EDLD+5370+Reflections+on+assignments+in+EDLD+5364

**EDLD 5370 Reflections on assignments in** **EDLD 5364 - Teaching with Technology**

This course was very interesting because we revised some approaches in how learning takes place in the classroom, from the one in the traditional way and the newest proposals that are more student-centered. From constructivism that says that there no exists new knowledge by itself, because it is constructed in different ways and is related with previous knowledge that connects with the new experiences and it occurs internally and individually. Other theory that called my attention was other that includes the social components such as collaboration, negotiation and sharing such as about the //Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory////.I think that there is no theory that is absolutely correct, and as leaders we should embrace some characteristics that better fit our students and school needs when introducing the technology in the classrooms. In// the real world, the adoption of new technologies is taking place through the social networks that are part of the people’s life and it also influences the educational field. McPheeters (2009) states that the debate now is if this innovation impacts the society and the education negatively. The schools leaders must make delineate policies and procedures to assure that this innovations make a positive impact in the students and the community and in our position we have the opportunity and the responsibility to make it happens. During this course, I had the opportunity to work in a collaborative team to create a unit plan to solve a classroom scenario. This activity allowed me to share my experience with other four colleagues and I also learned from all the contributions that they made. Our team completed the assignment applying the technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the diverse needs of the students and we included authentic assessment, sample technology-based activities, and suggested teacher staff development. I learned that the teamwork enriched the assignment because each team member have different point of views depending on their grade level, students’ background, and students’ needs that each one has experience with. One of my reflections was that each student is unique and for this reason, they have a special way to learn. They individual way to learn is like a fingerprint of the DNA and is shaped the diversity of learning introduced by Lessonbuilder.cast.org (nd). I learned about some tools that could be used in the school for teaching, one of the features is that could be used for free, such as activities developed in Clic 3.0 games activities. Also, this give me the capability to understand what kind of accommodations could be needed with students with different needs, because we completed activities for gifted and talented asking students to develop more challenging assignments or Braille code materials for blind students. Finally, I found that Web 2.0 offers a broad range of possibilities, including assessment of the students that can provides opinions over other students’ work, contributions or replies because it generally reflects high-order thoughts. By doing this, teachers integrate both summative and formative assessment using Web 2.0. Indeed, I share the vision of Alexander, (2006) that the rich search possibilities opened up by these tools can further enhance the pedagogy of current events; for example, a science class could explore different views through traditional media using Google News, etc. However, we must be responsible when students are exposed to the internet for the quality of the materials that students could see. The school must protect the students by using firewalls, for instance. The concept of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) could be used in our school to address the diverse needs of our students, because it provides educators with models and tools to create and adapt lessons that increase access and participation in the general education curriculum for all students. As teacher and as long life learner I will use it as reference to design the instruction to differentiate instruction.

**References: ** Alexander, B. (2006). Web 2.0: A New Wave of Innovation for Teaching and Learning? EDUCAUSE Review, 41(2), pp. 32–44.

Lessonbuilder.cast.org (nd). Universal Design and Universal Design for Learning. Retrieved on March 5, 2011 from http://lessonbuilder.cast.org/window.php?src=videos

McPheeters, D. (2009, March). //Social networking thechnologies in education//. Tech and Learning. Retrieved February, 2011 from  http://www.techlearning.com/article/16250

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