Through this course, I have gained greater insight in how to use many technological tools in new ways and to integrate them effectively into my classroom. While I was very comfortable with using several of the tools prior to this class, I believe I have grown tremendously in my knowledge of technological tools and expanded my abilities significantly as well. Now, focusing upon the elements contained in Standards I and V of the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers I see how those key multimedia tools will support my growth and movement across the rubric to becoming a level four on all of the performance indicators.
I. Technology operations and concepts
A. Demonstrate introductory knowledge, skills, and understanding of concepts, related to technology (as described in the ISTE National Educational Technology Standards for Students).
One specific goal I have set for myself to help me move from level three to level four on the ISTE rubric for standard 1A is to use standards set for students to plan, design and implement technology-based activities in my classroom. I will do this by creating projects such as the Data Analysis Project, refined through this course. Assessments such as this project take current classroom math concepts and embed them into projects which are also designed to teach new technologies to students. In this example, students learn how to use Excel and PowerPoint as mediums for presenting the results of their data gathering. I realize some students will come into the class with knowledge of how to implement these programs; however, many students will need to be taught how to use Excel, PPT and how to integrate them together. Time in the computer lab for creating this project is essential. Moreover, as per the ISTE NETS for 5-8 graders I see the importance of including in my instruction data gathering, pattern examination, and information application for decision making using digital tools and resources. One digital tool that I found extremely exciting from this class was using filamentality to create hotlists and webquests as an alternative means of exploration for my students. With projects like these, I feel confident that I will be able to meet level four status on the ISTE Standards rubric. I am comfortable with my abilities to meet some of the level four requirements, such as solving routine hardware and software problems and proficiency with the use of common input and output devices. However, I recognize that I need to expand my abilities to fully meet this level of proficiency across the board.
B. Demonstrate continue growth in technology, knowledge and skills to stay abreast of current and emerging technologies.
I am definitely at a level three as I continually make an effort to learn about “new advances in technology by attending conferences, communicating with colleagues about the use of technology in education, and engaging in hands-on exploration of variety of technology tools.” My goal is to remain at the forefront of any and all new and emerging technology that will benefit my teaching as well as my students’ learning. I plan to achieve this goal by continuing to attend as many conferences, learning forums, and district-sponsored technology support courses as possible. More importantly, I want to continue attending Southern California’s CUE (Computer Using Educators) Conference every spring. At this conference I have continually been introduced to new ways of using technology to improve my students’ learning. Signing up for technology classes provided by my district during school as well as attending those offered after school hours is another way I will stay abreast of such new technologies. At such various learning forums, my immediate goals include become more proficient at using a blog as a classroom tool, learning moodle, and podcasting. I also intend on continuing my education in web design, becoming more proficient at using DreamWeaver. The information and knowledge I gained from Lynell Burmark in her book Visual Literacy Learn to See. See to Learn about using color, font, music, and images, has transformed my opinion of how to create both an instructional PowerPoint presentation and an effective classroom website.
V. Productivity and Professional Practice
A. Use technology resources to engage in ongoing professional development and lifelong learning.
I rank myself somewhere between level three and four; I am constantly looking for new classes or conferences to attend, always striving to acquire new skills and learn new technology. I will continue to belong to CUE and ISTE and as a result of EDUC 6662, I have recently joined several listservs—including Middle-L and Math Forum’s mathedcc. In addition, I am a member of both the National Middle School Association and NCTM, receiving online journals about subjects and topics that are relevant to middle school teachers. My goal is to expand my professional development repertoire and explore new venues in depth. During the next six months, I intend to enroll and participate in an ISTE Webinar that focuses on classroom blogging, learning with second life, or podcasting as an educational tool.
B. Continually evaluate and reflect on professional practice to make informed decisions regarding the use of technology in support of student learning.
I rank myself once again at level three. Being able to evaluate technology for its benefits in my classroom so that it supports my students in learning, and make decisions accordingly is a skill that I want to develop further. My goal is to engage in continuous assessment of the effectiveness of the technological tools implemented in my classroom to insure that the most meaningful learning is achieved. I feel that this is a critical component of my teaching because I do utilize a great number of technological tools within my classroom. I definitely evaluate the benefits of using various technological tools and resources in my classroom.
C. Apply technology to increase productivity
For the most part, I rank myself at a level three on this performance indicator. I am aware of technology resources available to me and I have begun using many of those outlined in our course. Throughout this class, I have participated in discussion boards, increasing my technological knowledge and productivity. The Week Two discussion dealt with finding relevant resources on a variety of professional development topics, such as assessments, teaching with standards, and classroom management. Not only did I gain tremendous awareness of what is available with my topic of assessment but I now have a huge reservoir of resources provided by my colleagues at Walden. My goal is not only to follow the discussions on some of the listservs but to post questions on either the Middle-L or mathedcc listservs. I have not participated in that manner and have been intimidated by this type of communication. However, I realize that I need to experiment with this venue. During the next few weeks, I plan to respond to someone’s posted question and pose a question of my own.
D. Use technology to communicate and collaborate with peers, parents, and the larger community in order to nurture student learning.
I rank myself somewhere between level three and four. I am aware of the wide variety of technology recourses to communicate and collaborate with colleagues and I am making use of several of these resources in my classroom. My goal is to use them greater to help facilitate communication with peers, parents, and others. Students and parents use my websites to verify daily homework assignments, review requirements for long term projects, participate in online quizzes, and check current grades. My webpages are updated continuously to support the changes in my classroom. My goal is to increase the time between each communication; although I usually send out a NewsFlash twice a month, I intend to add at least once a week. The positive feedback I received from two parents this week further supports the need to communicate with parents even with these little flashes on a regular basis. In addition, during EDUC 6662, I have begun adding notes from the class lessons on my recently established classroom blog. Again, the goal is to increase the addition of notes from class. My ultimate goal is to have students submitting their notes and comments about mathematical content covered during the class period. I also communicate with parents, tutors, and students via email. I encourage students to email me with specific math questions, answering them on a daily basis. My goal includes learning how to collaborate with peers and the larger community using other technology resources such as listservs and videoconference-ing.
References
Burmark, L. (2002). Visual literacy: Learn to see, see to learn. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
ISTE’s Educational Technology Standards for Students Retrived Feb. 18, 2008, from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/For_Students/NETS_S.htm
ISTE Webinar Series Retrieved Feb. 20, 1008 from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Professional_Development/Webinar_Series1/ISTE_Webinar_Series1.htm
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2002). Multimedia tools: how to research, plan, and communicate with technology. Program three, “multimedia design, part one: text and images.” [Videotape]. Baltimore: Canter & Associates, Canter & Associates, Inc. (Producer)
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2002). Multimedia tools: how to research, plan, and communicate with technology. Program four, “multimedia design, part two: color and music.” [Videotape]. Baltimore: Canter & Associates, Canter & Associates, Inc. (Producer)
Leu, D. J., Leu, D. D., & Coiro, J. (2004). Teaching with the Internet K–12: New literacies for new times (4th ed.). Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon.
