Here I intend to keep a journal of article “chunks” , artifacts and quotes which represent my learning throughout etec 533
Interview excerpts / Professional Development:
J. K”s thoughts on professional development; “Training that I find the most valuable , one on one sessions where I’ve been asked how comfortable I am and then take me from there”
“When you can sit with someone and tell them what you would like and they can give you suggestions and then you can say this will work or won’t work and then go from there……..small group or one on one sessions about what interests me and then go from there”
“ would be nice to have time to collaborate with other teachers, so many things out there, and It sometimes feels overwhelming, so much you could do but are not doing…….”
Collaboration: Teachers helping teachers
Professional development for teachers is an ongoing issue in most schools and school districts. The teacher was integrating technology in curriculum areas however the need for collaboration with other teachers became quite apparent.
According to Giordano (2007) “The teacher is the gatekeeper of change in the classroom, and professional development designed to change teacher practice must be guided by and integrated with teachers’ existing values, valences, knowledge and behaviours”. (p. 123)
This quote highlights the need for professional development that meets the individual needs of teachers. One size professional development will not fit all teachers. Alternate models need to be explored.
Delgano and Colgan (2007)”teachers profit more from the knowledge and insights they develop in their own ways through activity, discourse, reflection, inquiry and application” (p. 1053)
In my framing the issues paper the need for ongoing, collaborative support for teachers became apparent. Professional development should incorporate authentic, hands on activities tied to classroom practice and student outcomes. COP where teachers connect and collaborate with colleagues show promise as a form of professional development.
An interesting blog post re teachers and technology Redefining my role: Teacher as student
Good use of technology in Math/helping students make connections to the real world
“For one assignment, a Grade 4 lesson on geometric shapes, students listen to a teacher’s instruction before they’re sent off through school, taking pictures of the shapes they learned about, and use this to build an animation slide on their phones for presentation” (Macleans Magazine)
Making connections to the real world and integrating the tools that students use naturally in their daily lives help students relate math concepts to everyday activities and motivate students to explore.
When I think of technology enhanced environments I think:
There are so many words that come to mind. I settled on “Potential for Learning” as it ties in nicely with my current position at school this year. Part of my responsibilities is to facilitate the use of technology with teachers. It can sometimes be a hard sell but once teachers see the potential for use in the classroom they are hooked.
“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.
“…digital technologies such as computer simulations can be particularly engaging for science students because they can manipulate variables in multiple ways and observe changes as a result of this interaction.” (Khan, 2010)
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 students struggle with fine motor skills and sometimes they interfere with their learning. 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.
“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)
“however, 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)
The range of resources presented in the Resource Share Forum was amazing. I was having a great time exploring the tools. These quotes however sent me right back to the issue of Professional Development for teachers. How do teachers find out about the tools, where do they find the time to explore and play with the tools? How do we address the needs of the teacher and support the effective use of these kinds of tools in our classrooms?
“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)
This final quote was chosen to illustrate the possibilities that have been opened up to students and teachers with the advent of mobile technologies in the classroom. It is an exciting time in schools. Gone are the days of sitting in rows and listening to lectures, learning through text books. With new technologies classroom walls have disappeared and learning can take place anywhere, anytime.
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.
Giordano, V. A. (2007). A professional development model to promote internet integration into p-12 teachers’ practice: a mixed methods study. Computers In The Schools, 24(3/4),
111-123.
http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/01/26/the-touch-screen-school/
http://salsichteach.edublogs.org/2012/01/16/actually-teachers-dont-have-to-learn-technology/
Khan, S. (2010). New pedagogies for teaching with computer simulations. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 20(3), 215-232.
MC-L1: Info-Vis Forum. https://www.vista.ubc.ca/webct/urw/tp8292565616151.lc8292565591151/newMessageThread.dowebct?discussionaction=viewMessage&messageid=8943832982221&topicid=8292565803151&refreshPage=false&sourcePage=
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.
Resource Share Forum. Create a graph It starts somewhere. https://www.vista.ubc.ca/webct/urw/tp8292565616151.lc8292565591151/newMessageThread.dowebct?discussionaction=viewMessage&messageid=8895291953291&topicid=8292565804151&refreshPage=false&sourcePage=
Resource Share Forum. Re: Zygodebody for Biology https://www.vista.ubc.ca/webct/urw/tp8292565616151.lc8292565591151/newMessageThread.dowebct?discussionaction=viewMessage&messageid=8930343123141&topicid=8292565804151&refreshPage=false&sourcePage=
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.