Lesson One - Comprehensive Assignment

This week began as I took my first class as a Graduate student: Educational Technology.  I went into this class believing that I was a fairly tech-savvy person.  After reading Chapter One, I started to realize that my first step was to redefine my thoughts of technology from visions of computers, the internet, and webcasts.  As a portion of the textbook states: "Technology for those educators includes any media that can be used in instruction".

After studying the NETS*T, I began to differentiate between the technologies (in this sense, the ways to do something) to how teachers can shape, direct, exhibit, and demonstrate these technologies to teach students more than just the subject at hand.  Instead of just “handing out” the knowledge, teachers directly impact students by providing a model upon which they can rely.  It is our job to ensure that students leave the classroom with a firm foundation in meeting their own NETS student standards.

Although I do not teach at this time, I know that each child’s unique learning style will command the use of many different teaching styles. From volunteering, I have observed that everything from simple manipulative tools and rote memorization can be made more interesting with the use of technology.  It has been insightful to watch each teacher in action, and the collaborative efforts between classes, when it comes to reaching their students.

By understanding the different ways in which people think, their cognitive styles, I plan to design instruction which consider student preferences and enhance their experiences in the classroom.  Another factor to consider are personal filters.  Filters such as cultural differences can affect not just how a person thinks, but how they learn as well.   In attempting to teach the same subject in a variety of ways, I hope to touch upon and reach the many different learning styles of the students.  I will incorporate audio, visual and manipulative (kinesthetic) tools into my classroom while using both modern and traditional teaching technologies.

In order to implement these tools into my classroom, I will actively learn which lend themselves to the lesson at hand.  When faced with a technology that I am not familiar with, I will take classes and practice using that information.  I will search the internet and related educational avenues for auditory and videos related to the subject, as well as develop hands-on learning activities so the students can learn as they perform tasks.  Since the abstract understanding of a subject can make sense but have little impact on the reality of completing the task, I will help students both understand and conduct the assignment.  I consider the art of teaching as a lifelong learning experience that continually evolves as the technology around us evolves.