Teaching+with+Technology+Reflections

//__Week #5 Reflections__//
As we complete our final week, I can look back and see how we have all learned to incorporate technology into our teaching, and to collaborate and share new technologies, websites, etc. to enhance each of our "technology tool boxes". I have been truly enlightened by what I have seen via the Internet in our videos. Schools across the country are trying new and innovative techniques to keep our students interested and engaged. They are giving them ownership of their work, and it shows. Competitive attributes come out - in a good way - and classrooms are becoming one big team!

Teachers are able to individualize their teaching to students who may have learning disabilities, physical restraints, etc. And the more gifted students are able to help these students as well, through group participation. That alone helps all involved - what better way to learn than to teach others. Every time I teach a class, I learn something new, either from a student or from using the technology itself.

We are truly stepping up, and preparing our youth for what life is like in the "real world". It is wonderful to be a part of this, and to feel I am helping just a little.

**//__Week #4 Reflections__//**
In order to integrate technology into the classroom, our teachers must first know the technology, then be able to discern what tools to use in delivering their lessons. This week, I was charged with the task of creating a Professional Development module to assist the teacher to do just that. While doing this, I was able to reinforce my knowledge of state standards, research and learn about new web tools available to teachers, and become more adept at some softwares I have used in the past, but not very often had a chance to utilize.

In doing this week's lessons, I have come to realize how some of our teachers who are not so tech savvy must feel. I have an extensive technology background, so the research, creation of the lesson, and delivery of the end product was not a difficult task for me. However, I can only imagine how it must feel to our teachers to have this be a requirement of their job, and not have adequate training. They already have so much to concern themselves with, in making sure academic standards are in place throughout their lessons, all children are taken care of in the consideration of expectations and outcomes, standardized test material is learned, etc. Adding the technology element must be overwhelming to them.

Although I believe the use of technology is a must in our classrooms in order to ready them for the "real world", I believe it will take many years for our educators to become proficient and confident enough to utilize all that is available.

Week #3 Reflections
Technology is so important in today's classroom for many reasons. One of the most important is that it closes the gap between the capabilities of different learners. With the use of various technologies, a teacher can present the same material to a child with ADHD, one who is hearing impaired, one with sight difficulties, one with advanced capabilities, etc. with the same success as the average student.

By using the strategies outlined in this week's readings, we are able to assure that we are offering diverse modes of teaching, examples for students, levels of challenge, etc. Web 2.0 tools can be utilized to deliver these teaching methods. Teachers can use wikis, blogs, instant messaging, email, web-based assisting tools, web games, and more to help our diverse students learn more affectively and efficiently. By compiling groups consisting of varied learning levels, students can collaborate and learn from one another while using all the tools mentioned.

This week has exposed me to a great many new tools and strategies to implement in my training modules, and has shown me many new websites to access when building these lessons. It seems the choices are endless, no matter what discipline one is teaching.

//__**Week #2 Reflections**__// Teaching today is so very different from years ago. This is true for many reasons. One of the main causes is that our classrooms are more diverse due to placing children with mental, physical, and behavioural difficulties into "normal" classrooms. This action requires our teachers to possess the ability to teach to the various abilities, while assuring standards and expectations are met. Technology can both assist and hinder in this process, as the capablities are there through various softwares and hardware; yet the professional development needed to utilize these tools is not always adequate to prepare the educator.

Given this, we must develop ways to allow our teachers to acquire the knowledge needed, while making sure they are not overworked any more than they already are. Perhaps this could be accomplished by providing assistance in the classroom in the form of human assistance as well as electronic. No matter how we help, it needs to be put into place soon. Our profession will continue to lose highly qualified individuals if they continue to be overworked and underpaid.

In working with, and discussing topics through our discussion boards, I am learning a great deal about various tools that are used in the K-12 environment. It has been 20 years since I worked in that arena, and now I work in the college environment. I feel that the exposure to these programs is helping me to understand how our college students have been prepared in the use of technology. And a better understanding of where they have been can only assist me in helping to know where we can take them.

__//**Week #1 Reflections**//__
Many theories exist relative to teaching with technology. The three this class will focus on include constructivism, connectivism, and cyborg theories. Constructivism considers the learner builds upon already acquired knowledge. In a hierarchical fashion, they will take what they know and add newly received information through hearing, reading, or collaborating; thus building their knowledge skills higher than before. This is probably the more traditional of the three theories.

Connectivism, however, allows that the learner accesses a variety of cources of information, then creates connections between the points. Rather than being a continual process, as constructivism, connectivism lets the learner interact with other humans, or with information; and builds the knowledge base from a multi-point source. This theory is probably closest to what education is moving toward today.

The cyborg theory observes the way humans interact with machines. This theory goes as far as to say that education may someday be impacted by actually implanting computer chips into the bodies of the learner, and allow the acquisition of knowledge in this way. I consider this theory to be a bit "big-brotherish", but not out of the question.

A great deal of research is being conducted and information gathered to assist us in finding the best way to teach today's student. This is evidenced in "How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School", (1999). We have learned that simply using the technology does not assure us that our students will indeed learn faster, more, or more efficiently. We must learn how to incorporate that technology in order to improve our teaching and learning experience.

As indicated by Solomon and Schrum (2007), other countries have surpassed the United States in their instructional success. They are incorporating Web 2.0 technologies into their classrooms as well as their entire country's infrastructure. They are recognizing that corporations are becoming global, and are not restricted to one location any longer. We must change our ways of teaching and learning to compete with this innovative thinking.

Web 2.0 technologies are making it easier to collaborate and to access information, then report on that information. The world is becoming a smaller place in which to work. As these technologies expand, so must our teaching methods. This will take our educational leaders thinking outside the box, and assuring access to our teachers and educators in order to prepare our youth for the future.