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Schreiber - Digital Literacy Home Learn More Inspiration About the Author |
About the Author
My passion for technology in the classroom began 6 years ago when I jumped into an Ipad pilot program with both feet. I had always considered myself a "techie" but this first year of using technology with 36 students proved to be a turning point in my teaching career. I loved the way that technology excited my students and enhanced their learning and motivation. I developed curriculum for my science classroom that involved a variety of technology tools. My passion and excitement for technology in the classroom led me to be the Technology Liaison for the staff at my middle school. In this position I led numerous staff trainings on technology tools and blended learning. I earned my Google Certified Educator level 1 and 2 and also became a Google Certified Trainer.
I entered the Innovative Learning program with a strong background of using technology in the classroom. This program led me to reflect on tools that I have used and focus on the true purpose of using technology in the classroom which was motivating my middle school students. I am grateful of the mentors and fellow innovative teachers I have met during this program and look forward to continuing my journey to creating a 21st century classroom.
When I am not teaching, I love spending time with my husband and my 4 year old son Wade. As a family we enjoy spending time outside, cooking and are avid campers in the summer.
I entered the Innovative Learning program with a strong background of using technology in the classroom. This program led me to reflect on tools that I have used and focus on the true purpose of using technology in the classroom which was motivating my middle school students. I am grateful of the mentors and fellow innovative teachers I have met during this program and look forward to continuing my journey to creating a 21st century classroom.
When I am not teaching, I love spending time with my husband and my 4 year old son Wade. As a family we enjoy spending time outside, cooking and are avid campers in the summer.
Reflections on your Journey
The fast pace of a 1 year masters program in innovative learning was full of challenges for me. I began my journey investigating and developing digital curriculum to help my students become more digitally literate. This was an important topic for me, as I had seen so many of my students unable to find what they were looking for online, evaluate sources for their credibility and reliability and effectively use this information they had found to provide evidence for their claims. I taught the unit all in one week and later realized that this skill is something that will need to be taught and practices in context throughout the year for my students to make the most meaning of it and truly internalize the skill. I also realized that my students had some knowledge and skill in this area, yet were not using it. What was their reasoning and what would motivate them to find credible evidence online? I was also exploring tools for peer audience this year, assuming that providing my students with an audience to prove their claim or demonstrate their learning would obviously motivate them. It turns out that this was not an all inclusive motivating factor for all of my students. After hitting several road blocks in testing out peer audience tools in my classroom, I came back to my original action research topic which was How can we teach digital literacy skills to digital native students? I realized there was not one specific tool to teach this, but there are lots of lessons and ideas for how to incorporate digital skills into content lessons.
At the end of this journey, I can happily say that I truly feel that I have grown from the program. I have loved hearing from my cohort members about what they are experiencing in their own classroom as well as sharing my experiences with them. I was worried that I was not an "innovator" because I was not necessarily creating something new. What I now realize is that being an educator who is willing to adapt and change along with the changes in standards, technology and our students is an innovator. Sharing my journey with other educators may also help others to start a journey of their own in innovating in their own classrooms.
At the end of this journey, I can happily say that I truly feel that I have grown from the program. I have loved hearing from my cohort members about what they are experiencing in their own classroom as well as sharing my experiences with them. I was worried that I was not an "innovator" because I was not necessarily creating something new. What I now realize is that being an educator who is willing to adapt and change along with the changes in standards, technology and our students is an innovator. Sharing my journey with other educators may also help others to start a journey of their own in innovating in their own classrooms.
TPACK Reflection
Our school site had previously done some professional development regarding technology standards. Prior to my journey at TU in the Innovative Learning Program, I thought I had been using plenty of technology and digital tools in my classroom. As I learned more about 21st century learning and TPACK, I realized that I needed to focus more on overlapping skills in my lessons. As teachers, we are designers of our students learning experiences. After learning more about TPACK this year, I have been more careful to try to design learning experiences where there is overlap between my technical, pedagogical and content knowledge. I am also trying to create learning experiences for my students where they can practice technical skills and also demonstrate content knowledge.
In addition to learning more about TPACK, I have also constantly trying to analyze the learning and use of technology in my classroom to the SAMR model. As a teacher using technology, I want to make sure that my students are using technology to enhance their learning, not just simply substituting using technology for something that would be the same or better on paper. I feel that as the novelty of using technology in the classroom wears off for our own students, we need to be mindful of when and how we are using technology to make sure we are enhancing learning, creating transliterate lessons and pushing our students to do things they never could have done without the use of technology.
In addition to learning more about TPACK, I have also constantly trying to analyze the learning and use of technology in my classroom to the SAMR model. As a teacher using technology, I want to make sure that my students are using technology to enhance their learning, not just simply substituting using technology for something that would be the same or better on paper. I feel that as the novelty of using technology in the classroom wears off for our own students, we need to be mindful of when and how we are using technology to make sure we are enhancing learning, creating transliterate lessons and pushing our students to do things they never could have done without the use of technology.
Lasting Learning from the Innovative Learning program
My journey through the Innovative Learning program was quite a ride. I had always considered myself a good student and was eager to learn more about harnessing the power of using technology in the classroom. I had many assumptions about the program and what I would gain from it. I assumed that I would simple learn new tools and ways to effectively use technology in the classroom. Instead of jamming more digital tools into my already digital classroom, I learned through my action research to slow down, listen to my students and gain more perspective from discovering more about what truly motivates my learners. Our students come to our own classrooms with similar expectations and their own skill sets, our job as educators is to design learning opportunities for our students to access content as well as develop critical 21st century skills.