My
personal learning theory has changed through my learning in this course because
in this course I realized that I feel that students construct their own
knowledge by creating products but they also need practice and feedback, both
positive and corrective in nature. I believe
that many strategies must be used to assure content acquisition and classroom
management. Before this course I felt
that I needed to choose one strategy and stick with it but after this course I
do not feel that teachers use just one strategy and I feel that each person has
their own unique idea of how student learn so they use their own unique mixture
of approaches.
After
taking this course I have a much better idea of how instructional strategies
and technology work together. I
appreciate how this class has given me very concrete examples of strategies and
technology I can use with those strategies in my classes. I particularly found
the book Using Technology with Classroom
Instruction that Works by Pittler, Hubbell, Kuhn and Malenoski (2007) helpful
because in this text they discuss the nine categories of instructional
strategies that have been shown to show a large effect on student learning and
specific technology applications that can enhance the implementation of each
one. I feel that in this class I was
given the opportunity to think about what each of these strategies look like in
my content area and what technology tools I can use to help my students learn
more effectively.
This
course also allowed me to see the ruts I was in regarding these nine categories
of instructional strategies. I tend to
have students use the strategies of “identifying similarities and differences,”
“homework and practice” and “summarizing and note taking” the most whereas I
could be using more “non-linguistic representations” and “cooperative learning”
to make my classroom more student centered (Pittler Hubbell, Kuhn and
Malenoski, 2007). I learned that I need
to take a look at the nine strategies we learned about in this class more
closely and purposefully use them because as Pittler Hubbell, Kuhn and
Malenoski point out, they are proven to be beneficial.
The
immediate adjustment that I will make to my instructional practice after taking
this course is putting the technology in the hands of students more. This class has made me more aware how much I
was using technology as an instructional tool instead of as a learning
tool. Dr. Michael Orey pointed out that
technology instructional tools are more teacher focused whereas technology
learning tools are student centered (Laureate Education Inc., 2010a). This class has made me realize that when you
put technology in the hands of the students not only is learning more
differentiated but learning also becomes an experience that helps students own
what they are learning which helps to form stronger neural connections
(Laureate Education Inc., 2010b).
I
plan to use this new knowledge to change how my students learn. At the end of our school year the principal
at my school has asked us to think over the summer about whether or not we are
truly being innovative and student centered in our classrooms as our school
mission states. He is challenging us to
try new strategies and do things differently by putting the learning in the
hands of the students. I believe that applying
technology learning tools I can achieve a more innovative and student centered
environment where students use both constructionism and constructivism to learn
Spanish more deeply.
Two
technology tools that I am eager to put in the hands of my students are
podcasting and Voice Stream. I want to
use them because I feel both of these tools allow students to practice and
rehearse their spoken Spanish. Of the
four modes of communication speaking Spanish often causes my students the most
anxiety. As they use podcasting and
Voice Stream technology students will be able to hear their own voice speaking
in the language, they will be able to interact with others and they will be
able to self-assess their strengths and areas for improvement. I feel that these technology tools will help students
to feel more comfortable producing the language in the real world.
Two
long term goals that I would like to make to my teaching in regard to
technology integration are: making all my assessments technology based using
authentic resources and allowing students use at least one different technology
tool each quarter in my classes to enhance their learning and technology
proficiency.
I
have already started implementing my strategy to achieve my first goal. I recently joined a committee where we are looking
for authentic resources on which to base our quarterly district
assessments. I plan to continue to work
on this committee to give our district assessments an authentic context. As our committee completes these assessments
I plan to create a technology based assessment using authentic resources that
can serve as practice for our district assessments. Authentic technology based assessments will
help students to feel more comfortable with their Spanish as well as more
comfortable with technology applications.
Because our district assessments will not be fully changed for one more
school year and I will need time to prepare preparatory assignments I feel that
I can have this goal achieved in three years.
My
strategy for achieving the second goal is to look at the curriculum maps this
summer for the courses I will teach next year and see how students can use
technology in each quarter to make learning more meaningful for my students. According to Lever-Duffy, McDonald and Mizell
(2003) for technology usage to be effective it must be integrated with the
“teaching and learning it supports”. This is why I will use the learning outcomes,
topics and nine strategies discussed in our course text to make learning with
technology tools contextualized. I plan
to look at technology tools I have learned about in my Walden studies such as
Voice Stream, podcasts, blogging, social media, ePals and wikis as well as
additional suggestions online. By exposing my students to different technology
applications I hope that they will be able to use them beyond my classroom.
When
I look back on this class I am thankful for the solid examples this class gave
me about brain based strategies and best practice strategies I can use to
positively affect student learning using technology learning tools. I feel this class gave me the tools to be a
more innovative and effective teacher for the 21st century.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive
Producer). (2010a). [Webcast]. Technology:
Instructional tool versus learning tool. Baltimore: Laureate
Media.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive
Producer). (2010b). [Webcast]. Brain
research and learning. Baltimore: Laureate Media.
Lever-Duffy, J., McDonald, J. &
Mizell A.P. (2003) Teaching and learning
with technology. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Pittler, H.,
Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with
classroom instruction that works. Alexandria: ACSD.
