EDLD+5364

The content on the EDLD 5364 page will pertain to the course work for this semester. Weekly readings, group assignments, weekly postings and other topics will be discussed. This is the first week of our coursework and we had to assemble a team of 3 to 5 people for a collaborative group assignment. The members of our group are Dena Williams, Lindsey Gaspard, Richa Muhammad, Mona Mondin, and Armon Hewitt. We will have weekly assignments, weekly wiki postings, blog postings, discussion postings and a group collaboration project that is due at the end of the semester.



This week’s readings were very interesting. The harmonizing theme we are exploring is making students more successful by giving them ownership over the material they are learning. My favorite periodical, If I Teach This Way, Am I Doing My Job?, Constructivism in the Classroom by Debra Sprague and Christopher Dede shared data research that compared the constructivism theory with traditional teaching methods. I love reading scenarios and this article used some good comparison scenarios. Some of the topics that were discussed hit home for me as well as other teachers I am sure. Classes utilizing a constructivist theory, giving students ownership and being student centered look disorganized, get loud, and it may seem like the teacher lacks discipline and control. Many administrators think if classes are orderly and quiet with the students seemingly focused on the teacher that a lot of learning is going on and that is not always true. Classes that look disorganized, with loud students working in collaborative groups and the teacher monitoring is more likely to be a superior learning environment for the 21'st Century Learner. If teacher's jobs are in jeopardy because their classes do not fit the typical old school, traditional classroom mold they will keep teaching by using the same old school methods, even if those old methods are not successful.
 * Wiki Posting for Week 1-5**
 * Week 1**

A few things that I found fascinating in the article, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School by Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R, were that when learning changes occur in children the physical structure of the brain changes and those structural changes alter the functional organization of the brain. Learning organizes and reorganizes the brain like a computer. They also discussed research about how children that were not exposed to information early in their lives were not as successful as children who were exposed to information and knowledge as young children. Young students were found to grasp complex concepts at an earlier age than previously thought. Family, new settings, community centers, new activities, and after school clubs help improve student achievement. Prior knowledge from unique experiences that students possess gives them the foundation for learning.

This weeks readings are based around the use of technology in the classroom. For a generation of young students technology has played a large part of their lives in school and also socially. Technology and the 21st Century learner go hand in hand and allows students to be on a more level playing field at all grade levels than traditional methods. Properly implemented, technology allows teachers to reach all students in a class no matter how diverse and in all subject areas such as math, English, science, reading, music and even vocation. Blind, hearing impaired, ESL, and resource students __all__ benefit from properly implemented technology by teachers. Research based data indicates that technology promotes positive achievement not only as an esteem builder but also academically. Technology allows students to collaborate with others in far away and even remote locations, be more confident, and creative. A widening gap has formed between the knowledge and skills students are acquiring in schools and the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in the increasingly global, technology infused 21st century workplace. To close or fill in those gaps teachers must plan and implement technology use that will increase student knowledge and require higher level thinking skills. If used improperly, students learn no more from technology and maybe less than traditional teaching methods.
 * Week 2**

Various technologies deliver different kinds of content and serve different purposes in the classroom. For our scenario we will by utilizing these various technologies to enhance learning and reach a varied audience. The information we've learned during the first two weeks we know that for an effective lesson we will need to use digitized text for hearing impaired, tactile and audio aids must be utilized for a sight impaired student, peer tutoring will be implemented which will help all learners, and the technology we use will be research based.

This week focused on developing lessons for diverse learners. Classes today may incorporate learners that are dyslexic, have behavioral or physical problems, they may be gifted and talented or resource students, or they may even be ESL students. Classes that contain students with such diverse learning styles are a real challenge for teachers trying who try to meet all of the student's needs. The reading material and several of the websites that were part of our lesson this week helped us design lessons that helped to meet diverse learner needs. Of course teaching the 21st century learner means that teaching styles have to completely change from traditional methods. The brain of today's learner functions differently than that of a traditional learner. Today's students being raised in this technological age need more brain stimulation than they receive just reading textbooks and writing with pencil and paper. Teachers must meet those technology needs to get production from many of these students. Technology puts all students on a level playing field because low level students seem to grasp the technology driven ideas and concepts as well as higher level students. It also offers visually and hearing impaired students a vehicle they can thrive in because of innovative software such as audio captioning and Jaws audio capability.
 * Week 3**

My favorite part of our learning resources for the week was the video about Luis. After I watched his video I watched 5 or 6 other videos on the edutopia site about young people and how they use technology to help others and the huge amount of knowledge that they possess about technology. As they are 21st century learners they know so much more about technology than their parents it's mind blowing. The parents of these technological geniuses say that they just step back and let the kids do what they do. I am sure teachers have a real challenge in keeping kids like that from getting bored in a typical class room. That's just one type of student we are learning to develop lessons for during this course. Diverse technological learners need varied resources that include text, audio, video, simulations, or virtual manipulatives. As teachers, we want to utilize a variety of technology-based tools that engage and encourage all students.

Week 4 This week's resources focused on student assessment and continued discussing methods of designing lessons that implement technology with varied delivery methods. With the diverse learners in today's classrooms we must find fair ways to teach and evaluate students. One shoe fits all does not apply to student learning styles evaluation methods. The days of the all inclusive pencil and paper test every Friday, just because it's Friday, is not a fair evaluation tool for all students. That being said all students using textbooks to learn is not an appropriate teaching method for most 21st century learners either. Why do many teachers not realize this? Do they not care that their teaching methods are not fair to some students? Many teachers need professional development trainings to learn various methods for implementing technology in their classes. Especially those teachers that were educated with traditional educational methods and were exposed to very little technology. Many school districts claim to be on board with technology but are not being realistic because they are not actually jumping in with both feet but just sticking their toe in. Until they fully embrace technology by training their teachers and supplying all of the resources needed for teaching 21st century learners they will not be fully vested in the implementation process. Oral, written, typed, text to speech, and captioning are delivery methods that should all be considered as teaching tools. Students may benefit in small collaborative groups or from peer tutoring and help them during the learning process. Monitoring with short term feedback may help with assessing student knowledge gain.

Week 5 As we end our course I have to say that this has been one of the best courses that I have ever taken. We learned so much about different types of web tools that will make it easier for educators in both planning lessons and the assessment of students. The planning and assessments guidelines that we have learned about this semester should allow all of our students to receive the fairest lessons and assessments possible and as a teacher I would hate to know that I was the cause of a student not doing his/her very best. One thing that many teachers don't realize is the a student's attitude is the most important piece of his success. A brilliant kid may be a poor student because of their attitude. A side note that goes with that is sometimes it's the teachers attitude that stifles students. As an ag teacher I had a closer relationship with most of my students than did the teacher in the buildings. I spent countless hours with them not only in class but also traveling to livestock and ag mechanic shows, FFA meeting, and home visits. I spent more time with many of students than their parents did. The result of spending all of those hours with my students is that we formed bonds that were much like parental-child bonds. My students would jump off a cliff for me. Some of their other teachers did not like it because I could get them to do things no one else could. I would tell them if they spent as many hours as I did with those students they might see a different side and a different kid.

I am very happy that we were introduced to the web tools for creating lessons, web sites and evaluations. Life is so much easier because of what I call plug and play lesson builders, rubric builders, evaluation builders and many other helpful tools. Not only am I excited about these helpful teacher tools but there are so many use sites for students now that it's unbelieveable. Movie makers, music makers, podcast builders, you name it and there's an application for it online. I think back to things I had to do as a student, if you wrote something with a pen and made a mistake there was no delete but there was a recycle bin called a trash can and that's where it went and you started over. I wish I had grown up with technology. Technology for us was a calculator. I hope I can continue to keep using these sites and other new ones so I can become more proficient in their use.

The school principal directed you, a lead technology school-based technology expert, to work jointly with a classroom teacher to create learning experiences that not only meet students’ individual differences, but also address 21st Century learning trends. Specifically, the principal asked for you to design, implement, and assess a technology integration/intervention program for a group of 30 students with unique needs.
 * Scenario**

The classroom teacher possesses basic computer skills, but has minimal understanding of how to teach with technology to benefit student learning.
 * Teacher Background**

Of the 30 students, there are 10 identified as gifted and talented. The gifted and talented students are accustomed to working individually online. Two students have disabilities dramatically affecting learning. One student is blind and another is hearing impaired. The remaining 18 students reflect ability levels ranging from the lowest level to high achieving.
 * Students’ Background**

As the school-based technology expert, you have been given an opportunity to model how technology can positively impact student achievement for diverse learners. Work with your learning team to create a solution for the scenario listed above. Use the following guiding questions as a resource to begin your planning and discussions within the shared Google doc your team created in Week 1.
 * Task**

What process will you use as a learning team to solve the scenario-based problem?
 * Guiding Questions**

Who should be a part of the learning team composition?

Who will be the team leader to get the project started and keep the team on track? What skills will your learning team need to possess to successfully solve this problem? Which team member has experience with special needs students?

What will be the roles of each team member in the development, implementation, and assessment of the program?

Who will be responsible for ensuring the technology-based learning activities are research-based?

What grade level and content area (s) will you address? ​

What will the learning activities look like? ​

How will you model examples for the teacher?

How will you assess the effectiveness of the learning activities?

What technology tools will be included in the Google wiki/website format your team will use for the final delivery of your scenario solution? Will it include video, documents, and other technology project samples? ​

Who will publish your work and to which free sites such as TeacherTube, Google Videos, Flickr, or others will be linked back to the Google team wiki/website?

**Required Components** - Develop a plan of action  - Provide examples of student-centered learning activities with technology to meet the diversity of the students  - Include 21st Century learning trends - Create sample technology projects - Select the mediums your team will use to share your final group project with the world within the Google wiki/website - Publish your scenario-based solution to the Google wiki/website and share with the world.