Reflection
My vision of my role as an educator has become significantly wider since completing this course – indeed this entire graduate program. Technology in all its facets, especially digital technology has become undeniably important for 21st century teaching and learning, and will continue to become more important as time goes on. Learning is greatly enhanced by the methodologies that can be applied through digital technology from the earliest phases of formative assessing, learning how students learn, and the products, which they make. This course allows me to narrow the gap between the digital natives and myself, a digital immigrant. For this, I am truly excited.
My plans for the upcoming school year with regard to the use of technology in my instruction include the using of surveys from the Differentiation Station that our class has set up. I will choose the most appropriate surveys for my incoming freshmen classes and administer them during the first week of school. Survey monkey is one of these tools for evaluation that I use to learn more about my students learning styles and preferences.
I have come to understand how Universal Design for Learning (UDL) has been developed and motivation behind its creation. The Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), through its website has offered a vast amount of empirical evidence showing how the brain works in relation to learning, with its recognition networks, strategic networks, and affective networks, giving great insight into how students learn. CAST has also shown that rather than asking the learner to fit into a designated curriculum, that the curriculum should be based on the learning needs of the individual learner. Based on this evidence, I now can differentiate my instruction to that all my students can access content area knowledge.
Despite the fact that accessibility to technology is inconsistent and unpredictable in my school, I will plan my lessons to take full advantage of the digital technology that is available. I will set up wikis and blogs through Google groups for my students to work collaboratively. I will teach them how to check websites for ownership, authorship, and authenticity, and I will teach them to use technology create products that convey the breadth and scope of their understanding of content. Bray, Brown and Green (2004) have discussed the benefits of digital learning for all learners, but especially for those who are learning disabled. (p.34).
Our differentiating station in its creation has become a great “go to” resource for our group and I believe will continue to be in the future. It serves as a great resource for us as educators to create classrooms supported by digital learning from surveying students to evaluate their learning styles, preferences and intelligences, to sites for UDL and differentiation. I am sure that I will return to it often and continue to contribute to its growth over time.
One of my biggest concerns has been addressed in this course with regards to differentiation of instruction, and that is giving students more autonomy in the classroom. The thought of breaking away from the teacher-centered classroom where all seats are in five or six neat rows to one where students are engaged in inquiry-based collaborative learning is both exciting and scary. I am very confident, however, that if I spend the time preparing for this new approach by getting to know my students so that I can better prepare for how I will teach.
References
Bray, M., Brown, A., & Green, T. (2004a). Looking at gender, culture, and other diversities in the classroom: An overview. In Technology and the diverse learner: A guide to classroom practice (pp. 1–18). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Center for Applied Special Technology. (2009). UDL guidelines, version 1.0. Retrieved from http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines
