Class Reflection

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 21^st 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.