Reflecitng on Using Technology in my Classroom

Looking over my personal theory of learning, my overall outlook has not changed but there are some additions that I will definitely make. I still believe that all the learning theories play a role in educating students with the constructivist perspective taking the lead. Knowledge is not just given to students from teachers; it is actively built in the minds of the students (Orey, 2001). Having students actively involved in learning is important for them to be able to retain information. Many of the changes that I will make in my classroom stem from this thought. Reflecting on the activities that I have done in class, there were several times I can recall that students were not mentally involved. I was busy instructing and not allowing them enough opportunity to learn.

My instructional practices will also become learning practices. Using graphing calculators are great, but I have learned that there are so many other options to using technology in the classroom. When using the whiteboard, I will give my students more opportunities to come up to the board and work out problems. I know that demonstrations are very important in math, but I want to allow my students more opportunities to demonstrate to each other. Letting students take more control is an area that I need to work on. One of the six C’s of motivation that Dr. Orey discusses is control. By having more control in the classroom, students will become more accountable and self-sufficient (Orey, 2001).

I have learned so many wonderful technology tools in this class. I plan on using as many of them as I can. Two that stand out to me are concept maps and VoiceThread. By the use of concept maps, meaningful learning can take place (Novak & Cañas, 2008). The thing that I like about concept maps is that students can see the big picture. The relationship between different pieces of information is made clear. The student then gets a better understanding of why we learned the topics. A VoiceThread is a terrific tool for collaboration among students and will also allow immediate feedback. Immediate feedback has a great impact on student behavior (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). The teacher and fellow students can make comments. Students will also be actively involved in creating the thread.

The first long term goal that I have is to be consistent with technology. I do not want to assign a project here or there that involves technology. I want my students to have real learning experiences with technology that will benefit them greatly in the future. I agree with Seymour Papert when he said that technology should help students “experience knowledge and construct meaning” (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2008, p. 19). I plan on introducing each new technology during the first quarter of the semester. I will have my students keep a technology section in their notebooks, so they will have a reference.

The second long term goal is to keep on top of new advances in technology. I will actively seek ways to use new innovations in my classroom. Through the internet, word of mouth and my “techie” husband, I plan on staying on top of technology. I know that schools are the last ones to get the new stuff, but I plan on being ahead in the ballgame at my school.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the information that I have learned in this class. My eyes have opened to so many different options for learning experiences for my students. I look forward to the upcoming school year to put them in practice.

Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical Foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Novak, J. D. & Cañas, A. J. (2008). The theory underlying concept maps and how to construct and use them, Technical Report IHMC CmapTools 2006-01 Rev 01-2008. Retrieved from the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition Website http://cmap.ihmc.us/Publications/ResearchPapers/TheoryUnderlyingConceptMaps.pdf

Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.