Final Reflection
The metaphor that comes to mind as I reflect on the story that is my e folio, is my journey has been like a song, containing high notes and a distinctive chorus. This song tells the story of my journey through etec 533, the verses building one on the other, creating a unified theme and ending with a high note that leaves the story line open to possibilities. After each verse the chorus is sung loudly and emphatically by the choir. Two major themes emerged from my journey. The first theme to emerge is the effective use of technology in science and math classrooms to enhance student learning. This theme encompasses many sub themes within my song, my motivation to use technology, what is technology, good use of technology and the potential of technology in the future. The second prevailing theme which is woven throughout the e folio is professional development/training for teachers , which translates into the chorus. The chorus of a song is repeated after every verse and so for me the issue of professional development became my chorus.
Verse 1
My Motivation
My musical story began with my auto e-ography which set the tone for my story. Right from the beginning of my song, technology is recognized as a means to engage students in the learning process. In my auto e-ography I reference the group of students who were my muse. My story begins with a group of students for whom, “traditional teaching was not working”, “School was hard and they had disengaged from the learning process. Learning was not happening in my room”. This group inspired me to begin my musical journey which was the MET program and etec 533 is a highlight in this story. I recognized that for these students I needed to change what I was doing but I needed a plan of how to make learning happen. This point was emphasized for me again in my interview with J.K. According to J.K. using technology had a positive effect on student engagement, “students were so engaged, those students who did not respond to traditional paper/pencil activities, when they were set to work on researching…….it was like night and day the work they could produce.”. (Interview excerpts) This led me to examine what is good use of technology? This leads me into verse 2.
Verse 2
Why Technology?
One of the quotes that I included in my free writes was; “It is often noted that technology is really just a tool to support learning and instruction, but it is less often noted or made clear that the nature of the technology tools and their manner of use matters deeply” (Pellegrino and Brophy 2008) I included this quote to highlight the importance that teachers integrate technology that help students construct meaningful learning as opposed to integrating technology for the sake of using technology in a lesson. Technology should help students make connections, extend their learning and engage students in the learning process. In module B we were asked which definition of technology we agreed with. The definition that resonated with me was, “..emerging interactive media are tools in service of richer curricula, enhanced pedagogies, more effective organization structures, stronger links between schools and society, and the empowerment of disenfranchised learners” (Kozma, 2003). The use of technology in math and science classrooms has the potential to connect students to the world, make abstract concepts concrete, provide alternate methods of representation/demonstration of learning, provides access to authentic data and to networked communities. In answer to one of the questions in module A I noted that, “using technology to make classrooms places of inquiry, promotes problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration and communication is possible. However the effective integration of technology can be very challenging in real classrooms”. How do we meet this challenge? Upon reviewing my e-folio I noticed how often this question came up throughout the course.
(insert chorus)
Verse 3
Resources for Math and Science
This is definitely a high note in this song. The readings, resources explored and the pace of the discussions was at times a little frantic. My favorite activities were the explorations of resources, the TELEs in module B and the resources in module C. The traditional method of knowledge transmission from teacher to the student has resulted in disengaged learners such as the ones that had me start this journey. According to CTVG, “mathematics classrooms need to shift from an emphasis on the teacher imparting knowledge to one in which students attempt to use their current skills and knowledge to approach problems to be solved” (Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt 1992a) If we are to prepare students to take their place in the world we must be thinking along the lines of promoting critical thinking, problem solving, communication, creativity and collaboration. The resources explored in Module B were all designed to do just that. The 2 TELEs that I think would use with grade 3 students was WISE and Jasper (with updates and remakes to make them applicable to grade 3). As I stated “WISE and Jasper are student centered in their design. Both TELEs encourage student critical thinking, self reflection and knowledge construction”. (final reflection on WISE and Jasper) I would like to do further work with these 2 resources in the future with the goal of using these resources in my classroom.
Hsi 2008 posits “that innovative educational applications, tools and experiences are being specifically designed to capture the interests and attention of learners to support everyday learning” (p. 891). All of the resources, apps and technologies explored in module C have the potential to engage students in activities which help students make sense of math and science concepts, make abstract concepts visible and provide students with alternate means of representing their thinking. I agree with Finkelstein et al. (2005) “… visual cues in computer simulations make concepts visible that are otherwise invisible to students” (p. 6). One of my favorite apps to help students visualize and manipulate abstract concepts was HD solids which I shared in the resource share section on the forum. In the Resource Share forum D.F. stated “As students develop the ability to analyze data they need be not be hindered by their fine motor skill development and limited abilities to create graphs with accurate proportion. A resource such as this ensures that the students are able to concentrate on the math and the concepts.” This quote resonated with me as many of my grade 3 students struggle with fine motor skills and sometimes this interferes with their learning. Although the resource being referenced was for graphing I think that the idea applies in all areas of math and science. Simulations enable students to focus on the concept being taught and not on the extraneous skills needed to complete an activity to illustrate the concept.
The mobile learning technology and the concept of embodied learning have great implications for the teaching of Math and science. The possibility to immerse students in authentic simulations using thinking tags or the use of hand held computers to enable learning to happen anywhere/ anytime is an exciting, one which warrants more exploration. For teachers to engage in these kinds of teaching/learning activities Professional Development will be the key!
(insert chorus)
Verse 4
Possibilities for the future
“By coupling the supporting technical infrastructures for mobile learning with good curriculum and pedagogical design, teachers can transform science teaching into personalized learning journeys for each student” (Zhang et al. 2010) Although Zhang specifically references science I feel that it applies to all areas of the curriculum. I am excited about the possibilities that mobile learning opens up for teachers and students. “The possibilities of using student owned devices to promote these kinds of activities in math and science classrooms may lead to opportunities to facilitate this kind of student interaction.” (Valerie Wells Embodied Learning entry) However it will be important to keep in mind that teachers will need support in order to take advantage of mobile learning opportunities. As was stated in the discussion forum, “I agree that technology can have this potential, but it does rely upon the teacher seeing the potential and making use of the technology to help the students. We in the MET program represent a group of teachers who are very keen to make use of the affordances of technology, but not all teachers are.”(D. H. Resource Share Forum) One of the responsibilities for my school is to support teachers in their endeavors to integrate technology to enhance and extend student learning. This course has given me food for thought and ideas, resources and pedagogical knowledge to support teachers like J.K. in their quest to effectively use technology in math and science classrooms.
Chorus
The need for Professional Development! (sing after each verse)
I began this course with the opinion that teachers required professional development but that “Professional development that leads to successful technology integration is a complicated, multifaceted process. No single factor in and of itself will lead to teachers fully integrating technology into teaching and learning in classrooms”.(excerpt Unpacking Assumptions) One of the most beneficial activities I did to further my thinking on professional development was interview a colleague. J.K. was using technology in her classroom and saw the potential of its use however was lost when it came to using technology in the math classroom. According to J.K., “I think it is important, I’ve gone on the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives occasionally but I can’t say I have done a lot with my students in math instruction or assessment, with technology. This teacher recognized the value of using technology but had no idea where to start. This led me to the topic for the Framing the Issues paper. My original proposal was that “Professional development that is teacher driven, long term, accessible, incorporating support in authentic classroom situations, that is clearly linked to curriculum outcomes and gains in student learning appear to be the most effective”. Through the set of articles I researched I re-framed the professional development issue to include alternate forms of professional development. Of the set of articles I researched Dalgarno and Colgan’s (2007) article gave me the most food for thought. I concluded that, “The use of technology-enhanced environments to facilitate teacher collaboration, support colleagues when needed and provide greater accessibility for teachers is a powerful alternative to the traditional face to face format. The potential of online COP to facilitate ongoing collaboration between mathematics teachers holds great promise in terms of teacher professional development”. (excerpt Framing of the Issues) This is an area that I would like to further research in light of my own district/school context to support teachers in their use of technology in math and science classrooms.
Through discussion with peers in the forums and in the small group activity it became clear that I was not alone in thinking professional development was a key component in the integration of technology and one that all teachers and boards were struggling with regardless of geographic location. In our discussions during the planning of a math lesson to share on the forum, our group constantly came back to the same thought, ” it would be useful if teachers understood how to effectively use the applets as a tool and in combination with authentic learning tasks.” (S, S & V. MC-L1 Info-vis Forum Post) This course has served to further highlight for me that it is not technology itself that will enhance student learning, it is the way in which it is used that will enhance learning, and for this reason quality professional development is absolutely essential!
References
Dalgarno, N., Colgan, L. (2007).Supporting novice elementary mathematics teachers’ induction in professional communities and providing innovative forms of pedagogical content knowledge development through information and communication technology. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23, 1051-1065.
Kozma, R. (2003). Technology, innovation, and educational change: A global perspective, (A report of the Second Information Technology in Education Study, Module 2). Eugene, OR: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, ISTE Publications.
Pellegrino, J.W. & Brophy, S. (2008). From cognitive theory to instructional practice: Technology and the evolution of anchored instruction. In Ifenthaler, Pirney-Dunner, & J.M. Spector (Eds.)understanding models for learning and instruction, New York: Springer Science + Business Media, pp.277-303.
Zhang, B., Looi, C-K, Seow, P., Chia, G., Wong, L-H, Chen, W, So, H-J, Soloway, E. & Norris, C. (2010). Deconstructing and reconstructing: Transforming primary science learning via a mobilized curriculum. Computers & Education, 55, 1504-1523.