Online Exercise 5

Think about your classroom. In your mind, where do you see the technology in that room? (Think of all the possible technologies—computers, LCD projectors, handhelds, laptop carts, and more.) How will you set up the classroom to support students in working both with technology and with each other? Ask yourself the following questions:

Will the kinds of technologies you have envisioned support all of your students regardless of their learning strengths and weaknesses?
Technologies like webcams, document cameras, projectors, laptops, and clickers are all excellent technologies to use in a classroom. I feel like these technologies DO support all students regardless of their learning strengths and weaknesses simply because there are so many possible applications of these technologies. The webcam, for example, can be used by the class to Skype with an expert or it can be used by students individually to create a video reflection of an article that they read. Some students could write a reflection without talking about it but some students need to think out loud to get their thoughts in order. Recording those thoughts will help them to write a reflection.

Will these technologies support your students in working together?
These technologies certainly lend themselves to student collaboration. Wikis, Google Docs, blogs, and other web-based applications allow students to see other students' work and to edit it or add to it. The benefits of students learning to collaborate using technology will continue to aid students well into adulthood as it is a valuable skill to most companies.

Will students have enough access to technologies to meet their learning needs?
This is the major benefit of web-based applications. Anywhere a student has access to the internet, they can access their resources. This can be at the library, in a school computer lab, an internet cafe, a cell phone, or a personal computer.

Now think about teaching in that classroom:

How will you know students are learning what you intend them to learn?
It is important to develop rubrics that will identify what factors will signal success or failure of a student to grasp the main concepts that are being taught, especially when a new medium is being used. An example of this would be that if a student's video reflection addresses the prompt and goes beyond superficial analysis, the student has learned succesfully how to reflect on an article.

How will you identify their preferred learning style and differentiate instruction in the classroom for them?

Identifying preferred learning styles can be difficult but I think the best way to do this involving technology is to expose them to a variety of applications and technologies. After students have had opportunities to use different learning tools, the teacher can elicit the student's most interesting and fun experience, and use the rubric developed by the teacher to identify what applications and technologies speak the most to that student's learning style. Differentiation of instruction is much easier with technology because students can become as involved as they are interested. For example, using iMovie to create a video can be very simplistic or very sophisticated and advanced. As long as the requirements for the assignment are met, this will allow students to explore and exploit their interests.

If they are not learning what you intend, how will you address that?

Constant assessment will be necessary to identify when this is occurring but I would seek information on how to modify the way that the student uses the technology so that it is more in tune with their learning style. The same approach tried again will not work--the approach must be adjusted so that the student has a better opportunity to access the concept with which they are struggling.