Course-Embedded+Assignment

"I can't let the students surf the web or play on the computer. That is like having 20 minutes free on Friday and telling the students to do whatever they want." (Dede and Sprague, 1999). This quote summarizes teachers reservations about using technology in their classrooms. Teachers feel afraid of what students will do if given time alone on the computers and every teacher has nightmares about an administrator walking in as some student is on Facebook. If teachers had a clear plan for the technology tools they have access to, they would be more inclined to utilize those tools within their classrooms. The main assignment of this course was to create a plan for technology for a classroom teacher. This assignment allowed us to each step into the role of a technology integrator and create a customized plan for a teacher to use in his/her classroom. This assignment forces me to consider the different types of students within each classroom and how to create assignments that would reach all within a diverse classroom with the same technology tools.

I have conducted training courses in the past to assist teachers with their technology skills and developed plans of action for the campus technology plan as well as technology classes on the district level but this was the first time that I have created a customized plan for a specific teacher, outside of my own plans for my courses.It is easy to see how a teacher can be intimidated because typing in "Stock Market for high school students" into a search engine yielded thousands of results. However, the amount of resoources that can be found online will always be more than what can be found in print materials. As Rose and Meyer said, "Teaching through these varied paths would be daunting or perhaps even impossible if our instructional tools were restricted to print materials alone. Analyzing the potential barrier inherent in current curriculum materials can help us plan for the additional media and tools we will need in order to reach all students( Rose, D., & Myer, A., 2002) ."

This course has changed my opinion on the validity of using technology as a way of providing accomodations for disabiliites. During week 4, I came across this quote: " Imagine that Patrick is taking a math test with his class. The test comes in two formats: One presents the problems on paper; the other presents the problems on a computer screen and gives test-takers the option of hearing the words read aloud through text-to-speech. According to recent research (Tzuriel, 2000), a student like Patrick, who has difficulty reading and writing, would almost certainly achieve a higher score on the second version than he would on the first. Other students also might benefit from the computer-based format by virtue of the reading supports it offers, their own preference for working with computers, or other factors ( Rose, D., & Myer, A., 2002) ." My initial opinion is that allowing Patrick to take a test that makes accomodations for his writing and reading difficulties will not properly prepare him for a future workforce. However, Rose and Meyer disuss the importance of making the assessment assess what it is supposed to assess and in this scenario it is math, not reading or writing. It would be unfair to penalize Patrick in math for his writing and reading disabilities, because he is already penalized for them in those areas. As long as the technology modification tools are not used instead of remediation, the tools can help students remain self-confident and accurately assess them in individual subjects.

This course opened my eyes to interacting with collegues and the work using Google docs. Before entering this grad school program I only used Google as a search engine and was only vaguely familiar with its other capabilities. Google documents is an invaluable tool that has allowed me to communicate with collegues as well as edit documents along with a team without having to email versions to one another. Even though we all have Word, this allowed us to edit the same document without emailing it back and forth. Furthermore, we were each able to pull up the documents related to the project whereever we were as long as we had an internet connection, without a usb storage drive and from any computer, that certainly comes in handy!

In the future, I would like to see my campus implement the use of Google docs for committees to cut down on the amount of face-to-face meeting time currently required. Within our group, we were able to conduct our meeting with little to no face to face time using Skype and Google. In addition, I would like to implement the use of Google docs with my students so that they can access their work from anywhere without having to carry around usb storage devices or take up valuable network storage.

Although I have always been a teacher that teaches with technology, this course has developed my technology skills which iswas an excellent surprise as I am a technology veteran. I gained valuable experience as a technology integrator and team lead and began fostering relationships with teachers on my campus who need assistance with integrating technology into their classrooms. As with courses in the past, I have taken several concepts from this course and look forward to applying them all to my current work with my students and in my future career as a technology integrator.

Sources:

Dede, C & Sprague, D. (1999). Constructivism in the Classroom:If I Teach This way, Am I Doing My Job? International Society for Technology in Education

Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every students in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Chapter 7. Available online at the Center for Applied Special Technology Web site. Retrieved October 5, 2009, from [].