Unit IV- My experience with use of Technology in Education

The next generation learning system infused by technology opens up
exciting prospects at all levels of education. We all have encountered
a mix of learning process in our own education life and probably still
experimenting with new tools and methods to make the process more
meaningful and efficient. In today’s world, technology plays a
dominant role in our life and it’s no wonder that it serves as one of
the prime driver in the process of education. Use of technology shifts
learning from being ‘faculty-centric’ to a ‘learner-centric’ process.
It makes the process more interactive and visually effective. The
caveat being that it adds additional complexity for the educator in
the classroom.

In this regard, I would like to share my experience for one Pre-K
student, my son. I can see how powerful the use of technology could be
for teaching young kids who have generally a small attention span.
There’s an enormous amount of useful websites and videos for starting
the basic learning process for youngsters. With a careful selection
and routine use of the Internet, I have seen rapid development in my
child’s vocabulary and number skills. Since the videos are more
appealing than a book, he sits through an entire half- hour session of
illustrative materials which would have been impossible to achieve
with a book or a blackboard. In addition to that, interactive
application software products act as a powerful tool in various fields
of child development process. I run most of these applications on the
Apple iPad which provides an unique way to interact with these
applications though its touch-screen. Touch screens are much easier to
navigate for a child than the conventional keyboard and the gamut of
“apps” available on the App Store opens up endless opportunities to
learn in a more natural and fun-filled manner.

In future, while teaching (with the lower and middle school students
in mind) I would like to use software like Excel, PowerPoint,
WebQuest, Thought Boxes, Educational apps, and mainly Adobe® Digital
School Collection software (helps in the teaching of math and
science, language arts, history/social studies, and visual and
performing arts). As I have a strong background in Adobe software
products and like to experiment and stay updated, I think the School
Software Collection can work excellent in the process of education. As
I mentioned before, iPads (or similar tablets) would be a standard
fare in classrooms as vital learning tools and blackboards will be
replaced with high-tech whiteboards. Like every other aspects of our
daily lives, formal education can be profoundly enriched by the use of
technology.

Poverty Anchor II - What did I find problematic with the lesson/unit?

My first issue with this unit is that I think that the students might find its objective to be somewhat ambiguous. Is it the goal to study the work of Sargent Shriver, or to understand its implications in the current perspective or to learn how public policy could be effectively shaped for the betterment of the society? Since all of them are equally compelling topics, there should have been some clarity to guide student research for this unit. The other point that I would like to make about the content is that there is hardly any background information on Sargent Shriver. It covers his work in detail but fails to shed light on what really motivated him and made him so effective in his one-of-a-kind role. Perhaps some information on his upbringings and experiences would have helped the students to realize what really drove this iconic personality and made him a part of our history.

In addition, the unit could be more organized on the basis of his specific initiatives and an analysis of the factors that impacted their success. While the content is complete in portraying the difficulty of his task, it doesn’t explore the details on how the War on Poverty was actually launched. For example, poverty is not uniform across the country from a geographical or demographical perspective and it would have been interesting to see how the programs uplifted diverse sections of the society in different areas of the country.

Finally, the unit failed to provide any sort of continuity in the subject. From the 60’s till present time, the Government has commissioned multiple programs aimed at reducing or eliminating poverty. The content of the unit would have appeared more thought provoking if it referenced more recent topics that people could have easily connected with.

Unit III - My views on TfU, UbD & Group Investigation frameworks

From my experience as a student and a teacher, I can identify certain aspects of these frameworks that I believe would benefit my style of teaching. The Teaching for Understanding Framework (TFU) includes four key ideas--based on the four questions: generative topics, understanding goals, performances of understanding, and ongoing assessment. I think the TFU framework can be effective in inspiring students and can promote deep learning. One of the very important ideas that form a part of the TFU framework is that of creating opportunities to demonstrate learning in the classroom. While teaching, I observed that young learners are not easily able to articulate what they have learned in a classroom. My recent study of TFU and Group Investigation has convinced me to use learning tools more extensively in future to “make learning visible”. If I can “see” the learning in progress then I can determine the dos and don’ts. It can be seen as an opportunity to observe what students understand. At the same time I think these understanding can be duly promoted with the conscious use of technologies

On the other hand, I support the method of Group Investigation as students are given a chance to take control and make decisions. I believe this process will help build self-confidence for individuals and make them responsible as they will be making decision for their own betterment. But again, when I think of myself in the teacher’s role, I believe there should be a structure to be followed in this method and that should be designed and tailored by the teacher based on the class.

As a framework, I think Understanding by Design (UBD) cannot be same for everyone, in the sense that all teachers must teach the same things in the same way. It espouses the backward design, which asks the teacher/instructional designer/curriculum planner to think about the enduring understandings first before deciding on how to present and sequence activities. That’s about all it prescribes. What the enduring understandings are is really up to the curriculum planner, as with the assessment tasks and the sequence of activities. UBD framework describes a practical and useful "backward" design process in which anticipated results are first identified, acceptable evidence for learning outcomes is established and, only then, are specific learning experiences and instruction planned. I believe that the principles of UBD are not new. In fact, Wiggins and McTighe’s book often quotes Dewey and his philosophy of education. UBD emphasizes the teacher's critical role as an assessor and designer of student learning and the process seems to be elaborate for the teachers. UBD is one model to follow in developing an educational program. It is a good model for new teachers, but I think, with experienced teachers will find that subjects and different groups of students require multiple strategies. I believe that the ultimate goal of educational institute should be to make sure that the students are not learning for the sake of learning but understanding it. This is where I see UBD comes in. To me, learning should lead to understanding and the goal should be to understand and gain knowledge for future skill developments. However, I am not very sure about the ‘backward design’ as I have never tried and tested that kind of framework in my short teaching years and as such unaware of the hurdles one goes through in this process. But it is something to think about and try it out sometime when opportunity arrives.

For me teaching will be a collaborative framework based on all three and making the best use of each one of them. The goal is to make sure that the students develop the ability to think and act in a flexible manner. It is by working through their understanding in response to a particular project/challenge, they understand better. Also, every change is confusing, so the pros and cons of the diverse frameworks will be there as we adjust ourselves to the methods and with building experience figure out what suits our method and process of teaching, learning and understanding. I strongly believe that teaching and new educational technologies can be mutually supportive, synergetic and innovative. In today’s age, technology can make the curriculum manageable for teachers and could be an effective tool in promoting students’ understanding.