Sunday, July 13, 2014

Final Project - Writing Assignment



            As societies around the globe becomes more and more reliant on technology, I must remember the importance of adapting my teaching practices to ensure my students are prepared for the digital world that lays ahead. Teaching my students how to properly utilize technology to enhance their learning and aid them in acquiring useful information is paramount to their success in today’s modern world. Although my students are born in this digital age, and are, in many respects, considered “digital natives,” this does not necessarily mean that they are all 100 percent fluent when it comes to technology’s many academic uses. As Boyd states in chapter 7 of her book, *It's Complicated “The notion of the digital native, whether constructed positively or negatively, has serious unintended consequences. Not only is it fraught, but it obscures the uneven distribution of technological skills and media literacy across the youth population, presenting an inaccurate portrait of young people as uniformly prepared for the digital era and ignoring the assumed level of privilege required to be “native.”’ Although I consider myself to be a “digital immigrant,” I have the foresight to educate myself and stay current with trends in technology. By incorporating technology into my instruction, such as through the use of hybrid pedagogy, I can help my students to utilize technology in order to benefit them academically. This course was a great way to critically analyze differing viewpoints of how to incorporate technology into the classroom.

As I seek out new ways to stay current with trends in education, I must also be conscious of why certain beliefs and views are valued and why others are not in the media. So much information is available to our youth today, and I feel it is important as an educator to help my students navigate and question certain propaganda portrayed by the media. One exercise I plan on implementing as soon as my students return in the fall will be S.C.W.A.A.M.P. This exercise did a wonderful job of opening my eyes to many of the reasons why certain stereotypes and injustices exist in our society today. I am sure that it will help to inform my students of our society’s dominant ideology. Having my students partake in this exercise will pair nicely with my belief of educating my students about their individual backgrounds and cultures. I am a strong believer in critical pedagogy, and that my students are empowered when they are informed about the historical past of their native cultures and the cultures of their classmates.

As a culminating project for Curriculum 501, I chose to create a better organizational tool for myself. The structure of the school where I am employed and the nature of my job require that I transition from location to location throughout the day. I have found it challenging to keep up with proper documentation, and I was/am in serious need of a tool that is both easily accessible, and easy to use. I have found that one of my greatest challenges in learning how to utilize technology more efficiently has been lack of time. I become reliant on tools that may be inefficient, mainly because I don’t have enough time to devote to learning what could be an easier way. This course provided me with the time to challenge myself and push myself to try new things, such as the digital tool, Evernote. My aim with using this new tool is to incorporate it into my daily schedule, and eventually try to have my students do the same. In one of our last classes, Dr. Bogad said something that stuck with me throughout the completion of this project: “If you create it, they will use it.” Hopefully this will hold true as I move forward with the implementation of this new tool.

To better organize and progress-monitor my students, I decided to create an Evernote account. Dr. Bogad and a couple of my classmates recommended this as a tool that might work well for my needs, so I decided to try it out for our first assignment in which we were required to learn and teach others about a digital tool. It took me quite a while to get accustomed to the various tools, but I was immediately pleased with the overall layout of the site and it’s accessibility from my smartphone. Last year I attempted to use Google Docs, but for some reason the layout didn’t work for me and I spent more time looking for information than accessing it. The Evernote account that I created allows me to create new “notebooks” for each student or group of students that I with whom I work. I can then add “files” into my “notebooks” to organize my individual students within groups or buildings. Although adding all of this information was quite time consuming, I now feel I have a tool that I will want to use to enable me to stay better organized for the benefit my students and me.

Boyd, Danah. It's Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

Final Pecha Kucha Attachment: Final Project Pecha Kucha


Excellent
(9.5-10)
Great
(8.75-9.25)
Good
(8-8.5)
Passing
(7-7.5)
Unacceptable/absent
(Under 7)
Includes a narrative context about where this project came from, what you did and why it is important to you

X



Explains how the use of digital technology enhances or changes this content/context (points x2)


X


Draws from at least 3 of our course themes, texts or issues (points x2)
X




Demonstrates something that you could not have done or conceptualized before this course

X



Includes hyperlinks to at least 5 external resources (academic and/or technical)
X




Writing Style (creativity, style, flow)

X



Writing Style (grammar, spelling, format)
X












2 comments:

  1. Your project is inspiring me to start using Evernote myself. I hope it works out for you, and maybe you can get students using it as well! Good luck -- let me know how this goes for you in the fall. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I will make sure to let you know. I'm pretty excited to start using it!

    ReplyDelete