Standards 6.1 Continuous Learning
Candidates demonstrate continual growth in knowledge and skills of current and emerging technologies and apply them to improve personal productivity and professional practice.
Artifact:
Reflection:
The artifact for Standard 6.1 is a literature review completed for ITEC 7470 in summer 2013. This literature review focuses on technology use and student engagement and whether there is a coalition between the two. When choosing a topic for my literature review, I wanted to choose something for my own professional learning. Being an Instructional Technology Coordinator, I am always faced with two questions on opposite sides of the spectrum; Is technology a distraction in the classroom? Or Is Technology in the classroom the answer to increasing student engagement?
Standard 6.1 states that candidates demonstrate continual growth in knowledge and skills of current and emerging technologies and apply them to improve personal productivity and professional practice. For this artifact I demonstrated personal growth by researching a question that related to my position as a technology leader. Having MacBooks and iPads in the every classroom at Darlington School, I felt it was important to have research to answer these questions when they were asked.
I began this process by reading many articles on technology in the classroom, emerging technology, student engagement and student engagement with technology. I chose ten articles and reviewed the information to find out if technology really helped with student engagement. Many of the articles showed that since students today have grown up with technology in hand, the best way to accomplish student engagement is to allow students to use what comes naturally to them: to allow them to have that information in hand when curiosity sparks. There were many topics that I covered that I felt all circled back to technology and student engagement such as, teacher professional development, student test scores with the use of technology, and technology misuse. My conclusion on this topic showed that there were some evidence that student engagement was increased but more research is needed to become completely conclusive on the topic.
After completing the literature review I began to research other topics such as, how professional development can impact a teacher’s classroom management and different ways to approach digital citizenship in the classroom. This artifact has been one of the most important of my graduate school career. It helped me to learn the importance of my own personal growth and knowledge and how to improve. Since this project I have learned where some of the best technology articles can be found and I continuously share them with my colleagues to improve our technology use in the classroom at Darlington School.
Standard 6.1 states that candidates demonstrate continual growth in knowledge and skills of current and emerging technologies and apply them to improve personal productivity and professional practice. For this artifact I demonstrated personal growth by researching a question that related to my position as a technology leader. Having MacBooks and iPads in the every classroom at Darlington School, I felt it was important to have research to answer these questions when they were asked.
I began this process by reading many articles on technology in the classroom, emerging technology, student engagement and student engagement with technology. I chose ten articles and reviewed the information to find out if technology really helped with student engagement. Many of the articles showed that since students today have grown up with technology in hand, the best way to accomplish student engagement is to allow students to use what comes naturally to them: to allow them to have that information in hand when curiosity sparks. There were many topics that I covered that I felt all circled back to technology and student engagement such as, teacher professional development, student test scores with the use of technology, and technology misuse. My conclusion on this topic showed that there were some evidence that student engagement was increased but more research is needed to become completely conclusive on the topic.
After completing the literature review I began to research other topics such as, how professional development can impact a teacher’s classroom management and different ways to approach digital citizenship in the classroom. This artifact has been one of the most important of my graduate school career. It helped me to learn the importance of my own personal growth and knowledge and how to improve. Since this project I have learned where some of the best technology articles can be found and I continuously share them with my colleagues to improve our technology use in the classroom at Darlington School.