EDLD 5362 Week 1 - Technology Changing Classrooms

Technologies Changing Classrooms

As teachers technology has enhanced the educational process, with the ability to connect with student with more efficiency and with greater effect. In the article Impact of the internet on learning and teaching, it is stated that “There have been many technological dawns in the last 30 years, during which the desktop computer and the Internet have been developed; but there have been similar dawns throughout the 20th Century - film, radio, records, broadcast television, audiotape, videotape, programmed learning machines, etc.”, Arsham, H. (2002).  No advancement has made a greater impact in the classroom as the internet has. With this advancement students have access to the world of information at a keystroke, with graphics included.

The teaching practices have changed greatly with the access to the internet, with many changes in teacher habits being effected. Prior to the online capabilities everything was handwritten into logbooks, the grades were calculated with the aid of an adding machine recorded and retained in a written format, available for auditing when the need arose. (Titus, 2013) In today’s classroom teacher’s gradebooks are available to parents and students through different programs such as Self-Serve, Think Wave and Learn Boost that are either provided by the districts or available for teachers from internet sites that offer free and pay for programs.  This has allowed for parents and students to monitor the grades on a daily basis and the teachers grading more accountable. Lesson plans and activities are posted online with students accessing them on laptops, tablets and smart phones. The teacher evaluations are recorded with a hand held device where the lesson plans can be pulled up and compared with activities. Transparency in the classroom is the now and the future in teaching.

Today, the instructional strategies in the classrooms have progressed with great leaps to take advantage of the most recent technological developments. The extensive adoption of the Internet has fundamentally altered the way that people live their lives and classroom teachers are taking advantage of it to improve the way lessons are taught. The classrooms of today are almost unrecognizable from those of the 50's; now banks of computers line the walls and traditional blackboards and chalk are replaced with projectors that are attached to a laptop computer or tablet with a stylus allowing lessons to be interspersed with video and audio clips, all of which allows the teachers to keep lessons fresh and interesting. This is resulting in students that are more likely to remain alert and engaged with the class.

When looking at the characteristics of the students prior to the availability of the internet, consider that past students would get the vocabulary through a book or handout and then using a hard bound dictionary they would define the words and practice regurgitating the spelling and meanings of each term for a test at the end of the week. Today students have come to expect that the vocabulary will be posted on a tutorial site like Quizlet.com for practice in a gaming style format where they compete with each other on their ability to complete the game in a winning time.  If the teacher has not created the tutorial site, they will create their own to work with on the computers and smart phones. Activities in the classroom have also changed, no longer will students sit and listen to a lecture with visuals on a board or passed around they need interaction with the subject and are advancing faster in the knowledge because of the interaction. This is in all subjects they take, the internet has become part of who they are and how they process information. (Kearns, 2013).

Research and learning theories have changed as well, before behaviorism was standard giving stars and reward tokens for achievements. We learned to rely on drill and practice to succeed. Now we are asking our students to be creative, to analyses and evaluate. Students are taking their education in and having to develop individual thoughts while the teacher is there to guide them. Universal Designed Lessons are now used in most classrooms establishing that each child is able to learn with a level field no matter what their learning style or disability.

In conclusion, we can see how much improvement has been established by having the internet available and used in the classroom and everywhere.  Learning is become an around the clock activity, where students access information from many sources online and share their ideas using the same medium. What does the future hold? That remains to be seen, but it includes students using the internet and accessing information from around the world.  The teachers are no longer the holders of the knowledge, they are the guides that provide the direction and encouragement.

References

Arsham, H. (2002, March). Impact of the internet on learning and teaching. USDLA Journal, 16.3.  Retrieved on November 17, 2009, from http://www.usdla.org/html/journal/MAR02_Issue/article01.html

Conner, M. L. (2007, August 10). A Primer on Educational Psychology. A Primer on Educational Psychology. Retrieved October 10, 2013, from http://agelesslearner.com/intros/edpsych.html

Graziano, M., Lenhart, A., & Simon, M. (2001, September 1). The internet and education: Findings of the pew internet and American life project. Pew Internet and American Life Project. Retrieved on November 17, 2009, from http://pewinternet.org/~/media/Files/Reports/2001/PIP_Schools_Report.pdf.pdf

Library Index. (n.d.). The Internet and Education - Elementary And Secondary Schools. Retrieved October 10, 2013, from www.libraryindex.com/pages/1459/Internet-Education-ELEMENTARY-SECONDARY-SCHOOLS.html ">The Internet and Education - Elementary And Secondary Schools

Video and Reading Week 5 Reflection

During the videos and reading for week five, I found that the information I was getting matched my own thought process. In the CTE classrooms, we see teachers more and more, as coaches and as role models, information is readily available we need to provide the student a knowledge on judging reliability and accountability as they collect data.

With the Gateway to Engineering class I believe in treating the kids they way is was described in the video, Big Thinkers: Sasha Barab on New-Media Engagement, "treating kids when they come in as people who are ignorant in their job, and education is to get them smart enough to demonstrate some sort of high score on a test, our goal is to position them as really empowered kids who get to feel: what is it like to try on the role of a scientist, and to see themselves as people who could possible have that future." This makes sense to me, if we want kids to do something, then let the do it.  As small children they begin learning by pretending, why not continue that style of learning.  After graduating student will have on the job training, why not in school where we can help them excel in a safe learning environment?

In the same video is was stated that we need to look and see that "It's not all those kids that's the problem; it's the way that we're thinking about school. It's the way that we're using textbooks. It's the resources that we're giving kids." And then, ultimately, it's the kinds of things that we're allowing kids to do." Reading is not doing, not creating.  We want are students to succeed and we have the technology, we just need to get it in the students hands, provide guidance and watch in amazement.

• Citation: Youtube.com (nd). Vision for 21st Century Learning. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mirxkzkxuf4
• Citation: Youtube.com (nd). Vision for Technology in K-12 Education. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhoOG5Kf1w4
• Citation: Edutopia.org. (nd). Big Thinkers: Sasha Barab on New-Media Engagement. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-sasha-barab-video

Reflection on UDL eBook week 5 EDLD 5364

Creating a second eBook was exciting.  I have gained some knowledge of how and why the process works, and will need to learn even more as I will be presenting a workshop on this tool for the staff at Bayside Intermediate on January 4, 2014. By creating the books I am allowing my students better access to understanding of the materials I teach, providing the chance to use the learning style that best suits each student.  By keeping my approach flexible the curriculum designed for my classroom allows all learners full and equal opportunity to learn. By using the UDL guidelines I 
optimize the levels of challenge and support to meet the needs of all my students from the start of the school year.

• Citation: Cast.org (2009). Model UDL lessons. Center for Applied Special Technology. Retrieved from http://udlselfcheck.cast.org/
• Citation: Cast.org (2009). Cast UDL book builder. Center for Applied Special Technology. Retrieved from http://bookbuilder.cast.org
  
  

Week 5 eBook:
http://bookbuilder.cast.org/view.php?op=view&book=81619&page=1

Week 5 UDL Lesson Plan Link:

https://drive.google.com/#folders/0B51ZFHfe9F_5NzBkNlBKZm5OU2c

Week 4 Video Conference reflection

The conference on Saturday, September 21, 2013 was informative on how to complete the course 5364, and what to include in the last lessons for the completion of the class. Many questions from the groups were answered and information shared.  With the access to the microphone for the participants the class was able to better communicate.  A 3 page eBook and UDL lesson with the collaboration of another teacher is on my agenda for this week.

Week 4 Video and Reading Reflection

Equal opportunity on assessments was this weeks topic.  Having student demonstrate their understanding of materials taught through a standardize testing format may not be the best way to evaluate their understanding of the materials taught. Having projects with rubrics that allow the student to show their abilities in using the materials instead of regurgitating it from memory is good for all students. This allows for less test anxiety and stress giving those student who experience these problems a chance to demonstrate their true understanding by having a product they can show and explain.  If a test using a standardized method must be used then allow for other learning styles, as in an audio clip that ask the questions to go along with the written test question.  This allows for students with a different learning style to be able to level the field on the testing information.  Putting students at the center of the learning process is the key to transforming the educational system, according to world renowned mathematician and educator, Seymour Papert. The students need to know that they are going to use the information they are getting from the educator.

There is no one way that will do for all students, we need to incorporate different types of learning styles into our testing so all students can show their true abilities, one of the ways this can be done be project based learning.

• Citation: Edutopia.org (December 10, 2007). The Collaborative Classroom: An Interview with Linda Darling-Hammond. Filmed at the CASEL forum in New York City. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/linda-darling-hammond-sel-video

Week 3 Video Conference Reflection

This week’s video was insightful in the case that some of the directions in the class could be better constructed.  Many of the students, as I did, created individual eBooks, when collaboration was what was wanted.  The classwork is being worked on as we take the class, so some confusion will happen.  The week was busy, with a lot to accomplish with the group projects, the readings and videos.  We were informed to meet again on Sunday at 6:00 to go over next week’s weeks assignments, and to not be afraid to call the Professor with questions or concerns.  Email will work also, but sometimes an answer is better explained verbally. 

Creating a UDL Lesson

This week, I created my technology- enhanced lesson plan using the Cast UDL Lesson Builder site utilizing the Universal Design for Learning framework.

The lessons UDL use a variety of methods to address the different portions of a learner's brain. The Recognition Network Tasks deals with gathering facts and categorizing information, answering the "what" of learning,  The Strategic Network Tasks deals with planning, performing tasks and expressing ideas, answering the "how" of learning, and the Affective Network Tasks which control learner engagement, motivation and interest,  answering the "why" of learning. The lesson model also incorporates both summative and formative assessments to demonstrate the efficacy of the lesson. To learn more, refer to What is Universal Design for Learning?

My lesson is entitled "The Design Process” is for 8^th grade Introduction to Engineering. This lesson introduces the class to the Design process also called, the scientific method,  giving them the chance to apply that knowledge to a project to demonstrate understanding.   You can view my entire lesson on the groups Google Docs site.
The experience of building the lesson was something that my district requires for the classes. The lesson is based on National standards for 8^th grade Language Arts, Reading and Technology. I found the approach to be backward for me, as this class at Lamar is geared to teach teachers how to embed technology in their lessons.

The goal of my lesson was to teach students, using tasks for all three brain networks, to work cooperatively and to learn how the Design Process is used for engineering/science projects. I believe I designed a lesson that will hold the students interest, and really make them think about the effects design process has on the projects they will be asked to create in the future.

I learned a lot about developing curriculum that uses technology to differentiate instruction and address multiple learning styles and students with diverse needs. The UDL lesson building tools really make you think about each step of the process, and ways to improve your lesson to reach all students and reinforce instruction through tasks that address the way our brains learn. I will be able to use this in the future as I work with teachers to build lessons for all of their students.

• Citation: 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. Chapter 6. Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/