EDU 6990 Reflection Seven Standard 12

Med. Program Standard 5:

Standard 12: Evaluate and use technology for teaching and learning

Courses Aligned with Standard:

EDTC 6433

Original Assumptions:

My school has a one-to-one program with each student using iPads in all their classes. All the teachers 
use Canvas as a center to store assignments, give quizzes, review videos, syllabus, etc. I mainly use it 
for a place to do online homework and have review videos for students to look through. I also utilize 
SMARTboard tech in my classroom. I wanted to extend my world to teaching with technology.

Learning Experience:

Starting out I learned about the, International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). One model I
 am currently interested in is:

ISTE Standard 5: Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership

Teachers continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit 

leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating the effective 

use of digital tools and resources.

Question: How can I utilize technology to participate in digital learning communities and 

development so I can emulate what I learn into my Professional Learning Communities.

Teachers are powerful people because they are ones that create the future of the world. For 
them to be the way that they are, teachers often collaborate with others to create a professional 
learning community  (PLC). They allow teachers to construct curriculum, design formative and 
summative assessments, as well as support each other. Teachers working together in PLCs make
 it easier to obtain the ultimate goal which is for student achievement. However, PLCs can only 
go so far. With the use of professional development (PD) it lets the teachers go outside of what 
they know by learning from professionals who would be able to help them gain more knowledge
 then bring it back to their fellow colleagues.

Now with the use of technology it makes it easier for the teachers to expand their knowledge in 
order to help their PLCs.  It is important for teachers to have that space to work with others. 
Nicholson et al. (2016) found that by creating a protected space where burdens could be cast out
to the group is beneficial so they can help them feel supported in navigating the hardships of
their chosen profession. Although the PLCs can only go so far. Teachers have a limited amount 
of information to share with others in the group. Now it comes to the use of PDs. An SPU 
student, Michaela Clark found in her article that, PDs aimed to develop teachers’ capabilities by 
using instructional technologies in  order for a plethora of ways to benefit the teachers and 
students (Twining, P. et al., 2016 ). In these PDs it would allow teachers to practice different 
strategies and utilize them in hopes to demonstrate with other teachers.

A way to have productive virtual PDs is through The Mode Dimension Within the Computer 
Practice Framework. Twining, P. et al. (2016) found that teachers should be involved with 
finding ways to alter their pedagogy by ways to support learning objectives, extend the 
curriculum outside the textbook, and transform the content using technology. PDs that are 
focused on those areas lets the teacher expand their current knowledge of teaching so they can 
help students achieve.

From what I have learned from virtual PDs I found issues with bringing them to my PLC. The 
biggest issues are at with content blockers on district wifi. Some districts, including mine, have 
blocked access to wordpress, edmodo, and blogger like the ones in the hyperlinks provided. This
can cause issues because if some strategies have videos to demonstrate its practice then it could 
not be shown during normal PLC locations which would be at school. Other issues are with time. 

My PLC can be a bit sporadic with some teachers not able to come to the PLC meeting times and
others refusing. One solution is to send them the virtual PDs that I find and have them look at 
them at home prior to the PLC then come to the meeting with the information provided and use 
it to further our goal.

Another method to construct more solutions to bring to the PLCS is through the use of digital 
learning communities. In it there are places for teachers to post topics, communicate with one 
another, and find solutions to problems that other teachers may have asked. These can be 
located in different websites like edmodo.com and blog sites like wordpress.com as well as  
Blogger.com. Specifically blog sites like wordpress or blogger have a high benefits to newer 
teachers like myself. Anderson, J. et al. (n.d.) found, It is a place where teachers can blog about 
experiences and engages in practices that work in formation to form the new teacher’s identity. 
It has benefits for veteran teachers by giving ideas to  revamp their curriculum, look at different 
teaching strategies and creative formative assessments that can be used in the classroom. These 
types of uses have been especially beneficial to new teachers. In a study by Luik, P., & Taimalu, 
M. (2016).with new teachers found that in the group there were 85 participants who found that 
they grew immensely utilizing the blog capabilities. After looking through different blogs and 
other education type social medias I came across, ISTE’s post, “19 Education Twitter Chats  
Worth Your Time”. In it there were links to different education Twitter accounts that dealt with, 
general education, content specific, organization sponsored, and others like it. After looking 
through them I will now get a Twitter account so I can take advantage of all of the potential for 
me, and my PLC.

Reflection:

I’m still learning how to teach using technology. As I tell my students and myself, “strive to be better”. 
As technology is still being implemented into my district I am finding more fun, innovative ways to 
teach math. For example are two videos on how I used gaming into teaching geometry. I had two 
“students” (two people I know who took math classes through calculus) who were willing to be subjects
 in my lessons. These are summaries since the actual lessons did not upload correctly. Also, the second 
video is somewhat corrupted. So if the screen video freezes, but the audio keeps going then don’t worry
 it isn’t your computer. I have to invest in better video recording systems. I want the students to self-regulate
their learning. "Self-regulation involves a range of skills that become increasingly sophisticated as they develop 
over time. At the beginning of a semester, students who are new to self-regulation may need more explicit
 guidance; over time, it can be a goal for educators to give students progressively more responsibility for their 
own learning" (2012, p. 31).

Works Cited

Anderson, J., Justice, J., Gorham, J. J., Wall, S., Boyd, A., Nichols, K., & Alheieser, L. (n.d.). The 
Affordance Of Blogging On Establishing Communities Of Practice In A Pre-Service Elementary 
Teacher Education Program. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 21(1), 49-88.

Innovative Teaching and Learning. (2012). "21st Century Learning Design Learning Activity Rubrics." 
ITL Research and Microsoft Partners in Learning.

Luik, P., & Taimalu, M. (2016). Factors of Participants and Blogs that Predict Blogging Activeness 
During Teaching Practice and Induction Year. The International Review of Research in Open and 
Distributed Learning, 17(1). doi:10.19173/irrodl.v17i1.2169

Nicholson, J., Capitelli, S., Richert, A. E., Bauer, A., & Bonetti, S. (2016, Winter). The Affordances of 
Using a Teacher Leadership Network to Support Leadership Development.  Teacher Education 
Quarterly, 29-50.

Twining, P., Raffaghelli, J., Albion, P., & Knezek, D. (2013). Moving education into the digital age: The
 contribution of teachers' professional development. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 29(5), 426-
437. doi:10.1111/jcal.12031