Lessons Learned--September 16

The transition from teacher-centered to student-centered instruction was evidenced through the sequence of photos from the "Classroom in 100 Years". In particular, while earlier slides show the teacher standing in front of the classroom lecturing to an entire group of students, some of the later slides (slide 6) show teachers working one on one with a student, in an effort to tailor instruction to individual student needs.  In the later slides, there also appear to be examples of differentiated learning stations (slide 8) that allow students to work in groups around designated learning outcomes.

Overall, the major lesson learned is while the function of education has always remained to impart knowledge to the child--the method for how to most effectively accomplish this, may have changed over time.

My Personal Learning Goals

Personal Learning Goals

As a professional who works at St. John’s and has been working with various non profit agencies for the past 10 years, technology has been both a functional and creative part of my day-to-day responsibilities.  From checking e-mails and joining webinars, to participating in online discussion forums, and collaborating with a web team to design interactive web content, technology has been essential to successfully ‘doing my job’.

I find the idea of creating a ‘digital identity’ incredibly interesting as it allows me to think intentionally and coherently about what I want my digital footprint to be in the world.  A quick Google search of your name will give you an idea of how you show up online, but I love the idea of deliberately creating a digital portfolio that will encompass what you want your web presence to be.   Through this course, I definitely look forward to learning how to make this goal a reality!

 

As a future teacher, I now find myself making the switch to thinking about how to make technology available and accessible to the students I will teach to further their understanding of core curricula concepts. 

What does it mean to have available and available technology in the classroom? 

Technology is incredibly pervasive on a college campus.  However, as the article noted, there is a participation gap in the availability of technology, particularly in regard to people of color.  As a teacher, I would first be concerned with helping the school gain access to adequate technology that enabled students, who may not have access to a personal computer in their home environment, to access technology resources in school. 

Unfortunately, just because technology is available in a classroom or home, does not mean that it is accessible.  Students may be unable to access technology for a variety of reasons.  For example, students may have a disability that prevents them from obtaining information in the same way as students without a disability, students may not have the technological literacy to access or find information online, or teachers may not properly tailor their learning goals to encourage student proficiency with both the technology and the academic concept being taught.

Personal learning goals include:

1)      Think intentionally and coherently about how to establish, maintain and share my digital identity. 

2)      Successfully combine pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge and technological knowledge to create and deliver strong learning goals and outcomes for students.

3)      Be creative with technology and redefine how I use it/will use it with students and myself.

4)      Learn more about assistive technologies to ensure students with disabilities have greater access to core content.

5)      Understand how students with different learning styles, cultural and economic backgrounds can all access and benefit from technology.