Rockin' With Technology: A Project Overview

I had the profound pleasure to work with an amazing group of professionals during my EDLD 5364 Teaching with Technology project.  The experience has reminded me again how fulfilling, enlightening, educational, and how fun a group project can be when a group of true collaborators work towards a common goal.  Many of the recommendations offered by Solomon and Schrum (2007) for creating an effective community have in fact made their way into our cohort team, including “creat[ing] an environment of trust” and “creat[ing] productive dialogue” (pp. 105-106).  We have together created a cohesive body of resources appropriate for a legitimate learning environment, one that I would be proud to utilize on my own campus, and we have done so while we shared new ideas and overcame challenges as a group.

The requirement of the coursework to look at a variety of options for integrated learning activities was vital to addressing both subject area and technology content standards for students. From a pedagogical perspective, this project called for the team to strike a balance between the goal of student-centered instruction and the need to address content standards in curriculum.  I endorse the Core Knowledge philosophy pioneered by E.D. Hirsch, which emphasizes our obligation to students not only to make information available to them, but to act as leaders in creating the framework for learning.  However, I also support the main tenet of constructivist theory:  that learning is shown to be a personal, intimate relationship between student and knowledge (Laboratory, 1999).  The project touched on many of the Technology Facilitator Standards and Performance Indicators, including 

·         II.A:  Provide resources & feedback to teachers as they integrate technology into units; consult with teachers during development and assist teachers during implementation;

·         II.B:  Assist teachers as they apply current research on teaching/learning with technology during planning;

·         II.C:  Assist teachers in identification and location of available technology resources/ model use of available technology resources;

·         II.F:  Assist teachers in identification and application of instructional design principles associated with technology resources;

·         III.B:  Facilitate use of strategies for integrating technology in the instruction of diverse learners, including adaptive and assistive technology;

·         III.E:  Facilitate curricular methods and strategies that are alignment with district/state/national technology standards;

·         IV.A:  Model and facilitate strategies for the use of technology in student assessment (diagnostic, formative, and summative);

·         VI.B:  Facilitate use of technology in instruction to enable learners with diverse learning needs;

·         VII.C:  Provide/support PD at the building level utilizing adult learning theory; (Williamson & Redish, 2009)

I am particularly pleased with the results of my efforts in this project.  While I experienced some logistical challenges in working with the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) Lesson Builder website, in the end I submitted three excellent artifacts. The lessons come together to build a cohesive unit that integrates the best technological tools available on my campus along with the best practices that I bring to the classroom.  The Book Builder application from CAST proved both practical to use and exciting to share.  In creating my original eBook, I found myself thinking more globally as I worked through the text and images.  It is a perfect way to support recognition networks, as it provides access to multiple modalities with both graphic and oral support to written text, and a glossary that can provide further examples to support the concept.  Moreover, the book can be specifically structured to highlight critical features in the graphics and images through organizers, text, and the oral language support of the ‘coaches’. (Rose & Meyer, 2002, Chapter 6)   I created a presentation video that speaks passionately to my ideals as an educator and as a technology facilitator while I refining my skills in Windows Live Movie Maker and Audacity.  One area of growth I uncovered in this experience involves my lack of knowledge in the available assistive technology in my district.  I plan to conference with my mentor and develop a plan to familiarize myself with my district’s resources and potentially receive intensive training in these resource options.

I had the opportunity to act as team leader for this project, and the collaborative component of this course offered me much more in the way of new learning than I thought possible.  My team members and I come from varying backgrounds in school districts of varying size throughout the state, with one team member actually employed at the collegiate level.  This diversity of experiences brought depth and perspective to our work, but also presented challenges to collaboration.  I found that some of our collaborative time needed to be spent on some background in educational theory and vocabulary; this deficit create what appeared to be, from my perspective, some frustration and anxiety on the part of my colleagues.  However, the professionalism of my colleagues overcame those obstacles in fine style. We used a variety of collaboration tools during our process, including Skype, Google Docs and a Google Site. We found that, although the real-time editing functions of Google Docs had their uses, the multi-level platform of the Google site and the intimacy of Skype IM were more in line with the type of collaboration needed for project completion. Through the site, we compiled lesson plans, eBooks, and related artifacts; archived transcripts of online conferencing; collaborated on assignment and proposal documentation; and tracked tasks and timeline status through our personal work logs and team project checklists. Please feel free to take a look at our process at the EDLD 5364 Project site . Thank you so very much to my team for time well spent and a job very well done.
References:

Hirsch, E. D. (1988). Cultural literacy: what every american needs to know. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

Laboratory, S. E. (1999). Learning as a personal event: a brief introduction to constructivism. Retrieved February 26, 2011, from http://www.sedl.org/pubs/tec26/intro2c.html

Rose, D. H., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: new tools, new schools. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.

Williamson, J., & Redish, T. (2009). ISTE's Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards: What Every K-12 Leader Should Know and Be Able to Do. Washington: International Society for Technology in Education.