EDUC 6712I-7 Final Reflection

As week 8 wraps up for my Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom course I can reflect on the information and personal growth I've taken away from the research, communication, and coursework. I will specifically reflect on what was striking about teaching new literacy skills to my students, what influences I will take away from this course, and a professional development goal that I will work towards relating to what I've learned in this course.

In the first few weeks of the course we started looking at what exactly new literacy skills were and what the education system would need to provide for students to be successful in the 21st century. This was best seen in our resource web article titled, 21st Century Fluency Skills, which included skills like the ability to analyze and authenticate a variety of information sources (Jukes). The thing I found striking about teaching these new literacy skills within my own classroom was that, although the list was at first quite daunting, most of the skills are already being taught within many of the lessons already in place. As I continue to develop these skills with my students I have been looking at which new literacy skills from Juke's list are missing in my classroom and ways that I can integrate them into the lessons I have coming up this year.

Many of the new literacy skills that we talked about in this course will be influential in my future instruction. The experience of creating a unit that integrates many of these skills was a great practice for how the things we were reading about and discussing can have real world application in our classrooms. I also was particularly influenced by the work we did with analyzing websites for credibility and usefulness. Our text, Web Literacy for Educators, offered many helpful tips like, examining the URL, asking about the author, and looking at the content rather than the graphics (November). I put a lot of these skill into practice when I created an audio sample application of examining a website that was questionable. I think these skills are incredibly important for students to gain at a young age, so I am glad I can apply what I have learned and done in my 4th grade classroom.

Our text, Reading the Web, contained a lot of great information about teaching students to properly search for information using the internet. Specifically they talked about getting students to ask inquiry questions and steps to using the internet as a tool to answer those questions (Eagleton). My professional goal for the duration of the school year is to integrate more inquiry and web research into my classroom instruction. To make this happen I plan on examining the lessons that I have coming up and how they could benefit from both inquiry and web research. I also would like to communicate with other teachers in my building and possibly collaborate on projects that they have in place relating to inquiry and web research to see how other teachers approach this task. To keep this knowledge fresh I plan on keeping the texts from November and Eagleton in my classroom so that I can refer to them when planning lessons and to also pick up on things I might have missed during our coursework. By next year I hope to have integrated inquiry and web research into every subject that I teach at least once a quarter. By taking some of the steps I mentioned I hope to achieve that goal so that next years students have a full year to focus on many of these new literacy skills.

In conclusion, the face of education is constantly changing, but it doesn't always keep up with the pace of technology. As educators it should be our goal to prepare students for the future rather than the present or the past. To do this students will need 21st century literacy skills and often the classroom is the only place where this can happen. I've gained a lot of experience and knowledge over the past 8 weeks, but I have a feeling it will be my students who will benefit the most from the work that has taken place.


Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the web: Strategies for internet inquiry. New York: The Guilford Press.

Jukes, I. (2007). 21st century fluency skills: attributes of a 21st century learner. Retrieved from http://www.committedsardine.com/handouts/twca.pdf

November, A. (2008). Web literacy for educators. Thousands Oaks: Corwin Press.

EDUC-677I-7 Final Reflection

As this course comes to a close I can reflect back on the beginning of the course and see all of the learning and growth that has taken place in just 8 weeks. Whenever I begin this courses I come in thinking I am up to date on current technology and I am always surprised at how many new resources that I am introduced to that I was not previously aware of.

We began this course by defining our personal theory of learning. When I created that personal theory I stated that I taught from a constructivist perspective and tried to incorporate that theory into most of my lessons. Now, at the end of this course, I am still confident in my previous personal theory of learning but I think that I would add more emphasis on social learning theories if I was to write it again.

I have already began thinking of ways that I can incorporate this new hybrid social-constructivism approach to teaching for the upcoming school year. Two technologies that I would like to incorporate to achieve this are group power points and Voice Thread. With power points I really see students reinforcing their own learning by presenting their research and projects with the class. With VoiceThread I see so many opportunities for students to express themselves and communicate effectively with comments and questions online. This skill seems invaluable as it becomes more and more a part of everyday life in and out of school.

In regards to continued growth I would really like the opportunity to be a leader in the field of educational technology within my own school and eventually beyond. To achieve this I plan on inviting my other classes to join in with the lessons that I think best utilize the technology that I have been learning about. I also am setting a goal to stay as current as possible with new and developing educational technology so that I can implement it into the classroom as soon as possible so that it is relevant to and applicable to the technology students will encounter out of school and in the future. I plan on achieving this by staying updated through online periodicals and also by continuing communication with other teachers who are also passionate about integrating technology into the classroom.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed the learning and communication that took place in this course and I can't wait to implement some of the new strategies that were presented. I also am taking away a new view on what works best for me as a teacher and how I can use my personal learning theory to do what is best for my students, give them the best education possible.

Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice

So this week we have been discussing and learning about the social learning theory. Our DVD and online text went into the benefits of having children learn things in collaboration with other students. Many of these experiences are often found in a project based environment and that is known as social constructivism. Our text offered a myriad of ways that we can use technology to not only give students tools to create with while they are collaborating, but also tools that help students connect with each other in and out of the classroom.

My favorite example from our text that was provided was having students create a multimedia project as a group, specifically a curriculum video. This just seems like the perfect project to get students to achieve a lot of the goals of social learning. Students are utilizing strengths to take on different roles, they are directing and learning from each other, and they are researching and discussing their research before they present it in a final project. All of these skills are great for the 21st century and have real world application.

I also think webquests are great, especially at the elementary level. The internet can often be too big for kids to find information and with webquests it makes the content more accessible and can keep them on track to meet the learning goals. It's great to see kids work together on these projects, because I see a lot of discussion happening related to the webquests and I think that is a key to having concrete learning experiences.

One other example that our text provided was connecting with other classrooms or experts for collaboration. I believe that this will be the future of education that has students all over the world connecting and collaborating to create things and learn from each other. Tools like Skype and VoiceThread are great examples of this technology. If you would like to view my VoiceThread that I created here is a link to where you can view it... http://voicethread.com/share/527280/ .

I'm hoping that other teacher see the possibilities for learning and growth with connectivism and social learning theories implemented in the classroom. Current and future technology is making it that much easier for students to connect and create things which are skills that they can use and will need for the jobs of tomorrow.

Constructivism in Practice

This week our text gave us suggestions for generating and testing hypotheses using technology in the classroom. During this week we also have been learning and discussing the theory and practice of constructivism and constructionism and how technology can be used to carry them out.

Dr. Orey from our DVD describes constructionism as a theory of learning that states people learn best when they build an external artifact or something they can share with others. Our text described six tasks that teachers can use to help students generate and test hypothesis and a couple really stuck out with some key phrases that related to the constructivist/constructionist approach that Dr. Orey talked about where students are building their own learning experience. The tasks that really stood out were problem solving, invention, and experimental inquiry. To me these tasks could easily be used for any activities where a teacher was having students construct and discover in a project based environment.

Our test suggested using spreadsheet software when students are developing tests and hypothesis. In this scenario I think technology plays a valuable role of helping students organize their data and predictions to use them for further testing.

Another suggestion for technology tools from our text was data collection tools such as digital microscopes and USB connectible data probes. With these advances in technology students have tools that are more accurate and easy to use than in the past. In a constructivist classroom students need tools to experiment, test, and create with.

In conclusion, this week has provided some great ideas for technology use in my own classroom. I always knew that there are many technology tools available that can help students create things to help them construct their own learning. What I got from this week is that there are also technology tools that can help students to organize data when they are testing ideas and also tools that can help students collect that data to use in their projects or constructions.

Cognitivism in Practice

After reviewing the resources for this week I am realizing that many of the lesson adaptations that I make fall under the umbrella of cognitivism that I was not originally aware of. I often will display pictures or play media related to the topics that I am teaching to enhance lessons. My first goal was to make my lesson more engaging by adding these elements, but I also see now that they can make a lasting impact on how students retain and process the information that I provide.

Dr. Orey, from our DVD, explains how cognitivism looks at how learners take in information and what they are capable of processing, retaining, and using. By looking at how learners take in information, we as teachers, can adapt our lessons so that we are creating learning experiences that address exactly what our students are capable of. You wouldn't try and play a game like Call of Duty 4 on an old Commodore 64 computer, because there is no way that the machine could handle a game like that. Similar with students, by understanding the limitations and capabilities of the learning process we can create experiences that students can get more out of.

One of the main strategies that our DVD and text share for this is through organization. Our text, Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, talks in Chapter 4 about steps that students and teachers can take prior to learning and lessons that can help organize information. These tools can also help students to refer back to previous learning experiences to continue to build on what they know. One of my favorite suggestions from the text was using multimedia like powerpoints or video clips before a lesson to act as an expository advanced organizer that helps activate prior knowledge and develop a mental model to help them understand new information.

Chapter 6 delves into summarizing and note taking which relates to cognitivism as well since the purpose is to organize learning so that it is more digestible to the human brain. Our text offers several suggestions for classroom technology that can assist students in the art of note taking and summarizing. The one that I could see myself using in my 4th grade class is the note taking template created in Inspiration. I think talking notes is a great skill for students to have and by having a graphic organizer that students can fill in while they are taking notes gives them a framework and helps to keep them organized at a stage when note taking is probably something that they have not had much experience in.

By combining cognitivism with classroom technology we can use software and internet tools to help organize the learning that we want to impart. Many of the suggestions and insights are simple steps that teachers can take that can make the difference of a lesson that goes over students heads to something that they can remember and use for the rest of their lives.

Behaviorism in Practice

This week we have been reading, discussing, and exploring some methods for incorporating technology in the classroom. We also have been looking into the behaviorism and its practice in the classroom.

In Chapter 8 of our text we looked at reinforcing effort and some methods for incorporating technology to do this. The book offered a great suggestion of giving students a rubric and having them grade their own effort from week to week. The book made the suggestion of having students create graphs from their results to see the trend in their personal effort. I think this correlates with behaviorism by giving student a good grade or positive reinforcement for showing effort and a poor grade or negative reinforcement for not showing enough effort. The student should want to put in effort for there own personal motivation so I think that using behaviorism strategies are not the best for reinforcing effort.

However, I think that the homework and practice discussed in chapter 10 have much more applications for the behaviorism model to be put into practice. Dr. Orey from our DVD describes the behaviorist learning theory as reinforcing positive behaviors and punishment for undesirable behavior. Homework and practice can provide great opportunities for reinforcement. Many of the homework assignments that I give to my students are directly related to the lessons from class to let students practice or continue to develop skills on the subjects we are working on in class. Technology is a great asset for homework and practice and our text offers some great suggestions for using word processors, spreadsheet software, multimedia, and web resources to practice, review, and apply their learning. In my 4th grade class I often will offer websites that correlate with the lessons in class that students can explore at home with their parents. At this point in time I do not assign homework that requires students to access the internet since not all students have computers or internet as a resource. It is my hope in the future that this could be a possibility and that all students can have and use this technology outside of the classroom.

Reflection for Walden Technology in the Classroom Course

In the final week of my Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society class I am looking back at what I've learned, but more importantly, what I'm taking away. When I entered the class I thought I had a good grasp on educational technology from my own active interest in the subject, but in the proceeding weeks I learned about many new technologies and how I can use them in my own class. The things I've learned are more than educational theory or facts, I've learned about tools and technology that have real world application value that I can use. When you take a class, especially as a teacher, you hope that the things you learn can actually be put into practice.

A big part of this class was focused on understanding the 21st century student. By understanding this change in the skills students will need to be successful, I have really deepened my knowledge of the teaching and learning process by looking at what students need and then understanding how we can use 21st century tools to teach them.

Before this class I came in with a constructivist approach to teaching, but after this class I have a heightened appreciation for creating lessons where students create their own learning. When students are the ones creating their learning and the teacher is facilitating this experience the lessons make a bigger impact and really stay with the students.

I can continue to expand my knowledge of learning, leading, and teaching with technology by putting the things I've learned into practice and keeping up on expanding that knowledge by collaborating with other teachers in classrooms that are also striving to create 21st century learners. Many of the blogs I've been introduced to with this class or updated regularly and continue to add new ideas that I can use in my class.

I have 2 goals for the next 2 years, my first is to switch my role from being a mainstream classroom teacher to a tech advisor. The district I want to apply for in San Antonio has a team of tech advisors who work at 2 schools each and organize tech related lessons and help teachers implement technology in their classroom. The challenge is showing that I am well suited for this position by showing that I am a leader in technology in my own class now by implementing the strategies I am learning from my masters program. My other goal is to implement a program for myself and other teachers in the school to have access to the sets of laptops in my school so every student in one class can be on a laptop connected to the internet at the same time. The challenge with this is getting approval from administration to set up a program where teachers can share there classroom sets. The plan sounds simple enough, but I see many challenges in also getting all teachers on schedules to share and pick up laptop sets from other rooms. My hope is that teachers will create lessons that have all students connected to the internet at the same time.

In conclusion, I am very excited to put the things I've picked up from this class. I feel like I've gained many skills to bring me into the future of education. I see my students blogging, podcasting, and creating wikis to gain skills to become 21st century learners as I continue learning new teaching skills to be a 21st century teacher.