Over the past several weeks, thoughts of effective technology integration lingered in my head. Seven weeks later, my perspective and strategies on effectively incorporating technology within education have shifted. Technology remains a tool for educators and learners to enhance discovery and understanding. To ensure a specific type of technology suits that purpose, a strategy leading to effective incorporation involves investing time to determine the capabilities and limitations of a particular technology. Focusing on lesson goals and objectives aid in narrowing options for technological tools allowing content to remain the focus of the lesson not the technology itself. Combined with knowledge of and experience with a technological tool's features, identifying and focusing on lesson objectives enables educators to better evaluate how effectively the tool contributes to the ultimate desired outcome.
The internet presented several opportunities to explore and consider uses for technological tools in education. Resources and examples demostrated how other educators incorporated specific technology tools in different subject areas. Additionally, web-based programs often were free to download and experience providing a better picture of the tool's capabilities. The internet offered easy access to demonstraton videos as well as platforms to communicate with others and engage in conversation regarding technology in the classroom.
Reflecting on course assignments over the past several weeks, the assignment that stands out in my mind as good teaching with technology is the SIG Group Project. This project began with a focus area, progressed to research and investigation of a particular technology, and resulted in an evaluation and perspective to share with other educators. Each step not only incorporated technology but also provided options of technological tools to choose. The project offered many opportunities to engage and experiment with a technological tool of choice in turn prviding insight into its capabilities. In addition to providing an opinion about the group's technological tool of choice (Google Earth), opinions and evaluations pertaining to bookmarking and presentation tools resulted. The process described currently aligns with thoughts regarding effective technology incorporation in education: research and explore a technology to experience its capabilities, identify and focus on lesson goal(s), and evaluate options of technological tools to determine which most effectively accomplishes the objective.
Reflecting on goals created at the beginning of the course, my evaluation of personal goals sums up in two words: in progress. One goal, to learn to effectively incorporate various technology to impact student learning, although not mastered seems addressed with the process described above: explore a technology, develop skills using the technology, and consider options for integrating or repurposing the technology. When planning a lesson, identify lesson objectives then sort through available technological tools to determine which will most effectively accomplish the task. The initial goal has been adapted to continued skill development to add options of technological tools. A second goal at the onset of the course involved increased awareness of available technology. The past few weeks exposed several types of technology I had not previously worked with: Twitter, Blogger, Wikis, Google Earth, and Flickr. The revised task and goal now involves dedicating time to better learn features and capabilities in order to accurately evaluate the technology's effectiveness for adresssing a given objective. A third goal articulated a desire to gain skill using collaborative technology. Progress resulted toward this goal with the use of Google Docs, Blogger, Google Earth, and discussion boards for weekly assignments and the course project.
As indicated, the past few weeks evidenced progress toward set goals. This progress helped reshape initial goals for the fuure as I work to complete the MAET program and contribute to the educational technology community.
The description of the features one needs to consider when using technology in education such as time, focus and technology knowledge acts as a helpful guide to follow.
ReplyDeleteThe Internet is a good resource for finding technology based lesson plans where technology has been, as Mishra and Koehler stated, “repurposed”.
Your group worked well together to present the great world of Google Earth for education.
I find that as you are exposed to different technologies, during the planning phase of the lesson, the type of technology that best supports your learning objective surfaces.
Enjoy the wonderful learning experiences you will have during the rest of the master’s program.