Considering a Technology Plan

“The challenge for our education system is to leverage the learning sciences and modern technology to create engaging, relevant, and personalized learning experiences for all learners that mirror students’ daily lives and the reality of their futures.  In contrast to traditional classroom instruction, this requires that we put students at the center and empower them to take control of their own learning by providing flexibility on several dimensions” (8).

This is the direction toward which I’ve been tending since I started teaching, but to see it “endorsed” by the Department of Education is somewhat rewarding.  I think that the most powerful applications of technology occur when they put students at their center.  Since I’m not much of a “front of the classroom” teacher, such applications fit naturally into my classroom.  (Actually, that’s a bit of a weakness: I probably need to teach more from the front of the classroom, but it always feels more like me disseminating information to the students than them discovering their own thoughts about a particular subject.)  At any rate, I need to concentrate more on giving students flexibility: as a bit of a control freak, I often hesitate to allow them to determine their own directions.  When I’ve done so, however, I find that the quality of their final products is much higher.

“When combined with learning systems, technology-based assessments can be used formatively to diagnose and modify the conditions of learning and instructional practices while at the same time determining what students have learned for grading and accountability purposes” (9).

For me, I think that the potential of technology in formative assessments could be quite powerful.  Often, I’m more drawn to summative assessments, so I need to concentrate more on assessing-as-we-go.  Our school is in the process of purchasing Promethean’s ActivExpressions learner response systems, which allows students to use “clickers” both to answer multiple-choice questions and to input short narrative responses.  I’m excited about the possibilities inherent in such technology and plan to use it to address this need in my own teaching.  The data collection possibilities of the set mean that I can instantaneously address deficits in students’ understanding.

“In [a model of connected teaching], teams of connected educators replace solo practitioners, classrooms are fully connected to provide educators with 24/7 access to data and analytic tools, and educators have access to resources that help them act on the insights the data provide” (10).

This dovetails perfectly with the curriculum my colleagues and I are redesigning.  Of course, I already try to take advantage of the potential for connection with teachers who are off-site, but I like the idea of connecting with teachers here at my high school via technology as well.  We’re planning to do some collaborative teaching and allow students to work together across our classes, as well, so the opportunities offered by technology will be key to our new plans.

1.1  “states should continue to consider the integration of 21^st-century competencies and expertise, such as critical thinking, complex problem solving, collaboration, multimedia communication, and technological competencies demonstrated by professionals in various disciplines” (14).

This is an area on which I need to brush up.  While I definitely work to make students’ experiences in my class as real-world practical as possible, I know that I do (inevitably) fall short at times.  Just bringing these competencies to the forefront of my planning and instructional design should help me to meet the goal.

5.2   “Rethink basic assumptions in our education system that inhibit leveraging technology to improve learning, starting with our current practice of organizing student and educator learning around seat time instead of the demonstration of competencies” (18).

While this would require a huge shift in educational perspective, it’s a direction that some colleagues and I have begun considering.  Issues of personnel and money always come into play, but we’d love to offer students increased control in choosing the focus of their study, in offering cross-curricular study possibilities, and in bypassing material that they’ve already mastered rather than forcing them to sit through classes just because they’re in that grade.

"National Education Technology Plan Executive Summary." ED.gov. U. S. Department of Education, Nov. 2010. Web. 14 Feb. 2011. a href="http://www.ed.gov/sites/default/files/netp2010-execsumm.pdf%3E">http://www.ed.gov/sites/default/files/netp2010-execsumm.pdf>;.