General areas of possible investigation:
Wiki or web based extension of the classroom
Media to increase collaboration
Specific inquiry questions?
“How can I use a wiki or web based platform to create a collaborative community in Planning 10 where students can share resources and ideas?
How can I increase classroom collaboration to foster a safe and open classroom?”
Secondary questions:
What happens when students share thoughts and each other’s work in a digital environment?
What sort of challenges are my students facing?
What are the challenges I will face for implementing new technologies?
Learning Reflections
If there is one thing I have learned in the past two years it’s that even with facebook I can’t poke my students enough to turn assignments in on time.
After two years of intentional technological thought and immplementation, how does technology fit into Ms. Wickstrom’s pedagogy?
Technology has changed our notions of what we consider to be forms of knowledge representation. I believe we need to allow our students to create content in the same forms that they are consuming it. Look no further than Facebook, Youtube, and Google to see a vast array of multimedia and visual texts, collaborative forums, and podcasts. These tools are the future of education, whether it takes place in the classroom or on the couch. It is imperative that we, as educators, embrace these emerging technologies so that we can truly connect with the students of the future. Writing, reading, listening and speaking will always be important.
Mobile phones, computers everywhere, hypertext, social networking, collaborative cognition (from Wikipedia on up), Google, text-messaging, Twitter, audiobooks, digital texts, text-to-speech, speech recognition, flexible formatting – these are not “add ons” to the world of education, they are the world of education. This is how humans in this century talk, read, communicate, and learn. And learning to use these technologies effectively, efficiently, and intelligently must be at the heart of our educational strategies.
Today it is all about how you learn to find information, how you build your professional and personal networks, how you learn, how to learn – because learning must be continuous.
Looking at how to extend the learning environment in a digital setting through the form of a web based platform has enabled me as an educator to get a broader picture of the student by allowing them to demonstrate their learning in more varied ways. Working with a social educational tool such as Edmodo enables students to create knowledge representations that are likely to be more personal, expressive, and revealing than the traditional pen and paper approach.
This semester I set out to research this tool which I thought could enhance my teaching practice and benefit student learning. I wanted to research and look more closely at how the added benefit of a web based tool could accentuate differentiated learning. I focused on the effect that introducing intuitive auditory and visual methods of representation would have on the classroom. I felt very proud of the class atmosphere that developed from the web based community. My students were connecting with one another through thoughts, video and peer samples, without teacher intervention.
Productivity and enjoyment enhanced daily class work and strengthened relationships between all members of that community. Deployment in the class became relatively easy and led to anecdotal notes, journal observations, and achievement/use checklists.
Digital Inquiry Questions
All the Right Type in Special Ed
How can I use technology with students who have a disability to enhance student success in the following three areas: cognitive development, self motivation, and engagement?
Sub Questions: (3 forms of feedback which will be compared and reported on)
- Through self-evaluation how can my students understand the results and make improvements?
- Through teacher evaluation how can my students understand the results and make improvements?
- Through specific software evaluation i.e. All the Right Type how can my students understand the results and make improvements suggested by this form of software?
- What other programs are available in the district that provide feedback on student learning?
- How do students with a disability respond to the use of a computer?
Digital Recordings through Independent Educational Plans (IEP’s)
Questions:
- How can I (use technology to) improve student learning with self-assessment?
- How can I use technology to develop self-assessment strategies?
- Our social learning network: Prezi, Voice threads, twitter, edmodo.
How can I use voice threads to teach Planning 10 and transform media into a collaborative space where auditory learners can benefit? - How can I use a wiki or web based platform to create a collaborative community in Planning 10 where students can share resources and ideas?
- How can I increase classroom collaboration to foster a safe and open classroom?
Growth in the Guiding Capacities |
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| Reflective Practitioner | Taking a comprehensive and reflective look at the key areas of my practice and solving the challenges my students face in their day to day lives. This includes adapting to the changing demands and expectations within our classrooms. As a teacher it is essential that we adapt to the changing demands and expectations within our classrooms. For instance, in recent years it seems as though our school population has become more diverse (with respect to individual student abilities), or perhaps the system is just becoming more efficient in it’s endeavor to recognize students with learning disabilities. During one of my field studies I researched students who were on an independent educational plan (IEP). I looked into how these students were being assessed and specifically how they were solving the challenges their disability presented. My findings revealed how unaware students were of how they learned or what their specific learning goals were as per their IEP’s. |
| Critical Practitioner | I think it is relevant here to discuss ones philosophy of education and reassess frequently to see where your core values lie. As teachers it is our place to respond and reflect on the ways we teach and the varied assignments and assessments we provide to our students. The teacher should act as a facilitator rather than a transmitter of knowledge, as students learn better if they are actively creating their own meaning in the learning process. To accommodate the diverse learning styles of students, I believe they should be given choices in the classroom in terms of the types of assignments and projects where it is appropriate. As a teacher it is my role to plan lessons and create assignments that connect the learning in the classroom to the real world. If I can look at these statements and see whether I am true to them and change where I see necessary then indeed I am owning up to be a critical practitioner. With this being said findings in my field studies revealed that self-assessment plays a crucial part of students learning to think for themselves and being aware of the meaning they are creating in school and life. |
| Educational Leader, or leadership as an agent of change | I am aware of my changing role as I move out of this program and continue to move toward best practice. At the start of this program conversations in my department prep room over lunch time and breaks have led to good collegial discussions surrounding technology and its many uses in the classroom. I have been a part of Surrey’s Leadership Development Program in Surrey for the past two years and have been sharing with other colleagues in the district. Currently with my recent undertaking around assessment I am continuing to share ideas and have shared my learning and questions in more formal workshop settings. I recently led a voice thread workshop at the CUEBC conference in November. Also, I have submitted a proposal for the STA May 2011. My capacity and repertoire to critically analyze the use of technology in educationally sound ways has grown tremendously. I feel confident and fearless in trying new digital tools with my students and assessing their value in differentiated learning settings. My involvement and constructive contribution to a technological community of practice has developed within the walls of Kwantlen Park. Myself and Adam have taken on a leadership role in developing a technology committee to share questions and offer practice time with digital tools. |
| Autonomous-Lifelong Learner | I have completed a minor in Curriculum and Instruction with my Bachelor of Education Degree. I have completed coursework in foundations of reading and writing in the secondary grades, literature for young adults and alternative texts for young adults. Also I have taken professional development courses in designs for learning secondary social studies, designs for learning secondary language arts, curriculum and development: theory and practice, and equity, equality, and evidence: empirical approaches to social justice issues in education. With my experiences through university and now in the teaching world I am constantly reaching out to workshops within the district and within my school to improve my teaching practice. As a risk taker I feel I have elevated my game. I use to feel very strongly about taking the time to set up systems and always prepare a back up plan however, I feel confident and fearless in trying new digital tools with my students and assessing their value in diferentiated learning settings. |
| Facilitator of Learning | I lead constructive conversations surrounding critical use of the internet and ethical uses of computers in the classroom. Also looking at ways to engage my students in a meaningful and powerful ways through technology. I connected with the article “finding a wondering” because I am starting to think about imperative questions such as: how do we help students deconstruct what they already know? How do we unplug kids and then plug them back in at appropriate times? In the article, “releasing the magination” author Maxine Greene, puts a strong importance on ‘teachers who provoke learners to pose their own questions, to teach themselves, to go at their own pace, [and] to name their worlds.” How do I do this and more importantly where do I go from here? |
| Knowledgeable Educator | I feel empowered to be in charge of my own professional growth. Seeking out exciting educational opportunities to share with my students and or colleagues and involving them in the process of seeking out these prospects is equally important. |
| Supportive Colleague | I have made an attempt to share the ideas and useful information with my colleagues. For instance, after an enlightening information session about inspiration led by Julia Poole I felt empowered to introduce this brilliant program to my ESL kids and the teachers in the ESL department. |
| User of Technology | I am able to engage in the thought process that will enable me to structure the applications surrounding the varied ways to implement technology. For instance, this term I decided it would be best to get each student to purchase their own memory stick to use on a daily/weekly basis. I am still working on ways to incorporate and gently transition my students and I into a technologically sound framework. I am continuing to develop ways to assess student learning through the use of technology. My next steps will be to remain on the cutting edge of emerging technologies and continue with conversations neighbouring assessment and technology. |
Reflection and Considerations
What difference do you want to make in your continuing work as an educator?
In my continuing work as an educator, I would like to maintain my work through the integration of technology into the classroom. At the same time encourage and support my colleagues on a similar journey of digital literacy.
How will you continue to shape your role as a teacher/leader within the educational community? (What might the future hold?)
I plan on attending technological seminars, keeping involved and up to date on the latest web tools that build on the digital technologies that can have lasting impacts and benefits to the educational community.
Recently, I led a workshop at CUEBC and I have put in a proposal for the STA day to lead a seminar on how to make and share effective presentations. Also, I would like to share a social networking site that has been praised for its academic and teaching advantages.
Wickstrom's Learning & Teaching Blog 