Part One: Reflection of the Course
What you have learned?
Over the span of this course, I feel I have truly been able to refine ideas that I have of implementing technology into education as well as developed quite a collection of resources that I can implement into my teaching. As a high school math teacher, pursuing a Master’s Degree in Educational Technology, my goal has been to be on the cutting edge of the implementation of technology within education. I feel that within my practice I see the push for having resources to implement technology into education and I felt that by pursuing this path I could learn ways I could meet this expectation. This course specifically has helped me to find many resources which I have developed into lesson plans that I could use immediately.
How theory guided development of the projects and assignments you created?
As I discussed in my Mission and Vision, Robyler discusses the two main perspectives at play today on effective instruction which are direct instruction and inquiry-based learning. Direct instruction is based on the behaviorist learning theory. It says that instruction should be teacher-centered and students are fed predefined information. Inquiry-based learning has evolved from the cognitive learning theory and is primarily student-centered and students generate knowledge with their teachers serving as facilitators. (Robyler, 2016) According to findings referenced in an article from February 2013 on Edutopia, when technology implementation is blended with teacher instruction produces better outcomes than just face-to-face instruction or solely online student learning. (Vega, 2013) Blended learning, at the cross-section of direct instruction and inquiry-based learning, has been and will continue to be at the center of my technology-based lessons. Soley putting technology into the hands of students does not directly cause them to become more successful learners. When they are shown the capabilities and instructed on how to use the technology with the content through blended learning then they will be more prosperous.
How the coursework demonstrates mastery of the AECT standards?
The vast majority of the course projects for this course demonstrate a mastery of AECT Standard1 and the given indicators and AECT Standard 2 and the given indicators. The projects this includes are the Relative Advantage Chart, Instructional Software Lesson Plan, Software Support Tool List & Description, Interactive Presentation, Spreadsheet and Docs Lesson Plans, Video Integration Project, Internet Lesson, Social Networking Learning Activities, Game-Based Learning, Content Area Projects 1, 2, 3, and the Assistive Technology Project.
· AECT Standard 1 (Content Knowledge): Candidates demonstrate the knowledge necessary to create, use, assess, and manage theoretical and practical applications of educational technologies and processes.
o Using - Candidates demonstrate the ability to select and use technological resources and processes to support student learning and to enhance their pedagogy. (p. 141)
o Assessing/Evaluating - Candidates demonstrate the ability to assess and evaluate the effective integration of appropriate technologies and instructional materials.
· AECT Standard 2 (Content Pedagogy): Candidates develop as reflective practitioners able to demonstrate effective implementation of educational technologies and processes based on contemporary content and pedagogy.
o Creating - Candidates apply content pedagogy to create appropriate applications of processes and technologies to improve learning and performance outcomes. (p. 1)
o Using - Candidates implement appropriate educational technologies and processes based on appropriate content pedagogy. (p. 141)
By compiling a Resource Page, the AECT Standard 5 and given indicator were met.
· AECT Standard 5 (Research): Candidates explore, evaluate, synthesize, and apply methods of inquiry to enhance learning and improve performance (pp. 4, 6-7).
o Assessing/Evaluating – Candidates apply formal inquiry strategies in assessing and evaluating processes and resources for learning and performance. (p. 203)
How you have grown professionally?
This course has required me to create many lesson plans, activities, and compile resources for technology that could be implemented within a classroom. It has forced me to find new resources that I can use that fall under a variety of contexts such as instructional software, the basic suite, video, web-tools, social networking, gaming, specific content-areas, and assistive/adaptive technology. By stretching my mind to look at a variety of contexts it has helped me to actually begin to build a repertoire of resources and lessons I can implement in my classroom.
How your own teaching practice or thoughts about teaching have been impacted by what you have learned or accomplished in this course? What will you do differently as an educator as a result of this course?
I can honestly say that I have only been teaching for three years and throughout these three years it has been easier to teach more through direct instruction rather than to implement inquiry-based lessons or much technology. Therefore direct instruction lessons have been the majority of the way I have taught. Next year our school will be implementing 1:1 technology through the use of Chromebooks. I feel that this course has helped me to actually look at how a lesson can be constructed with the implementation of technology as well as it has helped me to compile a vast number of resources that I can use. These things will change me as an educator because next year I will be able to actually use the Chromebooks efficiently and frequently within my classroom instruction.
Part Two: Performance Assessment
Over the span of this course, we were supposed to keep up with a blog and comment on our peers' blog posts. The given grading rubric is in a table below and I have outlined to what degree I believe I have met each of the criteria.
· Content: I completed 7 of the 13 blog posts required for the course. Within these blog posts, I put good thought into my work and made connections to my life experiences in detail. (40/70 points)
· Readings and Resources: For the blog posts that I did complete, I made references to the course text as well as other references. These references were given in APA 6th Edition. (12/20 points)
· Timeliness: For the blog posts that were completed, the majority of them were completed in a timely manner to give time to other students to comment. (10/20 points)
· Responses to Other Students: When I wrote my blog posts I commented on two other students' posts and gave thorough and thoughtful commentary. (18/30 points)
Overall, I know that I did not complete all of the blog posts, and due to this, I would give myself 80/140 points.
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Criteria
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Outstanding
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Proficient
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Basic
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Below Expectations
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Content
70 points |
Rich in content, full of thought, insight and synthesis with clear connections to previous or current content and/or to real life situations made with depth and detail.
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Substantial information, thought, insight and analysis has taken place with some connection to previous or current content and/or to real life situations but lack of depth and detail.
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Generally competent in summarizing learning, but information is thin and commonplace with limited connections and vague generalities.
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Rudimentary and superficial regurgitation of content with no connections and/or completely off topic.
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Readings and Resources
20 points |
Readings (from course text) and other resource materials are used to support blog comments. APA style is used to cite references.
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There is some reference to readings and other resource material. No or limited use of APA style references.
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Little if any reference is made to readings and other course materials.
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Readings and resources are not mentioned.
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Timeliness
20 points |
All required postings are made early in the module to give others time to comment.
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All required postings are made but not in time for others to read and respond.
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Some or all of the required postings are made, but most are at the last minute without allowing for response time.
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Some or all of the required postings are missing.
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Responses to Other Students
30 Points |
Two or more substantial posts with at least one detailed response made to address another students' post.
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One or more satisfactory posts with at least one satisfactory response made to address another students' post.
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One satisfactory post with a brief response to another students' post.
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One brief post or no post at all and no response to another students' post.
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References
Roblyer, M. (2016). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching (7th ed.). Massachusetts: Pearson.
Vega, V. (2013, February 5). Technology Integration Research Review. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-research-learning-outcomes
