Educational Portfolio
Reflecting on the Development of My Educational Technological Literacy
According to the National Educational Technology Standards for Students, effective teachers model and apply the ISTE Standards for Students as they design, implement, and assess learning experiences to engage students and improve learning; enrich professional practice; and provide positive models for students, colleagues, and the community.
The following page links to projects, information, and reflections on my personal process of working to meet the NETS*T standards during my journey as a pre-service teacher.
Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments.
Teachers:
a. promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness
b. engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources
c. promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes
d. model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments.
My Narrative:
The design and development of a digital WebQuest helped me become familiar with the use of technology to appropriately engage students in curriculum. Through the use of a WebQuest, teachers can help students advance their critical thinking skills, while engaging all students more fully through a combination of auditory, visual and kinesthetic modes of cognitive learning. In addition, my WebQuest allows students to work in teams, helping to foster collaborative learning and interaction. Because the WebQuest is student-directed and student-paced, it offers differentiation for those students who need more time; and allows opportunity for deeper research for those students needing a more advanced option. The culmination of my WebQuest project is the creation of a digital podcast. Digital podcasting effectively fosters students' writing, speaking, and organizational skills.
Through the creation of a group podcast, I was given the opportunity to experience first-hand the many ways that technology can help to facilitate and inspire student learning. During the process of podcasting, I had the opportunity to work with my team members to compile and organize research, write scripts, and find images that related and enhanced the story we were trying to tell. Our research needed to be deep enough to tell a story that would engage our listeners, yet be told in a way that was easy for our peers to assimilate. In addtion, the process of creating a podcast fostered our confidence in speaking, and taught us vaulable lessons about the importance of enunciation, tempo, and prosodic reading style.
Exhibit 1: WebQuest
Exhibit 2: Podcast
Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessments incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the Standards•S. Teachers:
a. design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity
b. develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress
c. customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources
d. provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology
standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching
My Narrative:
In September of 2014, I was able to attend the annual OTEN Conference, hosted at Pacific University. The OTEN Conference brings educators from across the state together to share ideas regarding ways to improve teaching and learning through the use of technology. This years' conference explored the ways that our experiences in a broader digital world come together to influence our role as teachers, and transform the classrooms and curriculum we create.
The two sessions I attended exposed me to the possibilities within the realm of podcasting and SMARTboard technology for the elementary classroom.
Master podcaster, and elementary teacher Machelle Childers led the first presentation I attended. Ms Childers shared the process and benefits of podcasting with children as young as first grade. Her class inspired me to think of new ways to bring technology into my lower-elementary classroom through the use of podcasts.
The second session I attended was led by SMARTboard whiz, Serena Chidester Fryer. Ms. Fryer gave a highly informative tutorial on both the basics of white board technology, as well as the innovative ways she is incorporating the technology into her first grade classroom. The use of this technology allows students to connect through visual, auditory and kinesthetic modes of learning, and effectively brings movement, color, and images to the classroom.
Project TEAM was an assignment I completed during my Technology and Learning Environments class at Pacific. The project required me to design, write and teach an expressive arts lesson for the students at one of my placement schools. The entire lesson was videotaped by my mentor teacher, and I was able to reflect on, and critique elements of my teaching. My mentor teacher was able to provide feedback, and the process helped the two of us work collaboratively on enhancing my skills in the classroom. Following the completion of the video, I spent time editing, doing voice-overs that shared my personal reflections regarding the lesson, and turning the video clip into a short film. This project could easily be used in elementary classrooms as a way for students to share their understanding of topics; encouraging them to reflect on their own speaking style, and allowing them to become "teachers" of whatever subject is most meaningful to them.
In addition to the use of movie-making to develop digital-age learning experiences, podcasts can encourage students to think critically, research deeply, and form a concrete representation of their work that they can share with their parents and peers. In addition, teachers can easily assess students' learning through this mode of presentation. Attached below you will find a link to the podcast I created during my Technology and Learning Environments class.
Exhibit 1: OTEN Conference
Exhibit 2: Project TEAM Expressive Arts Lesson
Exhibit 3: Podcast
Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society. Teachers:
a. demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations
b. collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation
c. communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats
d. model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information
resources to support research and learning
My Narrative:
Through the creation of a blog on my website, I have been given the opportunity to share my reflections regarding my journey toward becoming a teacher. I have found that the use of a blog allows the connection of people who have common interests to connect and share information and stories. My kindergarten classroom at The Early Learning Community in Forest Grove does an exceptional job of connecting parents and students through the use of a blog. Parents are able to have more meaningful conversations with their children regarding their school day when they are aware of what is happening in class through pictures and text. In addition, parents are able to comment and have an ongoing dialouge with the teacher through the blog. I would like very much to use this technological medium when I have a class of my own.
The work that I completed for my Project TEAM video included the production of a PowerPoint presentation that I showed through the SMARTboard. The PowerPoint was a fantastic way to engage students more fully in a very visual topic.
Exhibit 1: Blog
Exhibit 2: PowerPoint
Promote & Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices.
Teachers:
a. advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources
b. address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centered strategies and providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources
c. promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information
d. develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital-age communication and collaboration tools
My Narrative:
The work I have done during my time as a graduate student at Pacific has further cemented for me the responsibility of teachers to promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility in the classroom. In an age where information can be so easily accessed, it is important that students know their responsibility in referencing sources and paraphrasing sources in a way that completely avoids the risk of plagarism.
In all of my projects, I am careful to list all references used, and to credit others for their ideas. For example, I have a credits page on both my WebQuest and my podcast that references all materials used, including music and pictures. I am careful not to include any photos of students anywhere on my website, with the understanding that in order to use any image of a student I must ask for permission of the parent or gaurdian.
Exhibit 1: Blog
Exhibit 2: Website
Engage in Proffesional Growth & Leadership
Teachers continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating the effective use of digital tools and resources.
Teachers:
a. participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning
b. exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community
building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others
c. evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning
d. contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and self-renewal of the teaching profession and of their school and community
My Narrative:
I have experienced immense proffesional growth in technology during my time in the MAT program at Pacific. I have been asked to complete assignments using applications that were completely foreign to me, and my ability to "learn through doing" has given me a confidence with technology that I did not possess prior to the beginning of my graduate school experience.
In addition, I have had exposure to pedagogically sound uses of technology in the elementary classroom during my time in both of my practicum placements. The use of digital Pro-scopes in my kindergarten classroom has been incredible to observe. I have learned volumes about how to work the microscopes and how to use them in developmentally appropriate ways. In my sixth grade classroom, I have worked with numerous applications for the classroom, including Schoology, Googledocs, PowerPoint, and Popplet. By connecting with my students as they explore new applications, I have been pushed to explore as well, and firmly believe that the only way to become more technologically savvy is to push through any fear you might have about the process of learning something new, and simply know that quite often you will be learning alongside your students!
Final Reflection:
By experiencing first-hand the many ways that technology can serve to enrich the elementary school experience, I feel a new sense of excitement and possibility regarding the use of technology in my own classroom.
I believe it is the job of a teacher to be willing to explore and understand those things that are meaningful to their students; no one can argue that technology is our students' passion, and their means of expression. If used responsibly, technology can open up new ways of knowing and exploring the world around us in a way we have never done before. I am looking forward to weaving technology into my classroom curriculum, helping students acheive more, be more excited about learning, and engage more fully in the curriculum through digital exploration.