Standard 2
Copyright Christina Hum
Image from Google Earth
"Adventure, Discovery, Learning: Education for Life"
Next stop, effective learning environments, with a fast track ride to present day game design in the classroom using Wikispaces. I am sure that my story is like many others, but what would possess me to dip into the realm of running an educational business and voraciously seek knowledge and skills on teaching with technology at a distance? Would I make a difference? Would I inspire others as they have inspired me?
Standard 2: Educational technology leaders plan, design, and model effective learning environments and multiple experiences supported by technology.
A. Design developmentally appropriate learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the diverse needs of learners.
B. Apply current research on teaching and learning with technology when planning learning environments and experiences.
C. Identify and locate technology resources and evaluate them for accuracy and suitability.
D. Plan for the management of technology resources within the context of learning activities.
E. Plan strategies to manage student learning in a technology-enhanced environment.
F. Identify and apply instructional design principles associated with the development of technology resources
S.O.E Goal 3: Educators differentiate instruction with respect for individual and cultural characteristics.
S.O.E Goal 6: Educators create and manage a stimulating, inclusive and safe learning community in which learners take intellectual risks and work independently and collaboratively.
Statement: We are all diverse learners, and technology-enhanced learning environments can help us to be social learners, in which we share in our learning and experiences through sense of place and culture based on our unique perspectives and learning styles.
Artifact 1: Video Sleuth Unit Website and Video Sleuth Unit PDF
Artifact 2: Evaluate a variety of multimedia tools
Artifact 3: Virtual Sled Dog Race
Artifact 4: Action Research Paper
Artifact 5: Flipped Earth Science Classroom in Wikispaces and Self-Reflection Paper
Next stop, effective learning environments, with a fast track ride to present day game design in the classroom using Wikispaces. I am sure that my story is like many others, but what would possess me to dip into the realm of running an educational business and voraciously seek knowledge and skills on teaching with technology at a distance? Would I make a difference? Would I inspire others as they have inspired me?
Standard 2: Educational technology leaders plan, design, and model effective learning environments and multiple experiences supported by technology.
A. Design developmentally appropriate learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the diverse needs of learners.
B. Apply current research on teaching and learning with technology when planning learning environments and experiences.
C. Identify and locate technology resources and evaluate them for accuracy and suitability.
D. Plan for the management of technology resources within the context of learning activities.
E. Plan strategies to manage student learning in a technology-enhanced environment.
F. Identify and apply instructional design principles associated with the development of technology resources
S.O.E Goal 3: Educators differentiate instruction with respect for individual and cultural characteristics.
S.O.E Goal 6: Educators create and manage a stimulating, inclusive and safe learning community in which learners take intellectual risks and work independently and collaboratively.
Statement: We are all diverse learners, and technology-enhanced learning environments can help us to be social learners, in which we share in our learning and experiences through sense of place and culture based on our unique perspectives and learning styles.
Artifact 1: Video Sleuth Unit Website and Video Sleuth Unit PDF
Artifact 2: Evaluate a variety of multimedia tools
Artifact 3: Virtual Sled Dog Race
Artifact 4: Action Research Paper
Artifact 5: Flipped Earth Science Classroom in Wikispaces and Self-Reflection Paper
What does this standard mean to me?
Copyright Christina Hum
If you recall, the initial reason I began Kigluait Adventures, my educational videoconference business, was to provide an effective means of teaching my Native Alaskan students in a village about concepts that were not always accessible to them. Videoconferencing, the web, and collaboration provided them a means of making the learning more applicable, but more importantly, allowing them to see the uniqueness of their own location and culture. They began to see that they were special and amazing, and others were just as curious about them as they were about others. The ability for technology to provide a sense of place is profound, which is exactly the context that I would like to frame this standard: the understanding of how best to integrate technology to provide effective learning environments for students, as supported by Chisholm (1998), “[in order] to prepare children for the technological, informational, and interpersonal challenges of the next century, schools need to implement instructional strategies that develop technological and interpersonal skills.” However, Chisholm (1998) reminds the teacher of the proverbial dilemma, “Ultimately, educational technology can only be as effective as how teachers implement it.” In addition, we must “ go beyond overt add-on activities, holiday celebrations, or special events and connect learning to children’s everyday, real-life experiences” (Chisholm, 1998) when integrating culture and technology to meet diverse needs. This is further supported by Prensky (2005),
"People certainly are putting courses, curricula, and lesson plans online. This trend is important, but it's hardly new -- it will be new only when those courses, curricula, and lesson plans are very different and technology influenced, when they are set up so they can be found and mixed and matched easily, when they are continually iterated and updated, and when the kids have a big say in their creation."
As a teacher implementing a diverse gamete of technology, I needed to be aware of using proper design, managing and evaluating the technology, and utilizing strategies to meet students diverse needs. Furthermore, Curry’s paper on Universal Design (2001) ellaborates that students are encouraged to take part in the design of a project in determining how they would assess their own learning and design methods for researching and presenting their material. In addition, students should “work independently on products or performances that match their abilities and meet their group’s needs” resulting in more effective learning experiences. Chisholm (1998) agrees that, “proactive, problem-solving activities that focus on issues within the community are another example of culturally relevant learning.”
"People certainly are putting courses, curricula, and lesson plans online. This trend is important, but it's hardly new -- it will be new only when those courses, curricula, and lesson plans are very different and technology influenced, when they are set up so they can be found and mixed and matched easily, when they are continually iterated and updated, and when the kids have a big say in their creation."
As a teacher implementing a diverse gamete of technology, I needed to be aware of using proper design, managing and evaluating the technology, and utilizing strategies to meet students diverse needs. Furthermore, Curry’s paper on Universal Design (2001) ellaborates that students are encouraged to take part in the design of a project in determining how they would assess their own learning and design methods for researching and presenting their material. In addition, students should “work independently on products or performances that match their abilities and meet their group’s needs” resulting in more effective learning experiences. Chisholm (1998) agrees that, “proactive, problem-solving activities that focus on issues within the community are another example of culturally relevant learning.”
What artifacts demonstrate my mastery?
Copyright Richard Hum
How can a teacher do all of this for a diverse group of learners? Technology. Therefore, the artifacts that I am providing to demonstrate my mastery of this standard are a sampling of lesson plans, activities, evaluations of technology and a culminating action research paper to evaluate and improve the online learning environments I have provided for students whom participated in Kigluait Adventures. These artifacts are provided in a continuum of learning experiences from the Virtual Sled Dog Race to the present day Earth Science Wikispaces classroom to demonstrate the variety of technology enhanced environments and the growth of my learning.
The first artifact provided, is one of four Video Sleuth Units that were created initially to bring together two distant classrooms to solve a mystery while sharing in their cultures. This artifact demonstrates the ability to manage technology and plan learning experiences involving technology, while utilizing design principle. This led to the design and implementation of a Virtual Sled Dog Race, the second artifact. The unit, a 2-week simulation of being an Iditarod musher, asked students to breed, raise, train and race sled dogs, which required a demonstration of proficiency of reading, writing and math skills that translated into the quality of their dog team and how they raced.
The second artifact provided, is a research paper on the effectiveness of online learning in regards to social learning. The research provided excellent support in making effective changes in our online environments to better meet the needs of our diverse distance learners. As a result, I was able to evaluate a variety of multimedia tools to produce a series of online lessons to teach about a variety of diverse topics, from Media Literacy to iOS Development, all with the purpose of bringing us together in collaborative environments to share in our learning experiences, cultures and sense of place.
The final artifact provided is the end of my resultant experiences, a flipped Earth Science classroom in Wikispaces, set in a game design environment. The associated self-reflection paper provides evidence of the research and learning that resulted from implementing the classroom to meet the diverse needs of my students.
I feel these three artifacts demonstrate a process of learning and exploration that show growth as an educational technology leader to plan, design, and model effective learning environments and experiences supported by technology.
The first artifact provided, is one of four Video Sleuth Units that were created initially to bring together two distant classrooms to solve a mystery while sharing in their cultures. This artifact demonstrates the ability to manage technology and plan learning experiences involving technology, while utilizing design principle. This led to the design and implementation of a Virtual Sled Dog Race, the second artifact. The unit, a 2-week simulation of being an Iditarod musher, asked students to breed, raise, train and race sled dogs, which required a demonstration of proficiency of reading, writing and math skills that translated into the quality of their dog team and how they raced.
The second artifact provided, is a research paper on the effectiveness of online learning in regards to social learning. The research provided excellent support in making effective changes in our online environments to better meet the needs of our diverse distance learners. As a result, I was able to evaluate a variety of multimedia tools to produce a series of online lessons to teach about a variety of diverse topics, from Media Literacy to iOS Development, all with the purpose of bringing us together in collaborative environments to share in our learning experiences, cultures and sense of place.
The final artifact provided is the end of my resultant experiences, a flipped Earth Science classroom in Wikispaces, set in a game design environment. The associated self-reflection paper provides evidence of the research and learning that resulted from implementing the classroom to meet the diverse needs of my students.
I feel these three artifacts demonstrate a process of learning and exploration that show growth as an educational technology leader to plan, design, and model effective learning environments and experiences supported by technology.
References
Chisolm, Ines Marquez; Six Elements for Technology
Curry, Cynthia; Universal Design: Accessibility for All Learners: Technology creates powerful physical, social, and learning environments for all students; Association and Supervision and Curriculum Development; Educational Leadership, October 2003; pages 55-60
Integration in Multicultural Classrooms; Journal of Information Technology for Teacher Education, Vol. 7, No. 2, 1998, pages 247-268
Prensky, M. (2005, December 2). Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/adopt-and-adapt-shaping-tech-for-classroom
Curry, Cynthia; Universal Design: Accessibility for All Learners: Technology creates powerful physical, social, and learning environments for all students; Association and Supervision and Curriculum Development; Educational Leadership, October 2003; pages 55-60
Integration in Multicultural Classrooms; Journal of Information Technology for Teacher Education, Vol. 7, No. 2, 1998, pages 247-268
Prensky, M. (2005, December 2). Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/adopt-and-adapt-shaping-tech-for-classroom
