Reflection

As I reflect back to the first week and creating my personal learning theory, I see that not much has been modified from my original thoughts when it comes to teaching students.  Everything I have learned through this course has really helped me to solidify that what I am doing and have been doing is right on target.   Over the last few weeks we have touched base on many different learning theories and I am already incorporating them into what I create based on the needs of the group of students I am working with.

What I have been doing with the use of educational technology is already in line with what I have learned over the last seven weeks as well.  It was refreshing to see some of the tools I often utilize, VoiceThread for example, referenced and used in this course.  I think the reason is because this is a requirement of my job.  I am always keeping up with the latest in EdTech and this has helped me be aware of students’ needs and the technology tools available to meet them.

What I can say that I will begin to change is the way I present these tools to teachers and how I run professional development classes.  I often I teach the tools without the reasoning of why this tool will be effective or what are best practices in its use.  If I really want the buy in for positive effect of educational technology, then I should be teaching why it is beneficial as well.  It wasn’t up until this last week that I finally could see that. 

Next week I have a professional development opportunity that I am changing the layout for.  This professional development is all about presentation web tools.  My goal was to give an overview of that variety of these tools and what they do.  Now I think I need to also focus on why these tools could be valuable for students through their use as learning technology tools but also how they can be effective when used in lessons or units to touch on different learning styles. 

As for long-term goals I have for my work with both students and teachers, one is to incorporate more cooperative learning into both my work with students and with teachers.   “It is a teaching strategy which allows students to work together in small groups with individuals of various talents, abilities and backgrounds to accomplish a common goal” (Orey, 2011).  I think students and teachers can benefit from others’ ideas, as well as having a place to share their own.  It can result in a deeper understanding and a way to create a deeper connection to the material.

The second long-term goal is to make sure I incorporate more visuals and less text when I teach.  Dr. Micahel Orey shared that Paivio’s dual coding hypothesis uses images in instruction versus using more text (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).  I can admit I am guilty of giving presentations and running professional developments where I use more text and less visuals.  This is something I am going to work on changing.  It’s not that I need the text there because I do know the content.  My thoughts were always that my audience needed to see what I was saying, but if I think back to what Dr. Orey said, the visuals would help create a better connection to the topic I am covering.  This is why infographics are becoming so popular.  They incorporate the text and visual to create a deeper understanding of the information trying to be conveyed.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Program thirteen: Technology: Instructional tool vs. learning tool [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

 

Orey, M. (Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Main_Page