Essential Conditions for Leveraging Technology for Learning

I am going to talk about two essential conditions that teachers need to leverage technology for learning. These two conditions I think are the most important however there are more outlined here. 

The first condition that I find most essential for leveraging technology for learning is ongoing professional learning. I feel like teachers need to continually improve their teaching and try new things. I felt lost last year because I did not have enough resources or a community to develop ideas with. That is why I began to take online courses at Willamette. I needed some form of professional development so I could continue to improve my teaching and get new ideas for activities or projects. I gained a lot from those in my class. I was able to come up with little things to include in lessons and even a creative assignment to include in a unit. I was not able to do this with teachers at my school as much since I work at a school with nine teachers. We do share a lot of techniques and technology that we use to enhance our teaching, but I wanted more. I have gained a lot from this ed tech leadership class that may not be evident in how I use or incorporate technology right now, but it has helped me in other ways. It has gotten me into the habit of blogging about my teaching and curriculum. After I wrote a blog about how I wanted to structure my classfor next year I was inspired to try out something else too. I had been mulling around the assignment in the back of my head for a long time, but after I wrotethe blog I realized how I could structure the assignment and include it. This idea of professional development needs to apply to technology as well.

Teachers need to share what digital tools they are using to enhance learning with other teachers. Often digital tools can be shared across disciplines and subjects. I was able to help an English teacher learn how to enhance her unit on Greek mythology by helping her design a project that used yodio. I helped teach her how to use the site and what you could do with it. I then taught her how to create a blog and embed the videos. We were able to help each other develop professionally because we were given prep periods or other free time in our schedule that allowed for professional development. The school administrators and school community supported and encouraged professional development. Also since Willamette University encouraged and supported professional development I felt comfortable sharing my knowledge with other teachers. I think professional development is key for technology because you have to be able to show how to use the tool or show examples of applications of that digital tool. So teachers need to see how to use the tool as well as pedagogy or context of the tool. I think often teachers do not know all of the capabilities of the digital tools and need to be shown the different operations it can do. However just knowing is one thing, but finding the context or how to use that operation to support learning is another thing. Teachers need to see examples of how to incorporate them in the classroom or in what context they can incorporate them.

Although I think if your school or administrators does not give you time or opportunities for professional development. You have to seek those opportunities out. You should also be willing to lead workshops or presentations about what you are doing in your classroom so that others will make opportunities for you to learn from them. I had to seek out professional development opportunities and make time for it myself. However the school and company have improved the professional development opportunities, but I think you can never get enough chances to learn about how to improve your teaching.

A speaker from the Center for Education in Mathematics and Computing at the University of Waterloo talked to my students this week. I talked with about what the center does and offers. The center offers a completely online Masters in Mathematics for teachers. I looked into and it brings together all of the advanced mathematics that I love and then helps teachers apply that to the classroom. It helps teachers make mathematics more inquiry based and student centered. That is exactly how I see my math classroom and want it to be. I wanted to take all the classes right then and there. I felt like I did not get enough support and ideas in my math methods course on how to teach math. I got a start, but I don't think it was enough. Plus this way I will get to study areas of math I didn't get a chance to and enhance the pedagogy of teaching math. I will eventually get this degree, but I have been taking so many professional development courses recently that I think I need a little bit of a break. However it just shows you that there is so much out there to learn and resources out there to help you develop your teaching skills as much as you can. 

The second essential condition is supportive external context. You need the support from the local community, the state, the nation, and other organizations to make professional programs happen. There is not only the money to pay for these programs, but the general existence of the programs and their ability to come work with the teachers. I want to talk about some outside organizations that can help provide professional development. 

I went to school in Corvallis, Oregon where Hewlett Packard gave a lot of resources to the schools to help develop scientists and engineers. There is a large factory in Corvallis and most of the town either works for HP or for Oregon State University. The company worked with schools and had workers teach science classes and workshops. They also provided a lot of funding to the high school robotics teams in the town. This support helped teachers and students develop skills with technology and science. 

I mentioned the Center for Education in Mathematics and Computing at the University of Waterloo. Well they provide a lot of online resources that you can use in your classroom and to develop your own skills. They provide a lot of resources to support computer science learning and classes. I really suggest you check out what they have to offer. They can also come visit your school to talk about why students need to learn mathematics and computer science. I loved the talk and hope the students got a lot from it. They also give presentations for teachers as well. 

I recently discovered the Intel ed tech program while researching different areas of educational technology. This would also be a great program to get involved in to improve your technology skills and to further develop teaching pedagogy. 

There of course is also global communities or resources that are out there too. I plan on using skype to set up a presentation about Willamette University for my students. I have been exchanging a lot of e-mails with the admissions office about how to promote and introduce the school to my students. We were talking about an in-person admissions presentation, but when that fell through I suggested that we set up a skype conference. The admissions office could still give a presentation to my students about the school, but over skype. The office was happy to continue working with me and we have been e-mailing about details for the skype presentation. Skype can be used to contact anyone or anyone organization, therefore you can have as many guest lecturers as you can. You just have to go out and find them. 

You should strive to work with companies and organizations at the local level, state level, national level, and around the world to enhance your teaching and your classroom. This means taking classes, attending conferences, scheduling in house workshops, applying for grants, and so much more. You need support to make this happen so go out and find it. 

Ed703: Ed Tech Leadership Hour Log