Overall,
I feel I was successful in completing the course assignments. The discussion
postings and protocols were the same as I had experienced in other classes. The
use of blog post every week was good practice to prepare us for integrating
them into classroom instruction. Even the Adobe desktop videoconferencing was
easy to participate in and very informative.
Despite a detailed rubric and
guiding questions, I generally started to
feel more comfortable in completing the group project when we were provided with
an example. Based on the conversations among my team members, I believe we all
felt uneasy about whether or not our project has hit the mark.
I learned during the project that although my technology
skills are well developed, using these skills to construct an interactive,
multimedia lesson is more difficult than I thought. Having technology skills
alone is not sufficient to promote true integration of technology to teachers
in a way that transforms instruction; it is critical to understand educational
theory and pedagogy. Depending on my team members, and trusting their
educational experience to help design instructionally appropriate lessons
infused with differentiation opportunities through technology, led to the
development of much better lessons than I could ever have created alone.
Although I have always had an open mind and a positive attitude regarding teaching with technology and using “digital native” tools, during this course my attitude toward student assessment changed. I never thought of a video game as a constant, real-time, ongoing assessment with immediate feedback on performance after each task (Solomon, G., & Schrum, L.2007), and will now look at educational applications of game-like technologies differently. I am now convinced that assessment must be frequent, and just as in a video game, there must be regular, ongoing opportunities for students to monitor their progress and connect the effort they expend to their performance and progress.
In summation, the lessons I learned in the Teaching with Technology class have changed my attitude towards instructional applications for video gaming technology strategies, improved my online leadership and collaboration skills, and left me with a new respect for teachers who have to find innovative methods to deal with such a wide variety of student skill levels and abilities.
Although I have always had an open mind and a positive attitude regarding teaching with technology and using “digital native” tools, during this course my attitude toward student assessment changed. I never thought of a video game as a constant, real-time, ongoing assessment with immediate feedback on performance after each task (Solomon, G., & Schrum, L.2007), and will now look at educational applications of game-like technologies differently. I am now convinced that assessment must be frequent, and just as in a video game, there must be regular, ongoing opportunities for students to monitor their progress and connect the effort they expend to their performance and progress.
In summation, the lessons I learned in the Teaching with Technology class have changed my attitude towards instructional applications for video gaming technology strategies, improved my online leadership and collaboration skills, and left me with a new respect for teachers who have to find innovative methods to deal with such a wide variety of student skill levels and abilities.
Citation:
Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New tools, new schools.
Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education, 168-176.
No comments:
Post a Comment