Guidelines Revisited and a Few Final Thoughts.

Wow, so much has been covered in the past seven weeks. My perspective on teaching and learning has expanded so much. One of the first assignments in this class was to come up with a list of guiding principles for technology use in the classroom. In my final post for this class I will revisit them. In bold is the list of criteria I came up with during week #1. Beneath them is my "enlightened" week #7 commentary.....

1. Make sure technology is fully understood before incorporating it into the classroom.

I can feel the apprehension in this statement.....Using something that is not "fully understood" is scary. Especially when you're a teacher and you need to present to a group of young, impressionable students. This class, however, has stretched my comfort zone. I think I'd be okay incorporating a tool without complete comprehension. Thinking back over the past few weeks, I learned more from the process than the final output at times. I think there are benefits to including students in this process at times....

2. Make sure this technology is standardized (i.e. compatible on all types of machines).

Still agree with this one.

3. Students must be given clear directions, goals, and expectations for all projects incorporating new technology.

Agree with this still. Looking over many final project blogs for this class, many incorporated a "tips on commenting page". Info on these types of pages included suggestions on how to start a comment; what types of info to include; appropriate etiquette of blogging; and also grading criteria. I think this baseline is very important to work off of. This type of framework allows for a common jumping off place. I like this.

4. Technology use should enrich material being covered, and not just be incorporated because it’s available.

Absolutely.

5. Use technology to help better explain processes/material (videos and simulations can be highly affective).

I feel like this is just another way of stating principle #4....next time I would condense them. I would however emphasize the importance of this principle when talking about blog posts. Use of technology in this case can be very helpful!

6. Technology use should be interactive and allow for creative thought.

Yes, yes, yes!!!!

7. Technology should be used to supply data sets and incorporate a real-world/current events component to material being covered.

And thanks to this class my resources in this area have expanded exponentially!!!

8. Technology should be used to make material covered more “relatable” or “relevant” to students.

I feel that this relevance can usually be achieved through online collaboration and discussion.

I am still in the midst of planning out an assignment for one of my older classes this coming fall using a similar format to the one we just completed. Here's how it shapes up so far:

To introduce the class blog and the year-long assignment of up-keeping their own blogs, I plan on showing them a series of videos (most likely a few of the ones we've been exposed to in class....) and then asking them to come up with their own principles for how they plan to use the their blog he upcoming year. It might then be nice to revisit this post at the end of the year (sound familiar?!?)

In summary......

Creating my own set up principles really helped me take ownership of my experience in this class. With the help of a variety of reading supplements, online examples, and a newly established PLN I have feel refreshed and renewed as a teacher.

Though I hate to think ahead now (a need to enjoy this last little bit of summer!) I am very excited about the upcoming school year. I think that the guiding principles outlined above will truly enhance my teaching; I am also excited to share my new toolbox with my colleagues!