21st Century Instruction

When I began teaching 7 years ago, I had no idea how much it would change. Students today are living in a society where mobile phones are now small computers capable of getting them anything and pointing them anywhere they want. Technology is a part of their lives and they are more than ready to use it at school as well as at home. This creates some interesting challenges for us in the teaching field because we are now responsible for preparing them to meet the demands of the 21st century with skills that will empower them to become contributors to society. One of my challenges as an instructional specialist is finding ways to empower the teachers of the campus to implement technology and use it effectively. This means they are actually teaching with technology tools on a regular, if not daily basis, and students are using real-world situations to problem solve. It's an incredible way to look at things and our students are in great positions to really contribute to something they deem important.

Week 2 Web Conference Reflection

The fact that we now have the capacity to collaborate and conversate over the internet is phenomenal. Attending this week's web conference was a reminder of that feat. With that said, this week's web conference had its share of problems. There was an echo throughout the conference so it was very difficult to understand and interact with the cohorts and Dr. Abernathy. I do not feel that it was as beneficial as previous web conferences have been. The audio issues were definitely a major factor in that. Otherwise, it was good to see cohort members and interact with them over the world wide web. Hopefully the next web conference will be better.

Instructional Design Reflection

What benefits do you see in educators knowing how to design and implement online learning?
How will you professionally use your course that you designed?
Will you integrate online learning in your role as a teacher/staff developer?
What questions do you still have about online learning?
What will you do with this new learning?

Embracing the implementation of online learning can benefit not only students but also teachers and taking the time to really pour into the design process would only help teachers become better facilitators of their online courses. One of the most beneficial pieces of online learning is that it allows teachers to easily differentiate instruction. This is a huge benefit for students! It gives them a manageable time-table to complete tasks and assignments plus it allows them the opportunity to request help for concepts they may have trouble comprehending. The implementation process is also an important factor in using online courses. If teachers are comfortable with not only the design process but also the implementation process they can effectively facilitate online learning in their classrooms and on their campuses. The comfort level they achieve can only help them become better facilitators and implementation specialists.

The online learning course I've designed was specifically tailored for students who are struggling with the traditional classroom teaching methods for basic math concepts. I've designed my course to allow the students to bring in more student-centered learning strategies and collaborative learning. This also allows students to pursue some of their own learning responsibilities. Additionally, I plan on using my online course as a training tool where I would elicit assistance from teachers on improving the overall course for students. This would allow teachers to see an online learning module along with student work examples which could help ease fears of implementation and design.

I would plan on implmenting online learning as a teacher and as a staff developer. As a teacher, I see the opporutnity to differentiate learning, I also forsee the opportunity to expand student learning outside of the traditional classroom by bringing in professionals to collaborate with students. Additionally, the online learning environment is a collaborative environment where teachers and students can interact on assignements and learning modules.
As a staff developer I would use online learning modules to help my campus personnel. Online learning allows teachers to work at their own pace in a collaborative environment that is beneficial for all participants. The only problems that could pose as a potential pitfall would be follow-through on the course modules. It's important that the facilitator remain involved in discussions, if they are a part of the course as well as stay abreast of grading assignments and offering feedback to staff.

Since our district uses online learning a great deal, I'm comfortable with using and designing online learning courses. I see the potential for additional online learning modules to train teachers on designing and implementing their own and that leads me into the final prompt.

I'm currently working with a group of technology teachers to design a balanced literacy module integrating technology into balanced literacy standards. At this point the modules have been completed and they are now ready to integrate into the school district's staff development courses for this summer. Going into next school year, I'm planning to create more online learning modules for campus staff development as well as integrating more online learning in the classrooms. Currently, I would estimate that 30% of the campus classrooms are using online learning modules. I hope to have at least 50% usage by this time next school year. I plan to attack that by creating more online modules for teachers to research and use as well as more staff development opportunites for teachers to learn more about online learning.