EDUC 6715: New and Emerging Technologies

Throughout this eight week course we have explored the differences between emerged and emerging technologies and their impact on our professional paths. We have explored and discussed what is means to be a teacher leader and the implications this can have on school technology decisions. We were challenged to apply McLuhan's Tetrad as it applies not only to media but our adoption of emerging technologies for our classrooms/schools.

In our exploration of multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs), learning modules and digital games, each of us was asked to each was asked to develop a lesson plan, a plan for adoption and a rational for a grant proposal. Through my plan I have explored the use of the MUVE, whyville in my classroom to engage and instruct fifth graders in food chains and food web exploration. Through this course we were to explore the latest technology and strategies to decide if they were worth time and implementation. I determined that using whyville in my classroom would be engaging as well as rigorous for fifth graders in learning about food webs and using dichotomous keys. This technology is new to our building and will take time to gain acceptance with staff members.

There are a number of adjustments I plan to make within the next six months. It is important that I keep up with the current technology available for use in classrooms. It is not good enough to walk in to a Best Buy store. I find the magazine Tech & Learning focuses more on hard and software that I could use in education. Secondly, I need to keep the lines of communication open within our staff. I will only be able to bring technology into my classroom if I can bring others on board too. I plan to set up a wiki for our staff members and meetings to demonstrate how useful this platform could be. Finally, being a resource teacher, I team teach with other staff members that are willing to allow me to take the lead on lessons such as the MUVE whyville for science.

One thing many of us can agree on is that students need more communication and collaboration (encompassed in many of the above mentioned) to compete it the 21st century world.

Spotlight On Emerging Technology: Online Learning in K-12

A presentation created for Georgian Heights teachers to introduce RCampus as a possible on-line platform to create and share student work & progress.

On-line Learning at RCampus

EDUC 6714: Reaching & Engaging All Learners through Technology Reflection

Over the past eight weeks our class has participated in groups utilizing a Ning to create a Differentiation Station. The use of a social networking site is not new to our masters program courses, but I have used these resources in a very limited way outside of our class applications until recently. The use of this resource itself has made me a little more comfortable with communicating with my colleagues in such a way. I also feel that I am ready to launch into using a Ning with a small group of fifth graders next school year. One of the messages we continue to hear is that implementing technology needs to be done one small step at a time. I am hopeful that I will find a small group of students that is excited to try to implement technology into their school work and will be fairly forgiving when we hit bumps in the road.

Throughout our course we discovered how very intertwined Universal Design for Learning and Differentiated Instruction are. Universal Design for Learning is a theory that through differentiated instruction to reach students' different learning styles, profiles, and readiness, we achieve many pathways for all students to travel to reach the common learning goal. There are many resources in the differentiation station that I plan to use. One of my favorites was posted by Kevin Richstad, http://tech4di.wikispaces.com/Content+Strategies . This link takes you to a wiki that has many contributions from teachers of various backgrounds. It shows a variety of differentiation strategies that they have implemented with the lesson ideas ranging all subjects. Another site, http://scratch.mit.edu/ shared by another member, Heather Rogers, is a free resource that allows students to create games,animations, and share stories. Students choose the artifact they can complete to meet the common goal for a class, through creations that are exciting and engaging to them. Differentiated Instruction strives to engage students through various means.

There a couple of adjustments I expect to make immediately in my own instructional practice. I have already started allowing students more choice in the projects and products they are responsible for. I was inspired by Megan Webster, a teacher in one of our Media resources. She modeled guiding the students from the sidelines and truly allowing them to lead their own project. She also had many students working in teams on skills that she perceived as a weakness for them. They were so driven to complete their project that they really rose to the challenge. In my fifth grade science class last Thursday I read the class the grade level indicators that our state and district say we must address in the next three weeks (renewable and natural resources.) I followed this with a newspaper article from our Sunday paper on our cities lack of recycling. We had a wonderful discussion on the projects we could undertake as a class in the next few weeks, obstacles and tasks required to complete a project. I ended the class with a challenge, write a letter to the principal outlining what we proposed. I told the students I would not edit their letters, that was their job. I suggested things that could make their argument most persuasive. I left the next class up to them. If in a week they produced well written letters that could persuade the principal, we would proceed with our plan, if not it was back to the traditional curriculum approach to this standard. The students seemed highly motivated when I left their room and the homeroom teacher was grateful that I had just encouraged good writing for a purpose. I envision using a class wiki, excel to graph for posters & keeping job charts, and word processor for printing fliers and letters home. The technology possibilities for this project seem endless. I can't wait for their next class.