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Sunday, January 29, 2023

EIM 505 Theories of Critical Thinking

 

The readings for this assignment were fascinating to me. I am a first-grade teacher, and I am blessed to have a one to one student to technology device ratio. I also serve as our building’s technology coordinator, so technology is literally all around me daily. I am constantly trying to be better at ensuring the technology we have is being used to its fullest potential to yield the highest student achievement possible. This thought directly relates to the deep learning model where part of the goal is to create “creative, connected, and collaborative life-long problem solvers.” (Fullan, 2014, p. 2) Using technology and digital tools is part of the answer to accomplishing that goal. Technology is all around today’s students and isn’t going anywhere. Our responsibilities as teachers are to use the technology we have in creative ways to push students to the next level in their learning. The deep learning goal also directly relates to Bloom’s levels of learning, and the use of digital tools makes achieving all of the levels easier. Students can be more creative with the use of digital tools. When I think of projects I completed in school, it usually involved a trip to a store to buy a poster board and various art supplies as well as cutting pictures out of a magazine. In today’s technology-driven world, students can create something to show their understanding of a topic electronically. They can then share it with their classmates for collaboration and evaluation meeting all levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. (Huitt, 2011)

As I read The Adoption Process, I thought about my role as technology coordinator, the staff at my current school, and how they fit into the “five adopter categories” in terms of new technology. (Rogers, 1963, p. 72) Technology is ever-changing, and sometimes it seems that you are just getting used to something when the next new thing comes out, whether it be a new piece of technology, an update that changes an app, website, operating system, or anything else. Sometimes the constant change is overwhelming and if you are already uncomfortable with using and implementing technology in the classroom you may feel more overwhelmed. However, if you have others to help, things will feel easier for you and make the adoption process smoother. (Rogers, 1963)

One of my responsibilities as a classroom teacher is incorporating weekly lessons aligned to the fairly new digital literacy and computer science standards Alabama adopted in 2018. These standards encompass many things, including teaching students to think like a computer, coding, and safely using digital tools and resources. The importance of these lessons and standards is easy to see as with technology students have immediate access to information. Having that immediate access can be both good and bad which is why “empowerment and protection are both needed” (Hobbs, 2011, p. 15) when using digital tools. There is no question as to why the use of digital tools in the classroom by both teachers and students is needed. Teachers can add more depth to their lessons and “meet a variety of learning styles.” (Kuhn, 2018, p. 19) Below-level students can use their tools and research-based programs to remediate needed skills. Whereas above-level students can enrich their learning and take their understanding a step further with their digital tools and programs. 


References:


Fullan, M. & Langworthy, M. (2014). A rich seam: How new pedagogies find deep learning. London: Pearson. Retrieved from https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/one-dot-com/one-dot-com/global/Files/about-pearson/innovation/open-ideas/ARichSeamEnglish.pdf

 

Hobbs, R. (2011). Empowering learners with digital and media literacy. Knowledge Quest, 39(5), 12-17. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.   

 

Huitt, W. (2011). Bloom et al.'s taxonomy of the cognitive domain. Educational Psychology Interactive.Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved from http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/cognition/bloom.pdf 

 

Kuhn, M. S. (2008). Connecting depth and balance in class. Learning & Leading with Technology,36(1), 18-21. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.  

 

Rogers, E. M. (1963). The adoption process II. Journal of Cooperative Extension, 1(2), 69-75.  Retrieved from https://archives.joe.org/joe/1963summer/1963-2-a2.pdf

 

2 comments:

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    1. Karlie, I really feel like I gained knowledge from your response. I couldn't agree with you more on how sometimes right when we are getting comfortable with using a certain technology that it is then time to learn a new one or how to use the updated version... In a way I feel like this goes along with the idea that as teachers we have agreed to be lifelong learners so that we can continually adapt and learn new ways to target the different learning styles within our classrooms. Being a younger and more digitally inclined teacher at my school, I do my best to help out any of the older teachers that are not as comfortable or technologically savvy whenever they need me. I do also agree that students are able to be more creative with digital projects than with the "cut out magazine type projects," and I hope to implement more digital ones that leave room for independent creativity in my classroom in the future.

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