EDLD+5364+Teaching+with+Technology

=**Week 1-**=

This week has focused on three different learning theories related to teaching with technology. Reading about these different theories caused me to look at my own person thoughts and theories about teaching and how they relate to technology in the classroom. While reading the articles, listening to the lectures, and watching the videos it became clear that the greatest similarity of each of these learning theories is its relationship to technology. These theories have validated my belief of the importance of integrating technology into everyday teaching and learning.

The constructivism theory is based on the idea that students bring in their own previous knowledge and then in turn use it along with new information to create new knowledge. I believe that constructivism allows for a more learner-centered environment where students are able to use collaboration and project-based learning to accomplish the educational objectives. Connectivism builds knowledge that is established through connecting multiple sources of information. Learning tends to lean more towards knowing where to locate information from various sources when needed. Technology has certainly provided a strong foundation for Connectivism by a plethora of information sources that are basically at everyone’s finger tips when needed. The hardest learning theory for me to relate to was the Cyborg Theory. I am still not at the point of understanding the combination of humans and machines. I am interested to see where my group and I might be able to integrate these different learning theories into our scenario.



=Week 2-=

==== This past week of Teaching with Technology has continued to build on the effective integration of technology into classrooms. This week’s readings discussed both the positive and negative effects of technology in the classroom. I can definitely see both sides to this situation. However, I am a firm believer that when technology is used effectively to enhance the curriculum objectives it can increase student confidence and success. Just as students need guidance in their instruction, teachers need to have same opportunities to expand their knowledge and confidence with technology. ====

====﻿ I found the videos interesting this week. Technology is a great tool for following the Universal Design approach to learning. I have always looked at the use of technology as an easy way to differentiate instruction to meet the needs of individual learners. I am looking forward to working more with the Universal Design concepts in week 3. ====



=Week 3-= ====It is hard to believe that I am wrapping up week 3 of this course. This week has been full of individual and group assignments, but even with the work load it has been over informative content. I enjoyed the readings and videos this week because of the easy tie in technology leads for the Universal Design for Learning. Before this week I had never heard of the Universal Design for Learning. This week brought clarity to my belief in the use of technology to help teachers meet the needs of all learners in their classrooms. Through creating a UDL lesson this week I was able to focus on the what, how and why of learning. The UDL framework also allows for a teacher to be consistent with presenting information in different ways while students get to express their knowledge in a variety of ways. Differentiated instruction can help motivate and engage students. UDL serves as a great model for teachers to create their own lesson plans while addressing the individual needs of their students. Incorporating technology into the curriculum is a great place for a teacher to start working with the Universal Design for Learning framework.====

====This week also brought my first experience with the website eBook builder. A world of potential for affecting instruction for students was opened up through this website. This site has so many options available for a teacher to differentiate their instruction while ensuring all students receive similar content. The eBook website provides so many options in one place for a teacher to reach all of his or her students’ needs and learning styles. I plan to share this resource with teachers in my district and also create some more examples that I can use in some of my training sessions.====

**UDL Lesson Reflection-**
====The Center for Applied Special Technology (2009) defines Universal Design for Learning as “a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone--not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs.” The past couple of years have brought about a huge focus on differentiated instruction and the importance of meeting all students’ needs. However, I have never heard of the Universal Design for Learning. UDL walks teachers through the what, how and why of learning which I believe seems to get lost in the shuffle of education. Following the UDL framework also allows for a teacher to be consistent with presenting information in different ways while students get to express their knowledge in a variety of ways. Differentiated instruction can help motivate and engage students. UDL serves as a great model for teachers to create their own lesson plans while addressing the individual needs of their students. Incorporating technology into the curriculum is a great place for a teacher to start working with the Universal Design for Learning framework.====

Center for Applied Special Technology, (2009). //Model UDL Lessons.// http://udlselfcheck.cast.org/


eBook - Please access this link to see my first attempt at an eBook. []



=Week 4-= Another week has come and gone! This week was a continuation of last week and was an extension of creating a UDL lesson. I started my week by working through my student learning activities which were based on my UDL lesson. This part of the week was probably my favorite. It was fun to get involved with a technology based project and discuss my group’s feedback. From discussing all of the special needs of the students in our scenario, I also decided to do a podcast activity. I had more fun pretending to be a student and creating a script. I was then able to get my husband to be a student right along with me. He is currently a tech apps teacher at a local junior high, and he is already planning on implementing my idea with his own students.

This week also focused on the importance of professional development in order to effectively implement technology integration. This week’s information continued to support my own personal philosophy on the importance of professional development for my teachers. Believing in professional development has not been enough to initiate some changes within my own teachers in my district. Having new and emerging technologies in our classrooms is not sufficient in the battle of technology integration. Having these new resources to share with my teachers will hopefully help me with trying to work more closely with my teachers on professional development.



=Week 5-﻿= It is hard to believe that this has been the last week of this class! For me this week was a focus on current and future possibilities with technology. During my school days I only had computers in 8th, 12th, and once in college. To be honest I do not remember anything really from these courses, but I do know that no collaboration or inventive products were allowed. So to say that technology in education has changed would be an understatement.

From this week’s readings and videos, the focus was on the opportunities that our students today have with technology. Technology not only makes it easy for students to show what they have learned, but it is making it easy for teachers to set expectations and grade these products. Teachers need to provide authentic assessment while students are used to receiving immediate feedback. The use of technology tools is beginning to shift from actual software products to Web 2.0 tools. It seems like there isn’t a week that goes by that one of the Instructional Technology Specialists in my department discovers a new Web 2.0 tools for our teachers and students to use. With the deep budget cuts that are happening across my district, it is reassuring to know that we are still able to recommend free, easy accessible tools. In my opinion, part of our educational responsibilities is to prepare our students for the future which has not even been invented yet.

=Course Embedded Assignment Reflection-= ====After previewing the course assignments before the course even got underway, I have to say that I was kind of dreading this course. Just because of the name of the course, I expected it to be just one technology infused lesson after another, but the course syllabus didn’t reflect what I had envisioned for this course. After working my way through each week, I am happy to report that this course really was so much more than I had envisioned. The opportunity to work collaboratively with my group allowed us to create a quality unit on teaching with technology.====

====This course took lesson planning to a level that I think all teachers need to be exposed to regardless of the curriculum at hand. Before this course I had never heard of the Universal Design for Learning. Rose & Meyer (2002) argued, “We can accommodate diverse learners by using a repertoire of teaching strategies suited to each of the brain networks” (Chapter 6). This entire course really broadened my knowledge related to UDL as well as focusing my activities to the brain networks. Along with UDL being new to me, I had never heard of the eBook builder. Learning about this invaluable resource that would allow a teacher to meet so many students through one eBook has opened up a world of opportunities for both me as an Instructional Technology Specialist and my classroom teachers. Before this course I had also never created a Google site. I have really enjoyed creating this site for my team and being able to customize it and add our group’s collaborative project.====

====When planning technology infused lessons for demo lessons or with my classroom teachers, my focus has always been the curriculum content first and the technology second. Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski (2007) stated that, “Using technology for technology’s sake isn’t a good application of instructional time or funding, and it is unlikely to improve student achievement” (p. 217). Through working with the UDL lesson design and the eBook builder, I was able to continue to make the focus of my lessons the curriculum content while using certain technologies that would meet the diverse needs of the learners in the scenario. Using the collaborative Google site to create a group project has allowed me to pull some of these ideas into projects for the professional development that I offer within my district. I feel like being able to pull in the bits of new knowledge into the entire assignment made my personal experience with the assignment very positive. I was able to take some ideas that I have used with my teachers and expand on them to include activities that would meet more diverse learners.====

====The whole goal for me while completing this assignment was to create a cohesive group project that focused on using multiple technology tools that we have learned about throughout this course and our own personal experiences. I truly feel like my group and I went into this project with our curriculum objectives as our goal and then built our learning activities around them. Throughout this entire group project, I was definitely the type of learner that relied heavily on the rubrics for each portion of the assignments. Through using the rubrics, I was not only able to keep myself focused on the assignment at hand, but I was able to help guide my team members through the weekly group assignments. I think having a group to collaborate with caused me to want to work harder and produce better lessons. I did not want to do anything that would jeopardize their grades. Being made to publicize my work to the discussion board and my wikis has definitely caused me to try to step up my game a bit.====

====One of my biggest concerns with this course being based on a collaboration project was that it would be hard for my group and me to get our individual ideas to meld together. This entire course has proven to me that with dedication and the willingness to work together for a common goal, on-line collaboration can be beneficial to teachers and students. My district is beginning to discuss the possibility of trying to move some of our professional development to on-line options. While I don’t necessarily believe that total on-line instruction should replace all face-to-face instruction, I think that it can certainly be a beneficial resource for teachers and a viable option to classroom instruction.====

====This course has challenged me to expand my knowledge of available technology tools available to teachers while encouraging me to focus on the different learning styles that are out in classrooms today. I would like to challenge myself to create a similar project with some of my teachers and their students to get collaboration and technology going in my district. Just as Sprague and Dede (1999) stated, “Teachers sometimes are concerned about such a shift; they worry about losing control, not fulfilling their role, or being seen as less effective by parents, principals, or supervisors” (p.7). I do struggle with trying to keep teachers motivated with the integration of technology so I would like to spend some more time researching some ideas that would help teachers feel comfortable with giving over some of the control to the power to technology. I am looking forward to being able to take what I have learned throughout this course and share it with my colleagues.====

References Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). //Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning//. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Available online at the Center for Applied Special Technology web site, [] Sprague, D. & Dede, C. (1999). If I teach this way, am I doing my job: Constructivism in the classroom. Leading and Learning, 27(1). Retrieved January 28, 2011 from the International Society for Technology in Education at http://imet.csus.edu/imet9/280/docs/dede_constructivisim.pdf

