Putting it all together

At the beginning of this course, I stated that my personal learning theory was that students will learn from experiencing various instructional strategies, calling upon prior knowledge, and being active in their own learning. This theory falls in line most specifically with the behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism theories. Thinking about everything that I have learned, I would only modify this by adding an element of technology. I think that I would be fooling myself if I thought that students today learned completely without technology. I believe it could still be done, but with so many forms of technology available and being used in society, learning without technology is not reality. Technology adds efficiency and expands on the capabilities of students tremendously. Therefore, my new personal learning theory is such that students will learn from experience various instructional strategies, calling upon prior knowledge, utilizing various technology tools, and being active in their own learning.

I have spent time each week of this course thinking about what I could change in my own classroom in regards to technology to make it better for my students. One thing that I have started and will be really emphasizing on after winter break is the use of blogs. I have started having my students respond to blog posts for exit slips, which has been a seamless process. I will continue to do this, but I will also have students begin their own blogs. This will be a great way for parents to become more informed about their students learning, and is a great way for students to communicate about the classroom topics. I am excited about this prospect and seeing where it takes my classroom.

Two new technology tools that I would like to infuse into my class are wikis and concept mapping tools. Wikis are similar to blogs, but instead of just one student writing their thoughts and other students commenting, students can better collaborate on the content. I have hesitated to use wikis because of my unfamiliarity with them, but after using one in my last class and reading more about them in this course, I’m encouraged to incorporate them into my classroom. With wikis, students can all contribute to the page, add links and references where necessary, and can even contribute to other groups’ wikis if they are set up right. The possibilities with wikis are extremely endless, as it is truly student-driven and project-based learning through and through. Concept maps are a very easy way to get students to take notes and begin to determine how things are or are not related. Programs such as Inspiration or websites like www.SpiderScribe.net are easy to use and help students stay very organized throughout their notes. I have found that oftentimes students just need some help organizing their thoughts or notes, and their notebook doesn’t have enough room to do this efficiently. This is one of the great advantages of a computer-based concept map. Instead of spending time trying to decipher their scribbles, students can focus on the topics and ideas themselves and can begin to apply them. (Pitler, Hubbell & Kuhn, 2012)

One change I would like to implement is the use of a screen capturing application. I would like to start by capturing my own lessons on the computer, along with my voice, to 1) provide students with reinforcement of the lesson at any time, and 2) ensure students who may have missed my class don’t miss any of the content. While there are several advantages to capturing your lessons, these are two that I would like to focus on. I’m sure that every teacher has had those students who constantly request for you to go over something again. This is not a problem until they are at home doing their homework and their teacher is not there with them.  Having access to the recorded lesson will help students to become more comfortable with the material should any questions or confusion arise. We also have all had students miss some of the most important lessons, even multiple lessons in a row. This puts them severely behind, sometimes putting them in a declining position within the class and their grades. Instead of having them trying to double up on their work to catch up, students could easily watch the lesson at home and not miss anything that went on for that class. The advantages are truly endless, in my opinion, and it is something that I would really like to start doing next semester. Eventually, I would like students to be able to capture their own screens for projects.

A second change for my classroom would be to increase the collaborative work that is done. I have had a hard time trying to find regular group activities within my computer classes since I want them all to be able to show me their understanding of the skills. I have started using Google Drive for this, as it is the perfect online collaboration tool. However, I would like to find new ways to implement this. I have had them creating group presentations and documents, but I want to challenge them in new ways. If I can find new activities to do, I feel I would be greatly benefiting my students and would better prepare them for their future.

I am really excited about the new resources and ideas I have obtained throughout this course. My students will benefit immensely, and I know I will become a better teacher, as well. I am even more excited to start sharing these tools and strategies with my colleagues and coming up with ways to improve our school overall.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E. R., & Kuhn, M. (2012). Using technology with classroom instruction that works (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD