How effective is my classroom technology integration? Does theory meet practice in room M205? To answer these questions, I will write this post in two parts. First, an analysis of what I do based on the USF Tech Integration Matrix. Secondly, an analysis of my classroom management based on the required readings.
PART 1
To begin the process of evaluating the effectiveness of technology integration in my classroom, I decided to use the University of South Florida's Technology Integration Matrix. I referenced this tool in my previous post and I believe it to be a good one. Not only are the descriptors clear and easy to understand, but there are numerous examples given and the videos give deeper insight.
As you can see from my annotated matrix, it seems like my classroom tech integration falls primarily into the realm of "infusion." At this level, "students understand how to use and select tools and use them regularly." Also at this level, the "teacher guides and contextualizes tools." He or she also "structures technology use as self-directed and acts as a facilitator." Finally, the "technology tools are are available to meet the needs of all students."
This third piece is easiest to meet, due the to my school's wide availability of tech tools and help and the current 1 to 1 iPad program. The other two pieces have come out of my willingness and desire to integrate technology into my classroom. I enjoy using it myself, and I understand that students in today's classrooms use technology naturally and normally.
To further break down my analysis, I will visit each characteristic of the learning environment.
ACTIVE-My students regularly engage in projects that involve the active use of technology tools to receive and produce content. Whenever possible, I offer a choice of tools to my students, as each one of them is comfortable with different tools. One of my biggest takeaways in the COETAIL classes could be summed up by the metaphor of presentations. In our classes we've learned that in today's classrooms it's less important to teach students how to use Power Point and it's far more important to teach them how to make good presentations (using characteristics of Presentation Zen, for example).
COLLABORATIVE-I feel like this is a particular strength in my classroom due not only to the nature of a Spanish language classroom, but also in part to several institutional decisions. My students feel very strong in using the Google Suite and our 1 to 1 program assures that each student has access to tech. In fact, the process I used to annotate and share the photo in this post is the very same one that my students use to process and share information with each other and me!
CONSTRUCTIVE-This is definitely an area of future growth for me. I would say the majority of our time constructing knowledge is spent in the adaptation realm, but there are times that we shift into the infusion area. Most of this integration is highly structured in my classroom and in order to move into the infusion area, I would have to allow students to choose their own tools. This could be done, perhaps in the grammar area of my teaching, but it would require some heavy front-loading on my part. I'm not sure that my students are ready to choose the appropriate tools quite yet. In fact, a particular downside of the availability of resources lies in the fact that our students aren't yet strong in the area of critical literacy (which may in fact be another strong argument for better tech integration). This point is echoed in the Horizon Report of the New Media Consortium's Key Trend 4. Abundance is empowering, but difficult to navigate.
AUTHENTIC-One of the best things to come out of technology integration in language classrooms is the availability of authentic source material. My students frequently use online resources such as new articles, broadcasts, shopping websites, etc in their learning program. I've indicated on the above matrix that this use in my classroom falls somewhere between adaptation and infusion. The only thing that might be keeping me in the adaptation realm would be the fact that the use of these authentic materials is often highly guided. The good news though, is I do feel like my students are moving into independent use.
GOAL DIRECTED-This is the area where I feel the weakest in regard to the USF matrix and my use of technology integration. I've indicated that my classroom most probably fits in the adoption area. As our 1 to 1 program becomes more solidified, I expect to work harder in this area to move my students (or is it me?) further along the matrix in regard to planning and goal setting.
While this is all well and good, it's time for me to start doing some serious thinking about how my students and I can move into the transformation stage. The descriptors in that category are intense and overwhelming, but I plan on using them as a guide to help me push the boundaries of what I think we're capable of in my classroom.
PART 2
Dean Groom's 23 Things About Classroom Laptops presents a quick list that we as technology integrating teachers can use to begin evaluating not only our management of the devices, but our beliefs about devices in the classroom as well. Step 22 is important. The technology cannot be the center of activity. Things will go wrong. As I evaluate my own lessons, I feel I can do a better job of this. Often, when we are faced with server issues, my entire lesson can quickly go down the drain. As far as most of his other tips, my classroom reflects an environment where students and teacher are engaged in productive use of technology tools as a seamless part of the classroom environment. One more quick note, Tip 1-Modding Behaviour has manifested itself in all of the right ways in my Spanish classroom as we transitioned from iPad carts last year to this year's 1 to 1 program. Personalized devices have had a major impact in productivity this year!
Rich Kiker's post 5 Strategies For 1 to 1 Classroom Management addresses some critical ideas, most of which are being implemented in some way in my classroom. He presents an online classroom presence as strategy 1. While I don't have a Moodle or an Edmodo site, I do maintain an active classroom blog. However, my blog is primarily a one-way street, where students receive information. I should aspire to make it more interactive. Strategies 2 and 3 are in place, due to institutional decisions. Strategy 4 is easy for me, as I don't mind giving up control in my classroom and using new technology tools is fun for me. It's Strategy 5 where I have a lot of learning to do. I believe in Digital Citizenship and reminding the students of what it takes to be a good digital citizen, but I need to be more mindful of integrating it into lessons. The iPad Digital Citizenship Camp that we ran at the beginning of our 1 to 1 program provided a good touchstone to refer to, so I need to make sure that I do it.
The University of Denver offers alternative management policies, focused primarily on establishing consequences and artificial systems that seem largely unnecessary when technology is integrated well into a classroom. For now, I'll focus on the others to help me grow as a tech manager.
PART 1
To begin the process of evaluating the effectiveness of technology integration in my classroom, I decided to use the University of South Florida's Technology Integration Matrix. I referenced this tool in my previous post and I believe it to be a good one. Not only are the descriptors clear and easy to understand, but there are numerous examples given and the videos give deeper insight.
As you can see from my annotated matrix, it seems like my classroom tech integration falls primarily into the realm of "infusion." At this level, "students understand how to use and select tools and use them regularly." Also at this level, the "teacher guides and contextualizes tools." He or she also "structures technology use as self-directed and acts as a facilitator." Finally, the "technology tools are are available to meet the needs of all students."
This third piece is easiest to meet, due the to my school's wide availability of tech tools and help and the current 1 to 1 iPad program. The other two pieces have come out of my willingness and desire to integrate technology into my classroom. I enjoy using it myself, and I understand that students in today's classrooms use technology naturally and normally.
To further break down my analysis, I will visit each characteristic of the learning environment.
ACTIVE-My students regularly engage in projects that involve the active use of technology tools to receive and produce content. Whenever possible, I offer a choice of tools to my students, as each one of them is comfortable with different tools. One of my biggest takeaways in the COETAIL classes could be summed up by the metaphor of presentations. In our classes we've learned that in today's classrooms it's less important to teach students how to use Power Point and it's far more important to teach them how to make good presentations (using characteristics of Presentation Zen, for example).
COLLABORATIVE-I feel like this is a particular strength in my classroom due not only to the nature of a Spanish language classroom, but also in part to several institutional decisions. My students feel very strong in using the Google Suite and our 1 to 1 program assures that each student has access to tech. In fact, the process I used to annotate and share the photo in this post is the very same one that my students use to process and share information with each other and me!
CONSTRUCTIVE-This is definitely an area of future growth for me. I would say the majority of our time constructing knowledge is spent in the adaptation realm, but there are times that we shift into the infusion area. Most of this integration is highly structured in my classroom and in order to move into the infusion area, I would have to allow students to choose their own tools. This could be done, perhaps in the grammar area of my teaching, but it would require some heavy front-loading on my part. I'm not sure that my students are ready to choose the appropriate tools quite yet. In fact, a particular downside of the availability of resources lies in the fact that our students aren't yet strong in the area of critical literacy (which may in fact be another strong argument for better tech integration). This point is echoed in the Horizon Report of the New Media Consortium's Key Trend 4. Abundance is empowering, but difficult to navigate.
AUTHENTIC-One of the best things to come out of technology integration in language classrooms is the availability of authentic source material. My students frequently use online resources such as new articles, broadcasts, shopping websites, etc in their learning program. I've indicated on the above matrix that this use in my classroom falls somewhere between adaptation and infusion. The only thing that might be keeping me in the adaptation realm would be the fact that the use of these authentic materials is often highly guided. The good news though, is I do feel like my students are moving into independent use.
GOAL DIRECTED-This is the area where I feel the weakest in regard to the USF matrix and my use of technology integration. I've indicated that my classroom most probably fits in the adoption area. As our 1 to 1 program becomes more solidified, I expect to work harder in this area to move my students (or is it me?) further along the matrix in regard to planning and goal setting.
While this is all well and good, it's time for me to start doing some serious thinking about how my students and I can move into the transformation stage. The descriptors in that category are intense and overwhelming, but I plan on using them as a guide to help me push the boundaries of what I think we're capable of in my classroom.
PART 2
Dean Groom's 23 Things About Classroom Laptops presents a quick list that we as technology integrating teachers can use to begin evaluating not only our management of the devices, but our beliefs about devices in the classroom as well. Step 22 is important. The technology cannot be the center of activity. Things will go wrong. As I evaluate my own lessons, I feel I can do a better job of this. Often, when we are faced with server issues, my entire lesson can quickly go down the drain. As far as most of his other tips, my classroom reflects an environment where students and teacher are engaged in productive use of technology tools as a seamless part of the classroom environment. One more quick note, Tip 1-Modding Behaviour has manifested itself in all of the right ways in my Spanish classroom as we transitioned from iPad carts last year to this year's 1 to 1 program. Personalized devices have had a major impact in productivity this year!
Rich Kiker's post 5 Strategies For 1 to 1 Classroom Management addresses some critical ideas, most of which are being implemented in some way in my classroom. He presents an online classroom presence as strategy 1. While I don't have a Moodle or an Edmodo site, I do maintain an active classroom blog. However, my blog is primarily a one-way street, where students receive information. I should aspire to make it more interactive. Strategies 2 and 3 are in place, due to institutional decisions. Strategy 4 is easy for me, as I don't mind giving up control in my classroom and using new technology tools is fun for me. It's Strategy 5 where I have a lot of learning to do. I believe in Digital Citizenship and reminding the students of what it takes to be a good digital citizen, but I need to be more mindful of integrating it into lessons. The iPad Digital Citizenship Camp that we ran at the beginning of our 1 to 1 program provided a good touchstone to refer to, so I need to make sure that I do it.
The University of Denver offers alternative management policies, focused primarily on establishing consequences and artificial systems that seem largely unnecessary when technology is integrated well into a classroom. For now, I'll focus on the others to help me grow as a tech manager.
Well thought out and great post! I leave your site feeling inspired for the good things I have read.
ReplyDeleteIt is very important to maintain student interest in class and a teacher plays a very crucial role by juggling through various teaching strategies to achieve the same. Students today, are tech savvy and have a natural inclination towards technology. They welcome a leap into new ways of teaching that involve tech integration. Teachers are constantly learning ways to integrate technology in classes so the content is conveyed by interesting methods which in return sustains the essence of class.
ReplyDelete