- This lesson demonstrates PLO 8 "Demonstrate the ability to make informed decisions regarding the use of technology in support of learning and leadership"
- It also demonstrates PLO 7 "Utilize
technology to collect and analyze data, interpret results, and communicate
findings."
In action research teachers must know how to collect and analyze data and apply the results to issues in their classroom.
Supporting
Learning and Leadership with Technology
Not only must teachers know when to implement technology
into instruction, they must also know how. Implementing technology into
instruction involves careful planning and know-how that allows the students to
learn from and with the technology being used. In addition, there are ethical
concerns and issues that teachers must address before using technology in the
classroom. As classroom leader’s teachers must equip students with knowledge
and necessary information so that that their privacy is protected and they do
not infringe on the privacy or rights of others. Teachers themselves must know
certain information about the students learning styles and preferences. The
activity used in this paper “demonstrates the ability to make informed
decisions regarding the use technology in support of learning and leadership”.
Principles
and Theories
In the activity
used in this assignment the teacher does research on the student before
deciding how to use technology to support learning. This allowed the teacher to
learn about the behaviors, attitudes and learning preferences of the learner.
This activity is constructed based on the Constructivist learning theory. This
theory allows students to be active
participants in the learning process. The intervention in this research is the
use of computer games to get the student interested in reading. This is done to
improve the students overall reading fluency and comprehensions skills.
This assignment also addressed some ethical issues
regarding teaching, learning and leadership. The individual is a minor and the
teacher or researcher had to acquire certain permissions. Because the redesign
for this activity calls for the researcher to share the information with other
teachers in the district, it is important that the participant’s privacy is maintained
and that everyone involved adheres to certain ethical principles. Sharing the information
collaboratively will help create a database of information for teachers within
the school district. Wagner and Ice (2012), discussed the impact of “Big Data”
and one of its key distinctions can be applied to the lesson used in paper.
With
Big Data you can easily get false correlations, for instance, "On Mondays,
people who drive to work are more likely to get the flu." If you look at
the data using traditional methods, that may actually be true, but the problem
is why is it true? Is it causal? Is it just an accident? You don't know. Normal
analysis methods won't suffice to answer those questions. What we have to come
up with is new ways to test the causality of connections in the real world far
more than we have ever had to do before. We no can no longer rely on laboratory
experiments; we need to actually do the experiments in the real world.
Traditional research methods are often irrelevant because they do not
address the specific needs of the classroom. Using action research, the teacher
is able to address specific and individual needs relating to their actual
classroom. The redesign for this assignment allows for sharing and
collaboration because teachers benefit more from research they collect
themselves as opposed to using traditional research methods. Sharing and collaboration will allow the
teacher to gain other perspectives, ideas and insights that may have been
overlooked.
Challenges
One of the biggest challenges with this activity
was trying to find a lesson that best expressed the learning outcome. Once the
lesson was found, trying to decide which learning theory best described it was
difficult because it can appears to be a mix of several learning theories. The
Cognitive theory views learning as an active process that occurs within the
learner and which can be influenced by the learner (Dabbagh, 2006). Additional research had to be done in order
to determine whether or not this lesson was based on this principle or the
Constructivist principle. However, because the lesson allowed the learner to build personal interpretation of the world based
on experiences and interactions, (varies methods used by the researcher) it was
concluded that this lesson relates more to the Constructivist view of learning
(Dabbagh, 2006).
Teachers must structure activities and learning environments
so that learners are fully engaged in their learning. Active learning such as
the concept presented in this paper has many challenges that both the teacher
and student must address. In addition to
ethical issues, teachers must also change the way they think about teaching and
learning. Successful implementation of
technology can change the way teachers and students manage, store, and share
their work to enhance learning. The role of the teacher or leader in using
technology in instruction is to make the use of technology in instruction as
effective as paper, pencil, and book methods of instruction.
References
Dabbagh, N. (2006). Instructional design knowledge base. Retrieved from http://cehdclass.gmu.edu/ndabbagh/Resources/IDKB/models_theories.htm
Wagner, E., & Ice, P. (2012,
July/August). Data changes
everything: Delivering on the promise of learning analytics in higher education. Educause Review, 33-42. Retrieved from
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM1243P.pdf
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