Module 4 Reflection


How can technology be used most effectively to support and assess student learning?

 When looking over the list of 20th Century classroom qualities, I realize that the list basically describes my classroom. I have had a teacher-centered, textbook-based approach to teaching and assessing. I have found myself frustrated at the fact that students don’t seem to retain the information that is being taught and there seems to be no deep understanding. I have often questioned why I couldn’t get students to think and reason, but the answer to that question is that I didn’t really give them the opportunity to do so. I was presenting the material and asking them to retain it.

I have always felt like I have done a fairly good job of incorporating technology into my lessons to enhance what I am doing in the classroom. I have had a Smartboard that I used to plan interactive lessons. I also use computer programs and apps for student math practice such as FastMath and IXL. I even have a class set of IPads that we use to practice skills and play interactive games such as Kahoot. I am realizing that there is so much more that I can do to utilize technology as a tool to foster higher order thinking and creativity in my students.

There is certainly a place for those forms of assessment, but to really challenge my students and allow them to take more ownership of their learning, I have to be more selective of the tools that I use and think more of how to challenge students. There are many ways to use technology to support and assess learning. Digital portfolios would be one of those tools. There are also other programs that allow students to create, share and collaborate, such as Google Docs. However, to use these tools, I as the teacher need to become more familiar with them. I hope to do that as I progress through this course.





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Module 5 Reflection

This module has helped me think about student-centered assessment in the following ways… My views of assessment and the role of myself and my students has been challenged throughout this course. I have been teaching for several years, and my general view of assessment has been that I teach the material and then assess the learning. Although I still believe that assessment is part of my role as a teacher, including the students in the assessment process can be a valuable component of their learning. When students evaluate other students’ work, they have to become critical thinkers which impacts the way they think about their own learning. When students can evaluate the work of their peers, giving feedback and suggestions, they develop a deeper understanding of the content. They also need opportunities to learn new skills such as creating projects, checklists, and rubrics. Including students in the foundational part of learning requires them to think about the content as a w...
Read more

Module 2 Reflection: Curricular Frameworks

            It has honestly been some time since I have given much thought to Bloom’s Taxonomy, in name at least. Of course, as a teacher, I always strive to get my students to think critically, but I haven’t thought much about the actual pyramid and all of the different levels in some time. I must also admit that I do spend a good bit of time in the knowledge, comprehension, and application levels. When pondering this, I think that at least part of the reason lies with standardized testing and the pressure that is put on teachers for their students to do well on these tests. Standards-based tests are written at the system level and required to be given. Students are given grades based on those tests, so teachers must prepare students to master them. I believe this can force teachers to have a narrowed view of student achievement and what that really means.             On...
Read more