A. How will you use these technology applications to improve learning experiences for your students and/or improve your own practice?
Things 1-7 introduced me to many new web based resources of which I was formerly unaware. These resources helped me better understand the importance of using technology as a tool for learning. The lesson on differentiated instruction and diverse learning specifically challenged me to seek to incorporate multiple methods for presenting and engaging students in learning. Many of the other “Things” helped familiarize me with specific applications/tools that I could use to incorporate technology within my own teaching practice. Many of the communication tools such as Google Docs, Delicious, Skype, and Weebly were helpful in providing ideas on how to make myself and my resources more accessible to my students and perhaps even the world at large. I currently have my own web page for many of my teaching materials, but am interested in looking into helping my students make their own web pages for publishing some of their work. Furthermore, a few of the “Things” such as Skype and Vozme could be used directly within my classroom for instructional purposes. I especially found Thinkfinity to be very helpful for finding new lesson ideas and activities. In summary, learning about and practicing with these resources has better prepared me for and demonstrated to me specific ways in which I could include more technology within my classroom learning environment.
B. What effective teaching and learning strategy(ies), based on the work by Marzano (http://gets.gc.k12.va.us/VSTE/2008/ ) will these technology applications address, to make a difference in the learning experience for your students?
The technology applications that were described and practiced during Things 1-7 target several of Marzano’s effective teaching and learning strategies.
1. Identifying Similarities and Differences - The use of Skype to communicate with another classroom would allow students a firsthand experience in compare and contrast between classroom environments, cultures, languages, etc.
2. The second strategy “Summarizing and Note Taking” is developed in the use of underlying and using bold-faced font that was taught in Thing #1 on using MS Office keyboard shortcuts. Furthermore, Google Docs or having student design personal web pages would provide them with an opportunity to summarize and record what they are learning.
3. Marzano’s third strategy “Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition” would be addressed through the feedback that could be given to students and parents through the use of Skype. Moreover, the use of a class website (Thing #7) would allow for sharing and highlighting students’ work which would reinforce their effort to do well.
4. The strategy “Increasing Value in Homework and Practice” is also addressed in Thing #7 – Face of Classroom. A class web page would allow students and their parents to be aware of due dates and could provide opportunities for students to complete activities for additional practice.
5. The fifth strategy “Using Non-Linguistic Representations” is addressed in the use of UDL strategies in Thing #5 – Differentiated Instruction & Diverse Learning.
6. Marzano’s sixth strategy “Incorporating Cooperative Learning Effectively” is developed in Thing #2 – Collaboration Tools. Through the use of Google Docs, students would have the opportunity to work collaboratively on assignments and projects. Having them work together would enhance their learning of both the material they working on as well as how to work effectively with other people.
7. Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback – Marzano’s seventh strategy for effective teaching and learning was addressed in several of the technology applications. The use of communication tools such as a class website could provide students and parents with rubrics or assignment descriptions. Skype also would allow students and parents to receive feedback from their teacher on their current progress.
8. Generating and Testing Hypothesis – This eighth strategy by Marzano is addressed in the use of Content Area Tools like those presented through the Thinkfinity website. Among other things, these tools allow students to work at problem solving and investigation while also encouraging them to experiment and make decisions.
9. Utilizing Questions, Cues, and Advanced Organizers – Marzano’s last strategy is addressed in Thing #1 through the use of Delicious. Delicious allows students or teachers to organize websites in a helpful format that can easily be sorted and searched.
C. Choose one of the seven things and describe an activity or lesson you could use in your classroom. Include in the description how the lesson meets either a Michigan curriculum standard or another Educational Technology standard.
Thing #7 – Weebly: I am excited about using Weebly as a way to allow my students to develop and publish their work on the Internet. For example, my students have done research projects on specific topics and have organized and presented this information in a variety of ways. For some projects, they have made PowerPoint presentations and for others they have used a component of Microsoft Publisher. Weebly, however, provides an alternative tool that gives students another engaging way to organize and present their knowledge regarding a specific topic of study. The advantage of using Weebly above Microsoft tools, however, is that the students will be publishing their work and making it available to the wider community. For example, instead of having my students make PowerPoint presentations on the solar system, they could demonstrate their research by designing a Weebly website. Such a website would then be available to millions of people around the world. This would allow students a firsthand opportunity to share their work and add to overall learning community.
The way in which the above mentioned lesson meets Educational Technology standards is that it engages students in contributing to the learning of others in the real-world (NETS-T 1.b). Furthermore, when students design their own Weebly websites, they will be involved in a learning experience that allows them to use technology as a way of expressing their knowledge and creativity (NETS-T 2.a). Finally, since the above lesson would require students to be instructed to be professional in their content and to not give out personal identifiable information on their website, the educational technology standard on digital citizenship and responsibility would be addressed (NETS-T 4.c).
