What I've learned: Throughout this course, I worked with my peers to develop and provide advice on projects that meet each of the Engaged Learning (EL) Indicators and reach a Level of Technology Integration (LoTi) level 5. Elemental to the ability to develop these projects is an understanding of EL and LoTi. Our research, discussion, analysis, and evaluation of previously-implemented projects helped me to gain a full understanding of the requirements of EL and high LoTi. My project demonstrates my understanding of how these indicators can inform my own instruction and integrate with the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards in high school English Language Arts. The constructivist emphasis on student-centered learning is critical to this integration, and this course helped me both to understand the constructivist approach to teaching and to create learning environments and lessons that align with constructivist theories.
Questions I still have: How are the LoTi levels being discussed at the administrative and government level in education? While I have attended a great number of professional learning conferences and sessions that emphasize the need for technology integration and the teacher evaluation instruments used by my previous school stress the need for students to use the technology for a variety of purposes in their learning, I had never heard of LoTi before this course. The importance of LoTi and accurate self- and peer-assessment of LoTi seem paramount to technology integration. How can we get more teachers thinking in terms of LoTi lesson analysis and evaluation?
How I feel about becoming a technology coach:There are so many teachers out there that would love to integrate technology to greater impact in their classrooms but are both too comfortable with their established approach to their curriculum and too overwhelmed by the immensity of the internet to tackle this integration in a meaningful way. I was one of these teachers, and this program of study has already helped me to understand much of the why and how of technology integration in the classroom. As a lover of learning and a lover of teaching, I am excited at the possibility of coaching other teachers to help them develop learning experiences like those in the Engaged Learning projects I explored and created in this course.
What 21st century k-12 students want and need: 21st century k-12 students live in a world of perpetual engagement, a place where various forces are constantly competing for their attentions. We educators cannot expect to win student attention from the other persuasive forces by employing the same-old techniques that people have called boring and questioned the legitimacy of for the past forever. Today's students need to be engaged, and we need to engage them in experiences in the "real world" we talk about sending them into. Schools should show students what the real world is by being real-world, and curriculum should be built on and should interact with the actual professions and professionals that use the skills learned in that curriculum.
How technology can support student learning: Internet technology is already at the center of most students' lives, but education has yet to harness the power of the internet. The classroom is a place of collaboration and learning, but students are limited to the understandings and perspectives of one teacher and thirty-ish peers when classroom learning remains in the classroom. The internet provides students with access to people, information, and experiences across the planet and beyond. Students are participating in the global community on their own anyway; we need to show them means of doing so to better themselves, better their communities, and better their world. Otherwise, what is it all for?
Questions I still have: How are the LoTi levels being discussed at the administrative and government level in education? While I have attended a great number of professional learning conferences and sessions that emphasize the need for technology integration and the teacher evaluation instruments used by my previous school stress the need for students to use the technology for a variety of purposes in their learning, I had never heard of LoTi before this course. The importance of LoTi and accurate self- and peer-assessment of LoTi seem paramount to technology integration. How can we get more teachers thinking in terms of LoTi lesson analysis and evaluation?
How I feel about becoming a technology coach:There are so many teachers out there that would love to integrate technology to greater impact in their classrooms but are both too comfortable with their established approach to their curriculum and too overwhelmed by the immensity of the internet to tackle this integration in a meaningful way. I was one of these teachers, and this program of study has already helped me to understand much of the why and how of technology integration in the classroom. As a lover of learning and a lover of teaching, I am excited at the possibility of coaching other teachers to help them develop learning experiences like those in the Engaged Learning projects I explored and created in this course.
What 21st century k-12 students want and need: 21st century k-12 students live in a world of perpetual engagement, a place where various forces are constantly competing for their attentions. We educators cannot expect to win student attention from the other persuasive forces by employing the same-old techniques that people have called boring and questioned the legitimacy of for the past forever. Today's students need to be engaged, and we need to engage them in experiences in the "real world" we talk about sending them into. Schools should show students what the real world is by being real-world, and curriculum should be built on and should interact with the actual professions and professionals that use the skills learned in that curriculum.
How technology can support student learning: Internet technology is already at the center of most students' lives, but education has yet to harness the power of the internet. The classroom is a place of collaboration and learning, but students are limited to the understandings and perspectives of one teacher and thirty-ish peers when classroom learning remains in the classroom. The internet provides students with access to people, information, and experiences across the planet and beyond. Students are participating in the global community on their own anyway; we need to show them means of doing so to better themselves, better their communities, and better their world. Otherwise, what is it all for?