Reflection

Reflecting back on this course, I find that my knowledge of technology integration has expanded on the pros and cons, programs, standards, and professional development. While the technology integrator position is a relatively new position within the education field is serves a valuable role within the school community. Technology integrators, specialists, coaches, etc wear the hat of teacher, administrator, trainer, facilitator and peer mentor to name a few. They are often responsible for hardware and software troubleshooting, integration within the curriculum, training their peers and serving as peer mentors.

Technology is everywhere these days. It is integrated into almost every aspect of our lives. The introduction of technology into education is not a new concept. Technology helps us better understand the world around us. However, the constant shifting of digital technologies, lack of teacher training or experience with technologies and the preconceived notion that technology integration is someone else’s problem are primary factors in technology integration.  Without professional development to support teachers with their knowledge of how, and the suitability of which, technology to use in the classroom, technology integration will not be as successful. I think that biases often hold us back from fully integrating technology into the classroom and that like our students we each learn differently, so it is important to not only understand the educational needs of our students but also of our peers so that we can support them effectively in tech integration in their own classrooms. Some of the hesitation for teachers to embrace technology is being unfamiliar with the software as well as hesitation to break out of your comfortable rhythm of instruction. The thought that instruction that is tried and true and “worked in the past”, is no longer true for our existing students. The world around us has changed so our education needs to change with it. Motivating teachers to embrace technology when unfamiliar with the program or tool can be challenging.

Throughout this course, I have collected a number of resources that has helped me more effectively integrate technology into my own lessons. The primary resource being Blendspace. Using Blendspace, I am able to consolidate my resources and lessons in one location for ease of sharing and manipulation. Students can easily access the lesson materials from my website in order to review, repeat work, or makeup missed classwork.  Using this resource, I have been able to update and add additional activities to my science lessons more efficiently as new tools and research come available. Before using Blendspace, I would make notations, post it notes or save online bookmarks for resources. The more efficient I become in my lesson plan differentiation leaves more time for professional development and meeting the needs of my students.

Technology is constantly changing. As educators we are prone to quickly jump on new exciting apps and tools to make the learning experience more fun and exciting. However, we often forget to ask ourselves if the technology is truly adding to the curriculum and advancing the students skills or if it is just allowing us to do old things in an updated method. After conducting my field experience and throughout research I have conducted as part of this course, I have added several reflections into my teaching pedagogy that include:

• Is the technology being used appropriately or “Just because it’s there”?
• Is the technology allowing the teacher/students to do old things in new ways or old things in old ways?
• Is the technology creating new and different learning experiences for the students?
• Is the teacher using technology and supporting its use in the classroom?
•  Is the teacher successfully applying technology in the classroom?
•  Are students able to use technology to enhance their learning?
• How can I plan time to have quality discussions about technology integration?
• How can I plan time to observe teachers and listen to their needs?
• How can I plan to reevaluate my coaching strategies throughout the year and not just set a plan in place at the first of the year?
• How can I take all of these questions and use the answers to differentiate technology integration coaching so that it is the most effective for each teacher that I serve?
• What instructional problem is the technology integration solving, or what problem does it need to solve based on these students' needs?

(Schiebout, 2016) (Hatten, 2014). It is my hope, through additional reflection that my evaluation and reflection will not become an afterthought and will be integrated into my daily routine. I want to be sure I am leading technology integration and challenging the teachers in my school or district to integrate technology in new ways so that they become self-sufficient and do not need daily guidance.

References

Hatten, D. S. (2014, July 21). Self Evaluation Tips for Technology Integration Specialists. Retrieved from Edutopia: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/self-evaluation-tips-tech-instruction-specialists-stephanie-hatten

Schiebout, E. (2016, February 21). Week 9 Discussion Thread 9.1 Schiebout. Retrieved from SNHU: EDU-641 - Integrating Digital Technology : https://bb.snhu.edu/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&forum_id=_723978_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_131226_1&course_id=_69906_1&message_id=_25718355_1#msg__25718355_1Id