Difference between revisions of "Emerging Themes"

Once you’ve each written your sentences, then, as a group

1. Read through your brainstormed list of guidelines. Ask each other any clarifying questions.
2. Identify the guidelines in your first set of writing that you all agree are key to making educative use of technology.
3. Collectively write a paragraph that (i) explains the gist of each guideline; and (ii) how and why it’s important to keep in mind when developing lessons and units.
4. Paste this paragraph your section below
5. Give your paragraph a title.

Group One STAGES OF EFFECTIVE TECHNOLOGY USE

Take into account your students' level of familiarity with the technology. This helps to identify your students' level of prior knowledge and potentially how much class time will need to be used teaching students how to use the technology. If that time would be extensive a different method may be required. Use of technology should be tied to learning targets and not viewed as an end in and of itself. This will ensure that the content of the curriculum remains at the forefront of the learning experience. Lessons that use technology should invite students to discover and apply their own new and different ways of using that technology. This will ensure that students are able to transfer their emerging understanding of technological tools beyond the classroom.

Mike, Dan, Lisa, Paul

Group Two (Technology, Equity and The Standards)

In order for technology to be used in an educative way it must be tied to the learning goals in ways that meet the educational standards. If we want our student to benefit from its use we need to make sure it is relevant to their social and cultural capital, as well as their current and future lives. To utilize technology effectively we need to make sure it is used in adaptive and responsive ways that meet the variety of needs for the learners in our classroom. This includes connections to the learning environment and the equity for using technology.

(Authors: Kelly Loval-Jones , Matt Frasier, Briana Dignan)

Group Three (put a title for your paragraph that captures the gist of your guideline(s)

Group Four Technology Manimals

In order for technology to be educative, there must be alignment between technology and learning targets and standards. At the same time, both the teacher and students need to be aware of their prior knowledge of that specific technology and be aware of how much, access students might have now and in the future to that technology. Our students must also learn to use technology to make meaning of concepts by avoiding negative transfer and enhancing the understanding of concepts. Teacher must also be knowledgable and be aware of resources to increase that knowledge of the technology.

Tori, Claudia, Dan, Kat

Group Five (Aligned, Engaging, and Relevant Use of Technology in Classrooms)

The first most important guideline to consider when writing lesson plans is to make sure the use of technology is not the central focus of the lesson. The learning targets/outcomes should be the focus of the lesson/unit. Another guideline is to make sure the use of technology is interesting and engaging so that students feel motivated to further their learning. Additionally, it’s important to make sure the technology is accessible to the students by scaffolding how to use it. Prior knowledge of the use of technology is important to creating an equitable learning environment. Finally it’s important that students see the relevancy in the use of the technology and that they can imagine ways to use it in the future.

Josie, Valdez, Amanda, Christina

Group Six (Essential Guidelines for Educative Uses of Technology)

It seems that one of the most important guidelines when trying to make technology educative is to make sure the technology being used in each unit is valuable to the students and has an applicable purpose in their everyday lives ( TPaK). This is important because every student needs to know the purpose for why they are using technology during their classroom activities and this purpose should be centered around real world application.

An educative use of technology should also teach a new or strengthen a skill for the student. Students are now expected to be proficient in various technologies for higher education and careers (OSPI technology standards), and it is our job to best prepare them.

Another important guideline is that technology should help students meet content learning goals. This guideline is important because the focus of instruction should be on the content and the students. Harris & Hofer argue that without a clear content goal, instruction can become ‘technocentric’ (Papert in Harris & Hofer), focusing on technologies instead of students (2009). As a teacher plans lesson and units for their classroom, they should first select learning goals. Based on the learning goals teachers can then choose activity types and corresponding technologies.

Technology also allows for students to be more varied and independent in their work because it doesn’t bind them to the confines of the school library or textbook.

Adam Wooten, Marisa Bateman, Jessica Cohoe, Kelly Shaffstall

Group Seven (put a title for your paragraph that captures the gist of your guideline(s)