EDLD+5364+Teaching+with+Technology+Week+4

This week our reading and videos centered on the theory that project based curriculum along with technology is the best way to teach our students and incorporate collaborative learning, which I readily agree with. As instructors, we need to incorporate more “real world” experiences into our teaching and less textbook, pen and pencil. There will always be a need to maintain accountability and assessment all the while moving from a static classroom to a dynamic classroom enriched with technology. The importance of students being learners and participants in their learning gives them ownership and enriches their experience. From my observation as a trainer, not as an instructor in the schools, students today are not given enough time on task to complete their work, instead they are herded from room to room, subject to subject without benefit of time on task or collaboration. As our reading this week pointed out (Chapter 7, //Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age //), teachers need to embed assessments into a their curriculum, rely less on standardized tests which generate trend data but do not address a student’s skill, knowledge or learning accurately. This concept is great and I know certain things must be done, however after working with my team this week on our project it is a very time intensive undertaking and I worry that in the classroom this is not feasible. With teachers who are charged with teaching and raising the caliber of a plethora of students, where is time and who will be there to help? No doubt the concept is good and even though I will not use it in a K-12 classroom it is used in my classes at college where the design is smiliar to this classroom experience through our Learning Management System (LMS) called Angel.

Rose, D., & Mayer, A. (2002). //Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning//. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Chapter 7. Available online at the Center for Applied Special Technology Web site. Retrieved March 19, 2011, from http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/