new techniques that will improve student achievement. Before I started the course, a Math teacher came to me wanting ways to use technology to increase the success of her students. Before the course, I did not have technology strategies to improve student achievement in a math classroom. Now I have strategies that can help her remove barriers to student success. On Monday, I informed the math teacher that I had an instructional strategy that would assist her in decreasing her failure rate. I introduced her to the instructional strategy of reinforcing effort. She is excited about helping her students understand the relationship between effort and achievement. I was able to assist the 7th grade social studies department in developing a technology-based activity where the students created a PowerPoint to show what they had learned about the Republic of Texas. Therefore, this course has allowed me to assist the teachers at our campus in using technology to improve student achievement.

I was not happy with the final product that my group produced. Our group did not start to function as a group until the end of week 3. I do not think that we had a clear understanding of the requirements until after we complete the UDL Lesson Plan and started working on the week four assignments. Our action plan lacked any clear action that would be required of each group member. If we had developed a clear action plan at the end of week 2 and beginning of week 3, we would have produced a better solution. We provided a solution to the scenario after spending a lot of late nights on Google chat developing an action plan. If we would have received feedback on our group assignments submitted week 2 and week 3, the process may have seemed less overwhelming. The optional web conference helped to clear up some of the misconceptions that we had about the project requirements.

I was successful in completing the course assignments. Updating the wiki each week was easy to accomplish so I always left it until I completed the other assignments. Week 3 was the only week I had a difficult time completing the assignments. The number of assignments and the depth of the assignments for week three were unexpected. I had to submit my wiki post on Monday for week 3. However, after week three I realized that I needed to make sure I looked at the assignments for the week early to ensure I prearranged enough time for completion. The group assignments were a challenge in the beginning because we had a hard time meeting. However, during week three we realized we needed to set group norms. Therefore, we started to use Google chat for nightly meetings and started to set group deadlines. I completed the required discussion posts each week and actually read more of the other post during this class.

This course taught me that group work could be very effective with the use of web 2.0 tools. From now on when I have to develop curriculum with a group I will recommend that we use collaboration tools such as Google Docs and Wikis. These tools allow all members to have a say in the final product and keeps a record of who contributes. As a Technology Facilitator, I like to provide my teachers face to face time. While this is good, I may also be depriving my teachers of job embedded technology experiences. I use a variety of social networking and online communities to network and learn new information, so I should introduce my teachers to online communities as well. I can no longer simply encourage my teachers to use technology in the classroom because it is available to them. I have to explain to them that the use of technology can remove barriers to success and improve student motivation.