Final Thoughts on Teaching for Understanding with Technology
From my long-standing role as a student, I have been unable to appreciate the “behind the scenes” work involved in teaching with technology. I was not privy to the ways in which teachers integrated technology into their K-12 coursework, class activities, or their own professional development as educators (per technology-based resources, applications, etc.), especially regarding curriculum design. Over the past seven weeks in CEP 810 however, I have learned about these aspects of teaching. Ultimately I considered the following takeaways to be the most significant on my professional and academic pursuits beyond this course:
- Familiarity with how to utilize media and online learning tools, networks, etc. for personal growth (NLP (see multiple), Weeks 2, 4, and 5)
- Understanding how to structure curricula that integrate technology (Lesson Plan assignment, Week 5)
- Validating the dimensions of teacher knowledge, and the interconnectedness of typified knowledge (TPACK framework, Week 6)
The concept of “repurposing” emerged as a critical tool for teaching in both the traditional and nontraditional learning environments. By shedding light on the creative strategizing required in the events of “repurposing” technologies (or potato mashers), CEP 810 has actually given me a fresh perspective on my Master’s degree research. After fine-tuning my proposal for the past year, I have finally concluded, with the help of this course, that I will dedicate my research to teacher education. This includes, but is not limited to, the strategies of “repurposing” classroom technologies. As I move forward, I will use what I have learned in CEP 810 to investigate the ways in which “repurposing” appears in higher education contexts. I will also be giving special attention to areas of developmental education wherein effective teaching is critical, yet the educational resources are oftentimes inadequate. With CEP 810 as a starting point, I will explore this particular area with references to online learning tools, curricular integrations of technology, and an instructional emphasis on developing teachers’ Pedagogical Technological Knowledge per the TPACK framework (Mishra & Koehler, 2006). In sum, my research will aim to contribute to academic discussions about the best practices on teaching for understanding with technology. I would like to thank Mary Wever and all of my CEP 810 classmates for inspiring this new ambition in my career.
A strong argument has been made for technology’s curricular integration prior to its learning effectiveness. As I prepared my CEP 810 lesson plan on Weathering and Erosion, I came across reviews for the educational app that I used in my curriculum, called “The Earth” (TInybop). Teachers and other administrative users had noted the same pitfalls as cited in the aforementioned argument, i.e., the app was losing its educational value when used without guidance. So my remaining questions revolve around this dimension of the curricular integration of technology. That is, can we design technologies that induce learning independently? In their isolated existence sans instruction? What does such a technology resemble in parts of the world with limited resources? Unfortunately those ‘parts of the world’ exist nearby Lansing, Michigan, and providing equal opportunities to a quality education is vital to our democracy. Digging deeper, if we affirm that access to technology is not what prevents students from deepening their learning, how might technology confront limited access to quality instruction? Can effective instruction be programmed into an educational app so that every interaction with it guarantees learning? TPACK elaborates on the broad based knowledge of teachers, citing technology as a portion of its comprehensive framework (Mishra et al., 2006). And yet I wonder about the ways in which technology is transforming the world of learning by organizing encyclopedic knowledge en masse and redefining the concept of education entirely. In this way, might students benefit from developing the same type of knowledge as teachers (e.g., TPACK), so they may better understand how to teach themselves?
References
Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017-1054. Retrieved from http://punya.educ.msu.edu/publications/journal_articles/mishra-koehler-tcr2006.pdf
The Earth (2015 September). TInybot [Common Sense Media]. Brooklyn, NY.
Teaching & Learning through Technology 