EDLD+5364+Course-based+Internship+Log

EDLD 5364 Course Embedded Reflection
Since I have already been an Instructional Technology Specialist for 5 years now, I envisioned this course to use a lot of the methods and materials that I use as part of my job every day, and to also introduce me to some new and innovative teaching methods that I could take back to my campus and share with teachers and students. Our main assignment for this course was to work with a group of our Lamar colleagues to research the three theories of teaching and learning, then create a lesson using Universal Design for Learning (UDL), including a sample electronic book, then add a team reflection to our Google site, none of which I had done previously. The three theories were interesting to research, because I’d never heard of the Cyborg theory in which humans will have computer chips implanted into their bodies so that machines can help them experience more of their surroundings than we do unaided (Solomon and Schrum, 2009). My group consisted of 4 other Lamar students and myself, and we were all pretty confused. During week 3, we were able to finally speak using tools for online conference calls, and we also used a team chat site posted on our Google doc. This was very useful, because we discovered that we had a lot of the same questions, and it was easier to trade information and ideas when speaking directly to each other than just emails, Facebook posts, and texts. Once we got our footing in this course, our team divided the roles and expectations among the team members in a way that allowed each of us to get a handle on our portion and complete the work in time. We had a spectacular leader, Julia, and she was able to steer us in the right direction so that all assignments were completed, then compiled into one document that demonstrated our independent efforts.

I didn't expect this course to be difficult at all, because I thought that I had a pretty good grasp of what "Teaching With Technology" meant. And while I was already familiar with many of the websites, methods and materials (Gmail, BrainPOP, National Library of Virtual Manipulatives, Stellarium, Inspiration and Kidspiration, KidPix, the Office suite,etc) mentioned during the course of the class, I did learn a lot of new things that I have been eagerly sharing with my coworkers and my campus administrators. I’d never even heard the term UDL, and was interested to learn that it’s a “research-based set of principles that forms a practical framework for using technology to maximize learning opportunities for every student.” (Rose & Meyer, 2002) I showed one of our special education teachers the CAST Bookbuilder site, and she was very excited about learning how to use it to create materials for her students. And the group scenario project allowed me to think ahead to the time in the near future when my junior high campus will have a visually impaired student that will need Assistive Technology. Every student on my campus has a mini laptop, and that is not going to be sufficient to meet his technology needs, so I am going to learn as much as I can about screen readers, screen enlargers, and any other technology that will help his classroom teachers.

I found this course to be the most grueling of the four I have taken so far. I wasn’t expecting it to be as challenging as it proved to be. I have felt very incompetent throughout this course because I never felt as if I had a real grasp on what I was expected to turn in, and if what I did turn in met the course expectations. One aspect of this course that I was not prepared for was how the discussion board entries would have to use in-text citations of sources. I mentioned this in my Week 3 update, and received an email answer as to why the instructors required this, but I have to say, I still don't completely understand the rationale. As I said in my update, every other discussion board I have ever participated in was used for just that---discussion. The only time anyone ever used a citation was if they needed to use a quote to make a point, and not because it was required. I found it to be mentally exhausting to use a source just for the sake of using a source, and not because it went along with the discussion. It somehow felt contrived, and I didn’t really like this part of the course at all. I felt as if the discussion board could have been put to better use as a place to exchange ideas about what we were learning, and ideas we had come across in our studies. I was also not prepared for having to look in several different places to get a grasp on the assignments. I usually go by what the rubric says, but in this course I felt (rightly or wrongly) as if I had to use the rubric, weekly updates, Lamar emails, etc to find scattered pieces of information that would add up to what we needed to turn in. It helped to be able to collaborate with team members to get their take on the wording of a particular part of the assignment, and by putting our heads together, we usually came up with great ideas for how to meet course expectations. The team collaboration was really the saving grace of this course. Dividing the work into manageable bites that each of us could handle really helped me keep my sanity, as did consulting each other on the portions of the assignments where we each created our own products to share. If I hadn’t had others to talk to about these assignments, I probably would have dropped the course because I felt so incompetent, and that was a new feeling for me.

The outcomes of this course have been very relevant to my current position on campus and in my district. My department is always looking for new and innovative websites and Web 2.0 products to share among ourselves so that they spread across the district and aren't isolated on one campus. In fact, my department is currently in the process of revising our technology training, and a lot of the websites and online products presented in this class were discussed as part of the new training we will offer this summer. The outcomes from this class will have positive repercussions among my coworkers, because we have and will continue to change the way we present materials to teachers. I also plan to present the "effort" rubric to our teachers at the beginning of the next school year, because they are always saying that they can't think of a way to introduce Excel to students if they don't teach math! There were no expected outcomes that I didn't achieve in this course. The only problem I had with outcomes was the lack of time to explore things more fully, like the UDL BookBuilder. I felt as if it took a lot of time to produce a usable product that could be presented to students, and if I'd had more time, as with most things in life, I could have done a much better job with it!

I was able to complete all of the group portions of the assignments before the deadlines, but not all of the discussion board assignments. Something had to give during these last two weeks, and the discussion board assignment was it, since it only counts as 10% of the grade, but also because those were the most frustrating and discouraging portions of the assignments. I had an 'a-ha moment' of sorts while watching the James Paul Gee video when he said that video games don’t separate learning and assessment in a way in which you are given information that you will be tested over at some point in the future, which is how traditional educators taught. When playing a video game, either you learn how to advance and move forward, or you fail and start again. Video games and related technologies are just a type of problem solving, in that you are constantly being fed information about how to advance and get better at the game. When students play games they are "working collaboratively to solve problems. Students are assessing situations and making judgments based on those assessments." (Gee, 2009)

This course helped reinforce something I learned about myself several years ago while obtaining my Bachelors degree--I can function under pressure. I may not be able to give a peak performance every single time, but I don't beat myself up over it because I can get the job done when there is a deadline to meet. I didn't even start my Bachelors degree until I was in my mid 20's and had two children, and it was a struggle to do everything I needed to get done even back then, without having a full-time career. It's been 14 years since I started teaching, and I'm now a single mom with four children-- two daughters in college, another daughter about to graduate high school, and a son in 7th grade. I have a full-time job that requires a lot of effort, and a lot of people questioned whether I would be able to handle getting my Masters while juggling all of the other balls that make up my daily life. At times, I even catch myself wondering, "What was I thinking, going back to school? I'm too old for this!" But moments like that don't usually last long, and I can get back into the swing of things, because I love learning, and I love teaching, and most importantly, I love kids. When those three things are as important as they are to me, education is the right field for me.

This course also reinforced that Educational Technology is the right area in education for me to be in. I absolutely love finding new ways to make a teacher's job a little easier, so that they can make learning fun for students! I get so excited when I find a new 'toy' that I can hardly wait until I get to school the next day so I can show someone! There have been many times in the last few weeks when coworkers open emails that I've sent during the wee hours of the morning about a new technology tool I want them to try, prompting them to tell me, "Thanks for the info, but don't you ever sleep?" I firmly believe that we should never stop learning, and even before I started taking courses at Lamar for my Masters, I constantly sought out new ways to challenge myself. The more I learn, the more I can share with others. And, as any true leader can tell you, the more I know, the more I see that I still have left to learn!

Solomon, G. & Schrum, L. (2009) Web 2.0: New tools, New schools, Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education, 40. Sprague, D. & Dede, C., (1999). If i teach this way, am I doing my job: Constructivism in the Classroom. Leading and Learning, 27(1). Retrieved Oct 4, 2009 from the International Society for Technology in Education at []

Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002).Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal design for learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Available online at the Center for Applied Special Technology Web site. Chapter 1. Retrieved on October 5, 2009, from []

Big Thinkers: James Paul Gee on Grading With Games, Edutopia.org (nd). Big thinkers: James Paul Gee on grading with games. Retrieved on Oct. 5, 2009 from []