Final Project Outline

Teaching with Technology

This week I took a number of significant steps in the development of my EC&I 831 major digital project.  For me, this project has been in the works for close to two years, and it is one I am hoping to continue developing into the 2014-15 school year.  Over the next few weeks I intend to outline my project; share the resources which have been created to support this project; and to document and reflect on the processes involved in achieving my goals.  As this is a work in progress, any comments or feedback would be greatly appreciated.  So what exactly does my final project entail, and why have I been working on it for close to two years?

 

In the spring of 2012 Leanne Forrest, Digital Fluency Consultant for Regina Catholic Schools, approached me with the idea of creating a presentation for IT Summit in Saskatoon.  Because our division was actively promoting effective teaching strategies, we felt it would be a good idea to develop a resource that identified ways in which technology could be integrated to support these effective teaching strategies.  In preparation for the presentation we read Classroom Instruction that Works 2nd Edition by Dean, Hubbell, Pitler, and Stone.

http://technoteaching.weebly.com/

Marzano, Pickering and Pollock (2001) examined decades of research to find the teaching strategies that have the most impact on student learning as part of the first edition of Classroom Instruction that Works.    In 2012 Dean, Hubbell, Pitler, and Stone revisited these strategies and updated them for the 21st century by dividing them into three categories. 


In 2012 Leanne and I collaborated in the development of a website designed to facilitate the integration of technology with these strategies to improve student learning.  The initial version of the website summarized seven of the nine effective teaching strategies and identified a number of tools which could be utilized to support the integration of each strategy. 

For the 2013-2014 school year, Leanne and I have decided to provide professional development opportunities for interested Regina Catholic Schools teachers looking to integrate technology into effective teaching practice.  Over the next few months we will be offering a series a Teaching with Technology workshops which will focus on technology as a tool for reinforcing effective teaching strategies.  Our intent is to also develop a community of learners to support each other, and to reflect on our practice through a blog on the Educational Technology Moodle Course page.  

As participants in this PD, teachers will…

1.       Reflect on the role of technology to support the nine research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Examples of tools and implementation strategies will be shared as part of the session
2.       Explore, plan and implement a technology tool to support an instructional strategy or outcome. The model will support selecting, evaluating, and reflecting on the teacher’s plan.
3.       Share the successes, challenges, and implementation of the strategy or additional technology integration as a community of learners through a series of blog posts and reflections.  Our intention is to build a professional learning community interested in education technology to support improved teaching and learning that can model reflective practice.  

Workshop participants will have time to explore different technology tools and select one to apply to their teaching.  We will guide teachers through a model to prepare for and reflect on the effectiveness of the tool to support learning in the classroom.  And, most importantly, the teacher participants in this PD will share their learning and support themselves and others with improving teaching through technology.  Ultimately, we would like to showcase these projects as part of a technology fair or "unconference"in the Fall of 2014.

 

Over the next few weeks I intend to blog about the process involved in creating and implementing this professional development opportunity.  Related posts will be tagged "Major Digital Project" and "Teaching with Technology".  Resources related to my project will be uploaded to the "Major Digital Project" section of my blog.  Feedback related to the website or project as a whole is greatly appreciated.