The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) has
released a list of seven standards and outcomes for the Maryland Teacher
Technology Standards. Below, I have
listed ways of how I plan to address these standards in my classroom.
I.
Information Access, Evaluation, Processing and
Application: Access, evaluate, process and apply information efficiently and
effectively.
Organization, categorization, and storing information can be difficult in
a classroom. I think that I would have
multiple ways to store all my information, data, and work for the class. I would have a hard copy of the paperwork, an
electronic copy stored on my computer and a flashdrive/external hard drive, and
an online version, like a dropbox. Each
class would have a separate section, and that would have different folders for
each unit. There would also be a
separate section for resources used for GT students, ELL students, etc.
II.
Communication:
a.
Use technology effectively and appropriately to
interact electronically.
To collaborate with peers, parents, administrators, and experts, I would
use multiple forms of communication. I
would have a blog to share information with colleagues, as well as use sites
such as twitter and pinterest to share articles, posts, etc. I would have a class website to share
information about the class with my students and parents. There are also programs that are created to “text”
parents and students information and homework assignments without sharing the
teacher’s phone number. I would also use
Google Docs and surveymonkey to collaborate and share information, have sign
ups for field trips, etc.
b.
Use technology to communicate information in a
variety of formats.
I would use sites like YouTube to share videos for a flipped classroom
approach. I also would use sites such as
Blackboard or Moodle, if they were supported by my school.
III.
Legal, Social, and Ethical Issues: Demonstrate
an understanding of the legal, social, and ethical issues related to technology
use.
It is important that with the use of technology in the classroom,
students understand the legal and ethical issues. Before introducing technology in my
classroom, we would have a lesson on the negative outcomes of using technology,
as well as discussing the importance of citing all work. There would also be a section of this in
syllabus, talking about the class rules of using the Internet (don’t share
personal information, don’t post anything that is inappropriate, etc.). It is also important to have consequences for
the students if they break this rule, as well as to enforce these consequences.
IV.
Assessment for Administration and Instruction:
Use technology to analyze problems and develop data-driven solutions for
instructional and school improvement.
I would use online programs, as well as programs like Excel to track
student’s progress throughout the year.
I think that it is important to have an understanding of both an
individual’s progress, as well as the progress of the class as a whole. I would look at the averages for assessments
and break down the scores by question. There
are online tools such as Socrative.com that allow teachers to create a
quiz. They can watch in real time as
students take the quiz, as well as the percentage of questions that the student
got right, and the percentage of the class that got each individual question
right. This information can be applied
to the modification of the lesson plans, both for that year and in the future.
V.
Integrating Technology into the Curriculum and
Instruction: Design, implement, and assess learning experiences that
incorporate use of technology in a curriculum-related instructional activity to
support understanding, inquiry, problem solving, communication, and/or
collaboration.
Using technology such as Chromebooks, iPads, etc. students will be able
to take a variety of assessments to allow teachers to understand the progress
of students. It is important for
teachers to try out this technology before introducing students to it. There’s nothing worse than having students go
to a website to complete an assignment, only to find out that the website is no
longer there or has been modified drastically.
Using WebQuests, students will be able to work with each other and be in
charge of their own learning. An
interest survey could be given at the beginning of the year to obtain
information on the preferred methods of media and technology for the class.
VI.
Assistive Technology: Understand human equity
and developmental issues surrounding the use of assistive technology to enhance
student learning performance and apply that understanding to practice.
Work with professionals in the school to determine resources for students
that need assistance. Allow students
that need it to use online resources that help them with their individual
learning needs. Find out the most
efficient resources, as well as monitor the students and their progress- help
out as needed.
VII.
Professional Growth: Develop professional
practices that support continual learning and professional growth in
technology.
Explore professional organizations such as the International Society of
Technology in Education (ISTE), research any new technology that seems relevant
to the class. Attend conferences and
training opportunities in the summer, collaborate with teachers in my own
department, as well as other STEM departments.
I
believe that classrooms should have technology integrated into the lesson, but
not solely use technology. I think that
there is a balance between using no technology and using too much technology
and as STEM teachers, we have to find that balance. Technology can be used a tool to promote literacy. Through the use of WebQuests, online articles,
and online books, students can work on their literacy together in a positive
setting. However, if the students are
not technologically literate, it can be difficult to successfully complete
these tasks. Instructions are a huge
part of literacy and it can be difficult to write a set of directions if
students are not literate in technology terms.
