EDLD+5364+Teaching+with+Technology+Course+Embedded+Assignment

Course-based Embedded Assignment
 * EDLD 5364 Teaching with Technology **

I find the courses I enjoy the most in this Ed Tech Leadership program are those that focus on a collaborative learning project. What a truly rewarding experience this has been! By becoming students ourselves in an awesome collaborative learning environment we have experienced what we want students in our respective schools to experience. Through cooperative learning environments, schools can be developmentally healthy places where strong relationships can form (Darling-Hammond, 2007). By providing an environment rich with cooperative learning activities we are preparing students for their 21st century future. Working towards a common goal creates a feeling of responsibility and accountability for each team member. Just as this course was designed, cooperative learning was at the center of the lesson unit we developed to provide a solution to the project scenario. Our team consisted of four members: myself, an instructional strategist for my district; Julia Wilson, our team leader and the only member of the team who is currently teaching in a public school classroom; Janet Kelly, stay-at-home mom and former high school science teacher and Vicki Fruge’, who teaches science at the college level.

Each of us created an eBook to support delivery of the unit content material through the CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology) UDL (Universal Design for Learning) Book Builder website. I believe for each of us this was the most enjoyable activity. Once I began the creation of my eBook, I could not stop! Creating the books was engaging and the final products provided lesson activities which support diverse recognition networks (Rose & Meyer, 2002). A new technology tool I discovered and used in the creation of my eBook was //Google translate//. This tool translated the English text into Spanish thus providing an additional support for the diverse learners in our classroom scenario.

Creating lessons for our content unit using Universal Design for Learning was a first for me. CAST’s UDL framework for lesson development supported the diversity of learners within our project scenario. The structure it provided for building a detailed lesson plan allowed me to create lessons with elements which addressed all three brain networks: recognition, strategic and affective (Rose & Meyer, 2002). My lessons incorporated integrated technology activities in which students created their own image banks, graphic organizers, and digital publication about the components and processes of the rock cycle. These activities and those created by the other team members, help students create a mental image of the concepts and themes they are trying to learn and knowledge connected with nonlinguistic representation is remembered more deeply than with linguistic forms alone (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007).

What I have developed most from this course is a more intense sense of urgency for impacting a change within the classrooms in my district. For this change to take place, administrators must agree that technology integration is a fundamental goal and hold teachers accountable for setting and reaching integration goals (Solomon & Schrum, 2007). But to be successful and reduce frustration we will have to begin with small steps! Schools must implement innovative learning methods where the teachers become mentors and students become empowered (“Vision for 21st Century Learning,” n.d.).

References

Edutopia.org. (Producer). (2007, December 10). //The collaborative classroom: An interview with Linda// //Darling-Hammond. //[Video Webcast]. Retrieved from []

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E. R., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). //Using technology with classroom instruction// //that works. // 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.

Youtube.com (n.d.). //Vision for 21st Century Learning.// [Video Webcast]//.// Retrieved from <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">[]

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Project Links: <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Project Home: []

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Project UDL Lesson: []

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Project eBook: <span style="background: white; color: #810081; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">@http://bookbuilder.cast.org/view.php?op=share&book=34399155c148f537c1e51020bd265c8d&sid=4030