Teaching+With+Technology+Final

Type in the content of your page here. Analysis, insight, how team worked together, how to improve, revelant to course information. 1. What outcomes had you envisioned for this course? Did you achieve those outcomes? Did the actual course outcomes align with those that you envisioned? The title “Teaching with Technology” indicated that students would be investigating strategies, ideas, sites and tools to integrate technology into the curriculum. We did this along with some theory investigation and tool utilization. Especially beneficial was the CAST site, UDL Book Builder, Google Site, rubric builder and Survey Monkey because, just as my students, I learn and internalize by doing. Besides the activites, literature and videos required for the class, I also gathered valuable information from my team. Their suggestions on teacher staff development, lesson activities, book ideas, and adaptations for special populations enhanced some of my thoughts and provided me with new ideas. For example, I was unaware of some of the professional development resources at TeacherTube and never heard of Starboard Capture. An additional piece that I did not expect from the course was technology in education’s future. I enjoyed the forecast and especially seeing the medical research being done by Warwick with technical implants/sensors. 2. To the extent that you achived the outcomes, are they still relevant to the work that you do in your school? Why or why not? Being an instructional technologist, my goal for taking this class was to generate ideas, tools, and resources to share with my fellow teachers. I reached my goal. The two required class textbooks are excellent resources and from them I gathered websites and integration ideas. But, the most beneficial resource came from developing a Google site. This exercise provided me with hands on knowledge which I used to create a Tech Hub for my campus. The Tech Hub is divided into subject areas with three sub-categories including websites (e.g. collaborative sites, teacher resource sites, student interaction sites, professional development sites), lesson integration ideas and photos of ideas. Information attached to this site came from the videos, literature, and projects required for this course. I also acquired new knowledge from my team as we shared activities. As I was introduced to new technology resources, I added them to the Tech Hub. I plan to re-visit materials from prior classes and add those to the site as well. 3. What outcomes did you not achieve? What prevented you from achieving them? As James Paul Gee and Sasha Barab stressed, gaming is the future for teaching with technology. It motivates, develops problem solvers, addresses real situations, gives immediate feedback and provides on demand knowledge that is unified with assessments. This is exactly what the 21st century job market and competitive globalization stipulates. To my knowledge, there are only a few sites that provide project-based gaming for elementary students. Some business developed softwares are available, but usually require yearly fees and are costly for districts. I would have liked to have been introduced to some available gaming sites. My resources are weak in this area and I was hoping that this class would touch on some of these. I feel strongly believe gaming is critical for keeping the drop-out rate low and motivating students especially poor performers. My team members did not offer insight in this area during the duration of the project. But, in hindsight, I could have added a section to our Planning Document for gaming information or posted a question in the weekly discussions. 4. Were you successful in completing the course assignments? If not, what prevented or discouraged you? The assignments and major project progressed nicely. Resources were readily available, sites were easy to access, and directions were straightforward. The timeline, task chart, guiding questions, and vital information chart included in the group planning document helped keep the team on track. Deadlines were met and the project flowed nicely. An additional piece our team added was AIM group chats. This was an excellent resource for deadlines and closure. Waiting for members to answer back in the Google Doc was cumbersome and slowed down the progress. Overall, the only drawback of the course was the amount of writing. I felt as if I was repeating myself and constantly checking if I completed all the journaling pieces. Also, we had to double post in some instances. For example, one rubric said to post the Action Plan in the Google Document while another direction said to post it on the Google site. We did both. Overall though, collaborating takes time and effort, but a much richer product is produced. 5. What did you learn from this course: about yourself, your technology and leadership skills, and your attitudes? The group project revealed much. I realized that I like to stay ahead of schedule and to cross-out list. I am organized and am capable of leading an on-line group. This type of leadership takes more time than if completed face to face because of wait time between communications; but is productive. Overall, my technology skills are slightly more advanced than some of my comrades; but that is understandable since half of my teaching position is devoted to technology integration. I learned that I love technology. Using and learning technology is not a chore, but a passion. I strongly believe in and advocate the use of technology in the classroom. My attitude was mostly positive during the project, but occasionally I felt that the majority of the project’s load fell on the leader. The leader definitely had to put in a lot more hours than the rest of the team. Creating the site and generating the opening data in the planning document was very time consuming, but I do not regret the time spent because of the knowledge gained. This assignment is due no later than 11:59 p.m. of the seventh day of Week 5 of this course.