EDLD 5364 Teaching with Technology Course Reflections

As the course "Teaching with Technology" comes to an end, I leave with many new tools with which to build successful effective lessons and instructional strategies on which to successfully implement technology.  

I enrolled in this program, not because I have an overwhelming love for technology or because I am a "techie" but because I recognized the need for change in education and saw technology as the vehicle for change.  It is for this reason that I have a great appreciation for Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works and research provided by the CAST Universal Design for Learning platform.

Both resources offered practical bodies of knowledge that are logical and digestible for the novice technology user.  I anticipate referring back to these texts as I create professional development training and strive to become a more effective classroom teacher.  Of particular interest to me over the course of the last five weeks, has been the notion of "how do I start implementing technology?"  To answer this question, the research provided by Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works offered much insight.  I found that the recommendation was to create a lesson or unit and then to find the technologies that support that lesson.  While the answer doesn't seem at all enlightening, the rationale behind it is enlightening.  Lessons shouldn't be created around technology, but rather the opposite.  Technology should be used as a supportive tool in the classroom to help achieve learning objectives.  It should be used with research based instructional strategies and should not take the focus away from the lesson objective.  Before implementing technology, teachers should understand that you must plan for it, in other words, answering the four planning questions (Pitler, p.217) before the lesson to ensure success.

I look forward to working more closely with my colleagues and the Technology Specialist on campus to share what I have learned throughout this course!

   

    Cast.org (2009). Model UDL lessons. Center for Applied Special Technology. Retrieved 

    from http://udlselfcheck.cast.org/

    Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom                       instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.