“A combination of technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge is necessary” (Roblyer, Preface xxii).
Part 1
Synthesis and focus are two themes that describe my learning in Edtech 541. I found that the process of reading theory, processing it through writing, reading other students’ blogs, and commenting on those blogs gave me a deeper understanding of theory. Most of the time, I completed the blog first, before attempting to complete projects. However, I found that if I started the project before I completed the reading and blog, I inevitably needed to revise my project. This grounded me in identifying theory(-ies) as a starting place for work I conduct as a researcher and teacher. Further, theory and research need to be ongoing, to build more significant, thoughtful, and valuable blog posts, as well as projects. The textbook for this course, Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching by author M.D. Roblyer was an incredibly rich source. I will be referring to it, as well as look to the references cited for deeper understanding of topics addressed. Professionally, I see the need to review and integrate theory and pedagogical concepts into my teaching and coaching. As an middle school instructional coach, I influence many teachers, so my practice needs to reflect sound theory and appropriate pedagogy. When creating projects, I worked to scaffold learning so that students would be able to access lessons The concepts of TPACK and SAMR are ones that I reference when recommending technology integration to teachers, as well as consider for my own practice. The appropriateness of technology use can be gauged across a variety of dimensions: type of student, subject matter, learning objectives, type of devices available, equity of access issues, etc. As a professional educator, I aspire for my work to reflect the most recent theories and am willing to learn, reflect and revise my work. Technology is changing, Pedagogy will evolve. Students deserve the most recent, well-conceived learning options, which will require me to be a life-long learner. This iterative, ongoing evolution means that I will continue to improve as an educator. I look forward to this journey. Roblyer, M. (2016). INTEGRATING EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY INTO TEACHING (7TH ED.). Massachusetts: Pearson.
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“...the entire work of the field of special education technology can be summarized as searching, trialing, selecting, implementing, and evaluating technologies that augment, bypass, or compensate for a disability” (Roblyer, 404). The availability or lack of appropriate assistive technology can mean the difference between having access to learning or not for students with learning or other disabilities. The United States Office of Special Education IDEA Section 618: Data Static Tables provides information about the percent of the population served under IDEA. For example, under Part B Child Count and Educational Environments, item 8. Students ages 6 through 21 served under IDEA, Part B, as a percentage of population, by disability category and state, the percent of the population varied from a low of 6.14% in Hawaii to a high of 11.75% in New Jersey for all types of disabilities (IDEA). However, these percentages only identify those students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), and not all students with disabilities. Hence the number of students who could benefit from assistive technology is significant. As such, this population deserves and needs to be served and supported. There are both costly and less costly alternatives to serve students learning needs.
The UDL Toolkit is an excellent place to look for resources to meet student needs (Home). UDL or Universal Design for Learning “is a set of principles that underlie how to develop technology to give all individuals equal opportunities to learn” (Roblyer, 405). The UDL Toolkit is constructed using wikispaces to provide links to resources and assistive technologies that can support students with a variety of learning and other disabilities. Many of these resources would be very supportive to students with learning challenges in a sixth grade English class. In California, approximately 7.6% of students in grades 6-12 have IEPs. Those students could likely benefit from the learning tools in the UDL Toolkit. I personally am a parent of a 20-year old child who struggled to learn, had an IEP while he was in school, and needed a variety of tools and support (technological and otherwise) to learn. As I supported his progress through the challenging educational landscape, I reflected on story of the boy who finds a bevy of starfish washed up on the shore. The boy is tossing starfish back into the sea, when a man walks up and asks him, “Why are your throwing the starfish into the sea, you can’t possibly make a difference.” The boy replies, “It made a difference to that one.” While we might not be able to afford all the assistive technologies that are available, many more are becoming available at lower costs. As educators, called upon to serve all children, it is important to make a difference to each one. References: Home. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2016, from http://udltechtoolkit.wikispaces.com/ IDEA Section 618 Data Products: Static Files. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2016, from http://www2.ed.gov/programs/osepidea/618-data/static-tables/index.html#part-b Roblyer, M. (2016). INTEGRATING EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY INTO TEACHING(7TH ED.). Massachusetts: Pearson. Warschauer, et al identify the potential of technology integration, while also some of the possible drawbacks: “The large and growing role of new media in the economy and society serves to highlight their important role in education, and especially in promoting educational equity. On the one hand, differential access to new media, broadly defined, can help further amplify the already too-large educational inequities in American society. On the other hand, it is widely believed that effective deployment and use of technology in schools can help compensate for unequal access to technologies in the home environment and thus help bridge educational and social gaps” (180).
Providing equitable access to all students is a significant challenge for school districts, sites, and individual teachers. Certainly, there is a cost to provide technology, but more than the hardware, the software, in terms of the teacher’s knowledge, skill, and willingness to attempt new lessons using technology is another challenge to successful implementation. Just using a technological tool does not make it beneficial, however. Pedagogy, and proper lesson planning with appropriate tools, are what reap the richer harvest promised by educational technology enthusiasts. Beyond the affordability, teacher preparedness, and pedagogy, a teacher must consider the learner's’ needs, background knowledge, and readiness to learn. Thus, the timing of the use of a tool should occur with where the Technology, Pedagogy and Content Knowledge intersect, referred to as TPACK (www.tpack.org) or Tech-Pack by Roblyer (19-20). Missing any of these attributes will lessen the effectiveness of instructional technology implementation. Applying the concept of Tech-PACK to the technology integration assignments in Edtech 541, one challenge has been to find appropriately matched activities to a grade level or subject matter. Then, as educational standards are changing, say for Science, which is being transformed with the Next Generation Science Standards, there might not be an appropriate activity that matches the new standards. Thus, a teacher will need to revise, reinvent, or reject an activity. This takes thought, effort, time, and commitment on the part of a teacher. If any of these elements is missing, the integration of new technologies can be slowed or even stopped. Overcoming these obstacles and making integration easier is a worthy goal which will make technology integration more successful. Specific to Edtech 541, integration of technology in a sixth grade English classroom is a challenge, as students are just building knowledge of Digital Citizenship. This concept needs to be reviewed constantly, so students can build a base knowledge and consistency of practice with regard to their presence online. If students are taught proper practices early in their Secondary learning experiences, it is more likely that these will more likely follow them through high school and into their post-high school lives, whether they are in the work force or attending college. Sources: Roblyer, M. D., & Edwards, J. (2000). Integrating educational technology into teaching. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill. Warschauer, M., & Matuchniak, T. (2010). New technology and digital worlds: Analyzing evidence of equity in access, use, and outcomes. Review of Research in Education, 34(1), 179-225. ...and a little change knowledgeWhen done appropriately, technology integration with content-area subjects, like English/Language Arts, can motivate students, make learning engaging and support authentic learning. In his book, Stratosphere: Integrating technology, pedagogy, and change knowledge, author Michael Fullan states, “In essence, the solution consists of the integration of advances in pedagogy (especially built on how we learn), in technology (especially around engagement), and in change knowledge (especially around making change easier). If we get the combination right, the floodgates of learning will open and there will be an unstoppable explosion of energy and participation by all that will benefit individuals and the world alike” (15). The key to success is melding the three elements: technology, pedagogy, and change knowledge.
In the past, technology has been used as a driver, which does not optimise learning. So pedagogy, or the method of engaging learners appropriately, needs to be considered before pursuing a technological solution. In the English/Language Arts content area, students need to develop “New literacies [that] require a high level of critical sophistication from our students, and it is only through instruction and experiences with new technologies that they will develop these skill” (Roblyer, 263). Students need to develop the capacity to read a variety of media, whether digital, visual, graphic, or actual written text. The 21st Century world that students live in today and in the future requires them to communicate and collaborate with those within and outside of school. This worldwide audience is engaging and motivating for students. Roblyer states, “New literacies are much more contingent on social interactions with others than traditional literacies” (266). Students now engage with the world by “publishing...online in blogs, wikis, Web pages, and e-books” which supports enhanced and authentic learning (266). While in school, students “...shar[e] their work [and] are able to comment on or annotate each other’s posted works, thus engaging in a collaboration that make them part of an ever-growing and changing community of learners” (Roblyer, 266). This work prepares them to work in the world after leaving school. As to whether this can be integrated into a larger system such as a school district, Fullan identifies change knowledge as the way to make the most of the identified technology and pedagogy. While I’m not going to explore the concept of change knowledge in this post (look for a future one), Fullan identifies a key when he states, “technology and pedagogy must be integrated around the roles of both students and teachers” (68). So technology integration requires both to participate fully in it for it to be successful and and open the “floodgates of learning” to which he alludes. References: Fullan, M. (2013). Stratosphere: Integrating technology, pedagogy, and change knowledge. Don Mills, Ont.: Pearson. Roblyer, M. D., & Edwards, J. (2000). Integrating educational technology into teaching. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill. |
Judy BlakeneyI am a Middles School Instructional Coach working on a Ed.D. in Educational Technology at Boise State University, in the 2016 Cohort. Archives
April 2016
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