I think that the Balanced EdTech Integration Model would be my second pick. It sounds great in that it really incorporates collaboration and problem-based learning. Two experiences that I love to explore in the classroom with my students. When incorporating technology to help these learning experiences expand in and out of the classroom, I think the model could greatly benefit the students. 

The TPACK Model also claimed to enhance student learning experiences through collaborative learning to prepare them for our “technology-driven world” (Rodgers, 2018). This model still seems much better than my least favored choice, but I still didn’t feel like it was the easiest to implement. The other two, TECH and Balanced EdTech, seem to be much more straight forward than this model, however it sounds like it has a very similar approach. 

The model I liked the least was the SAMR Model. I think the SAMR Model was too vague and I did not truly understand what I was supposed to do in each phase. From my research, it seems many other educators were also unable to interpret the meaning either since it sounds like many teachers are not actually integrating all of the phases as they are intended. That tells me there should be either a better explanation or teachers need more training on the model. The SAMR model sounds beneficial, but when it is time to figure out how to implement it into my classroom I felt like I had no idea what to do.

Resources

Monterey Country Office of Education. (2014). EdTech theory and frameworks. Retrieved from https://www.montereycoe.org/programs-services/ed-services/ed-tech/theory-frameworks/

Roberts, J. (2013, November 30). Turning SAMR into TECH: What models are good for. Lit and Tech blog. Retrieved from http://www.litandtech.com/2013/11/turning-samr-into-tech-what-models-are.html

Rodgers, D. (2018, January 19). The TPACK framework explained (with classroom examples). Schoology Exchange. Retrieved from https://www.schoology.com/blog/tpack-framework-explained

For me, the biggest thing would be to use technology to make life easier. I spend countless hours reading through answers to warm up questions by over 100 students, carrying large amounts of packets back and forth to grade, and trying to organize student work so that I can see what is working and not working and how to remediate where and when needed. Technology would make this so much easier. I would like to begin transferring my warm ups into a digital form that students can use every day rather than them having to keep track of a paper copy for each unit. This would also allow me to more quickly grade these assignments and I could use various digital tools to help me filter and organize the questions or topics that students overall are succeeding with and questions that may need to be revisited. Another great opportunity with transferring work to be digital is the ability to get feedback to students instantly which can ease the process of what they are working on and how quickly they can continue with that work. I also would love to use that same opportunity to allow students to reflect on their process using digital tools to track it. This reflection can be personal, but also can be done for the entire class to view and give feedback to their classmates. 

My school heavily uses Schoology in all classes and in all grades. I have already used this to infuse technology into my classroom but using it as a portal to post agendas for each day, materials that students will need, and for a forum where students can post questions or comments they may have about a learning experience. I love that Schoology already provides me and my students with a collaborative piece where they can instantly ask questions and even answer each others questions and concerns. It also allows students the opportunity to individually collaborate with me where they can message me with any concerns or questions they have. Through this, I am reaching a goal of providing students with practice of good communication skills and collaboration on a digital platform, which are two things they will absolutely use when they get into the job force. In all, my biggest goal when using technology in the classroom is to provide my students with learning experiences that are enhanced with digital tools and that can be related to real world concepts that will allow them to gain the skills they need to be successful in their future. 

As I become more accustom to teaching in a 1:1 classroom and as our technology and knowledge of digital tools expand, many adjustments will need to be made to the classroom structure and teaching methods. One of the biggest changes is going from a lot of whole group instruction, or even small group instruction, to more of an individualized approach. With technology at their fingertips, students can be working on many different tasks in the same room. This will lead to my hardest task as a teacher, which is letting go of control. With 1:1, I will need to learn to let go even more in order to see large improvements in my students learning. They will be able to explore topics in a way that interests them or that matches their learning styles, versus being provided with specific materials to review. I have already adjusted within the last two years or so of putting everything onto Schoology for my courses. Students can find the daily agenda for class and any possible materials or resources they may need. This lends a big hand to when students are absent. Learning does not have to stop because of being graced with 1:1 technology that they are able to take home with them each night. This adjustment alone has greatly improved my teaching with providing my students with as many resources as possible and my students learning because they always have what they need to learn no matter where they are with their device. Another change is the ability to communicate much more quickly and easily with our colleagues, students, and their families. Not only has communication become more available, but skills are now being learned and used by students that they may not have developed without a 1:1 classroom. Now, students can send me messages or their classmates when they have questions or want to discuss an interesting topic. Students can develop “digital citizenship” skills and learn how to properly communicate online. However, the only concern is that many students will then try to communicate questions to me at all hours of the day and night and expect that we are always checking and connected with our devices to respond late at night or early in the morning. This is one thing that I need to remind my students of. They need to know they have the ability to message at any point, but responses are not always instantaneous. Regardless of the concerns or new adjustments being made, these adjustments will positively outweigh any concerns with all of the possibilities 1:1 can bring to the classroom, teaching, and learning.

I am most excited to try the engagement strategy of Polling and Data Collection, because it is something that I can easily implement into my math classroom. This can be used in so many different ways and can be more readily available since I teach in a 1:1 district. Not only can we use data collection tools to gather data that students can then interpret and organize into proper graphs and data displays, but it can also be used to when exploring our probability and statistics. This strategy would allow students to connect to the topics they learn in class by allowing them to gather their own data, research about a topic they may be interested in the statistics about or allow them to see probability at work rather than providing students with data on a worksheet to organize. I have already used all of the tools for polling and data collection that are listed in this chapter but have found that I like the user-friendliness of Google Forms especially with my students having Chromebooks that go hand in hand with Google Suites. I look forward to using these digital tools as a strategy to provide my students with real world experiences right at their fingertips and with opportunities where they can each decide on what data they collect and use that is of interest to them.

Digital collaboration tools help with sharing resources and finding time to work with colleagues more than we have in the past. We may not have time in the day to physically meet, but that is okay since these tools allow us to “meet” at anytime, anywhere. My colleagues and I have curriculum groups on Schoology where we can share resources or provide updates for materials that we found necessary after implementing them into our classrooms. It is wonderful to have the ability to share what we have found to be successful with our students in a quick and efficient way. No matter what classroom or school building you are in, you have access to so many wonderful resources from your colleagues whenever you need it. Putting our heads together leads to better and more successful lessons with our students as we reflect and improve our units together.

Teachers will need to be aware that time should be allocated to introduce these tools to students and they should not assume they will be able to use them. The impact of this on teaching is great. While at first time might be lost with introducing how to use information visualization tools, the gains and abilities of what a teacher can present to their students is tremendous. Educators can provide students with skills that they may not have been able to do with paper and pencil. With this, students are gaining skills that they cannot only use in the work force, but also can use in their future when needing to interpret trends and data for their daily life choices.  

Resource

Eberly Center. (2020). Technology for education: Information visualization tools. Carnegie Mellon University. Retrieved from https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/technology/informationvisualization/index.html

What to Put in Your Makerspace (and How to Pay for It) – https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-07-13-what-to-put-in-your-makerspace-and-how-to-pay-for-it

Teri Bauerly takes readers through her “humble beginning” of a makerspace starting with simplistic materials such as donated Legos, wooden blocks, tape, and straws. Through funding, her makerspace was able to greatly expand with the purchase of kits perfectly made for creating all types of products and the use of digital tools were greatly leaned on with the available technology. Bauerly learned that “you don’t need a large budge to pull a makerspace off.” 

Creating a Makerspace on a Budget – https://www.thetechedvocate.org/creating-makerspace-budget/

The Tech Advocate claims that you can start a Makerspace on any budget by: spreading the word to your community, looking for (and asking for) donations, utilizing existing supplies and materials, taking advantage of crowdfunding or teacher support sites, and recycling. There is no need for the very expensive technology and elaborate tools to have a successful makerspace for your students.  

The Top Five Unexpected Benefits of Robotics in the Classroom – https://www.gettingsmart.com/2016/11/unexpected-benefits-robotics-in-the-classroom/

Robotics is not only for the STEM curriculum. Through the use of robotics in the classroom, students can gain various skills that will prepare them for 21^st-century careers. The five unexpected benefits of robotics in the classroom include: discovering individual passions, forming leaders, learning to communicate across various tech platforms, increasing community involvement, and gaining of essential teamwork skills. 

Schools Focus on Boosting Students’ Future Career Options – https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2019/12/schools-focus-boosting-students-future-career-options

The use of technology, in particular robotics, provides skill sets to prepare students for careers that are in-demand and allows them practice with professional tools and technology that are applicable to many jobs. Motivation and engagement come easily with academic curriculum that shows relevance to the real-world and can help students understand the need for the skills they are gaining though robotics. In addition to these benefits, there is a clear benefit of personalized learning where students have the opportunity to explore their interests for their future. 

 

Why Leveraging Analytics Will Drive Personalised Learning and Improve Outcomes – https://www.hobsons.com/resources/entry/why-leveraging-analytics-will-drive-personalised-learning-and-improve-outco

Leveraging Analytics takes benchmark exam and standardized test data and combines it with actual performance of each individual student leading to a more personalized approach to interpreting data in order to better improve student learning outcomes. Analytic technologies allow for schools and teachers to dive deeper into the data by taking the information housed on various digital systems and place them into easy to use reporting tools. 

How Data and Analytics can Improve Education – https://www.oreilly.com/content/education-data-analytics-learning/

“Learning analytics are a foundational tool for informed change in education.” – George Siemens, from the Technology Enhanced Knowledge Research Institute at Athabasca University

Diving deeper into data can allow curriculum to be adjusted and adapted to individual learners leading to more positive learning outcomes. Rather than having one course for all learners, analytic technologies allow an insight into each learner’s backgrounds, learning style and pace, and prior knowledge on the curriculum topics.  

How Virtual Reality Technology is Changing the Way Students Learn – http://theconversation.com/how-virtual-reality-technology-is-changing-the-way-students-learn-63271

Through the use of virtual reality students are able to “travel” to places that may have never been obtainable due to where they live or what economic background they come from. With virtual reality technology being created at lower costs, it is now accessible to more school districts and is no longer associated with economically high-status schools. 

How Can Virtual Reality Bring Equity to Education? – https://edtechtimes.com/2018/10/02/how-can-virtual-reality-bring-equity-to-education/

Virtual Reality can add equity into education where there may have not been much, if any, before.  No longer will cost prohibit classroom teachers from taking their students on a valuable field trip, because Virtual Reality now makes that a possibility and it can even be free given access to certain digital tools. Students can now dive deep into experiences that speak to all of our senses and allow them to immerse themselves into these experiences and places that bring such great value to their education. 

 

10 Roles for Artificial Intelligence in Education – https://www.teachthought.com/the-future-of-learning/10-roles-for-artificial-intelligence-in-education/

When planning to incorporate artificial intelligence into the classroom, we can expect many benefits that include: automated grading, adaptations for student needs, discovering where courses can be improved, additional support for students through AI tutors, both teachers and students can receive feedback, improvement of interaction with information, role of teachers change in a positive way, trial-and-error learning become less daunting, and data can be used to help support students. In addition, AI changes how, when, and where students learn basic skills needed for the real-world, which will allow teachers to help students approach learning in innovative ways. 

Artificial Intelligence in Education: Benefits, Challenge, and Use Cases – https://medium.com/towards-artificial-intelligence/artificial-intelligence-in-education-benefits-challenges-and-use-cases-db52d8921f7a

With AI, students can learn at any time, can receive adaptions for their learning needs, and can have access to virtual tutors for additional feedback. Teachers and school districts can the ability to see not only strengths but also weaknesses in knowledge, can provide a learning experience that is engaging for students, gain already created curriculum instead of starting from scratch, and provide students with opportunities to gain communication experience from experts across the world. Through individualized learning and interaction of global learning, artificial intelligence provides many benefits for learning systems and teaching approaches that are not available without it. 

 

Below are two links to websites that can provide a base for investigation in study groups to find what potential uses of IoT would be applicable and obtainable in a given school district. 

An Introduction to IoT Applications in Education – https://www.iotforall.com/introduction-iot-applications-in-education/ 

Through the integration of IoT applications in a school there is potential to share knowledge and information, learn effective communication skills, build strong learning communities, and create a positive culture within a school for teachers, administration and students. The following are examples of IoT application tools that are already being used across the states that can be considered by the district for implementation: Promethean, Scanmarker, Sweetrush, Blackboard, Locorobo, Kaltura, Tynker, Magicard, and Kajeet. 

The Connected Classroom: 9 Examples of IoT in Education – https://builtin.com/internet-things/iot-education-examples

“IoT can help us make education more accessible in terms of geography, status, and ability. There are boundless opportunities to integrate IoT solutions into school environments” 

(Cohen, 2020).

There is a tremendous amount of protentional applications of IoT in education. Some introductory applications that can greatly benefit education include: foreign language instruction, connected/smart classrooms, task-based learning, and disability accommodation. Through the use of IoT education can be changed by allowing learning to occur at home, provide benefits to special education, incorporate personalized learning, improved school security, amongst many other integration opportunities. 

Integration of students reaching larger audiences with the work they do in school has not reached a norm in our community. I still think our schools are just figuring out what works and what does not, and what type of sharing of student work is appropriate and not appropriate using certain platforms. In order to share student work with a larger audience I will first need to get permission from my building administer and then would need to send home a letter with a permission form for parents to fill out and return. I would need to keep a copy for my own records and I would also need to provide a copy for my building’s office. Since sometimes paper forms do not make it home, I would also send a mass email out to all parents with additional information of what we would be posting and how we would be doing so. No outreach to the community or larger audiences will be done unless parent permission is given. In addition, I would choose to not include any student names in the sharing of their work.

Each learner that walks through your classroom door comes in with various learning needs, learning styles, and interests to name just a few factors playing a role in their learning success. In order to reach all learners, it is important to remember that one lesson may work for some, but it does not work for all. The main challenge I face personally is letting go of creating an assignment or project that students can complete, which always leads to the same outcome. In order to differentiate, I need to allow for students to create products that may greatly differ and promote various digital tools that meet many learning styles. My biggest challenge besides giving up control is meeting all of the accommodations and modifications for students that have an IEP. With teaching in a one-to-one classroom, differentiation becomes much easier since there is a tremendous amount of choices to help students expand on their knowledge and interests. Students can be working on different activities that are of various levels, but can all be reaching towards similar learning goals. However, many times I struggle with finding resources that I have the ability to make accommodations for my students where they need it, such as cutting down on the amount of questions that will be answered or giving students access to various tools such as word banks or 50-50 options.  

The instant feedback strategy is one that I can use to best support my students and ease their workload. Right now, I have students complete warm up questions at the start of each class but do not collect them to grade until a couple of warm ups are complete. This leads to a major delay in feedback of what they are understanding and what concepts they may need extra help with and at this point it may be too far into a unit that students are now really lost. Reading through this section of Chapter 7 truly opened my eyes and allowed me to reflect on what is working and what isn’t working with my warm ups. By transferring my warm ups to a digital format, students will get instant feedback of what they answered correctly and incorrectly. In addition, I will also get instant feedback in order to jump into remediation if needed on concepts that I notice a majority of the students are not understanding. Not only does this give students information right away on their current understanding of the material, it also gives me the ability to instantly check their progress and lessons my workload of having to collect warm up packets and grade over 100 of them. The instant feedback strategy is now something I will be implementing as soon as I can.

One fantastic digital tool to accomplish this with is Canva. Canva is a graphic design page that is user-friendly and can greatly impact the way students are assessed in the classroom. There are various levels for Canva accounts, but thankfully the free version gives you plenty of options. Canva has many templates for use or students can start from scratch to create a graphic that supports and proves their success with content acquisition. In order to see what extent of knowledge students obtained, we can observe the connections they make with the content learned. By creating a digital graphic, students show the connections between their new knowledge and prior knowledge by their choice of layout for the information and the way they present it on the page. 

Here’s an example. Say you are in your statistics unit learning about various forms of sampling. A great way to assess on sampling is to have them actually survey a group of people on a topic of their interest. They can conduct the survey and collect data through any form of sampling they see best fits that specific survey, then students can analyze the data and find the best three ways to represent it on an infographic. Not only are they practicing the actual content they learned about, but they are also meshing in previous knowledge of analyzing and interpreting data. This is just one example of how to use Canva as an assessment resource in a math classroom. The possibilities are endless. Go ahead! Give Canva and digital graphics a try with your students and I’d love to hear about your successes and learning experiences. Until next time my fellow educators! Stay healthy!

My biggest reservation about using social media for professional learning is solely that I barely use it on a personal level so that has not made me inclined to push into more parts of my life with it. I am a fairly private person, so putting myself out there publicly is not something I feel confident or comfortable with. Also, since I do not use social media much, in particular twitter, I am not yet comfortable with using the platforms other than reading through posts. This may sound funny since I am younger and many assume that I have and use all of these social media platforms when I actually do not. Right now, I solely use Twitter just to stay in the know. I do enjoy reading through tweets and articles that are posted there. Really, I use Twitter for my newsfeed rather than for connecting. 

However, while reading through Chapter 10 this week I found myself connecting to one woman's story. Diane's story about staying connected drew me in because she talked about how she loved her colleagues and all that they do for her, however when it come to incorporation of technology she felt like she was on her own. My colleagues are unbelievable fantastic and are extremely strong in the content area and how to teach it, however with being in the field much longer than I have I feel that they are more inclined to use the same materials each year because it is easy and already done. What they do have online they graciously share with me, however my way of teaching is very different so I feel that what they have is not what I am looking for. I want to continue thinking and reaching "outside the box" with my math classes, so reading through Chapter 10 has made me inclined to push myself outside of my comfort zone and explore Twitter to connect and collaborate with fellow educators around the world in order to find new, inventive ways to incorporate technology into my classroom.

The Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy document will benefit me greatly has I move towards incorporating more digital learning activities. I will now have a great guideline of specific ways to reach each level of the taxonomy and how to do that using digital tools. This will positive impact my ability to plan lessons that involve technology to advance student learning activities, as well as improve my teaching by being able to better differentiate for my diverse group of students through various key actions that can support the levels of Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy. By using this taxonomy to not only differentiate but to also improve learning activities, I truly believe students’ accomplishments with meeting their learning goals will become much higher of a success rate.

In 2008, the Taliban took control and said girls were no longer allowed to attend school. Malala stood true to her beliefs that all girls had a right to an education. According to Mala, it is a basic right to an education for all and she spoke about this belief publicly. By doing this, Malala became a target of the Taliban because these views were thought of as a threat to local Islamic Tradition. 

Malala and her friends continued going to school despite the Taliban’s demand that girls were no longer permitted to attend. However, on October 9, 2012 as Malala and her classmates were riding their school bus home, a masked gunman boarded the bus and asked for Malala by name. As the girls looked towards Malala, her identity was given away, and the gunman shot her on the left side of her head. Mala was only 15 years old at the time. 

10 days later Malala awoke in a hospital in England where she was told about what happened by the doctors and nurses tending to her. Everyone around the world prayed for Malala’s recovery in hopes that she continued with her peaceful impact on the world. Months later after numerous surgeries and rehabilitation, Malala was finally able to be reunited with her family in the U.K. where they now lived. Malala could have given up on her beliefs after everything that happened, but she did not. 

Malala decided to continue fighting “until every girl could to go school” (Malala Fund, 2018). In Malala Yousafzai’s book I Am Malala she wrote, “I don’t want to be thought of as the ‘girl who was shot by the Taliban’ but the ‘girl who fought for education. This is the cause to which I want to devote my life” (Yousafzai, 2013). 

In 2014, with help from her father, Malala established the Malala Fund. Malala said this charity is dedicated to “giving every girl an opportunity to achieve a future she chooses” (Malala Fun, 2018). Malala received the Nobel Peace Prize in December 2014 for her work in fighting for female education. She was the youngest person ever to receive such an honor. 

Malala is now studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. As she continues her own education, Malala Yousafzai continues to fight every single day for girls all around the world. 

Getty Images, (2013) Malala Yousafzai. [Image]. Available from http://www.discoveryeducation.com

Yousafzia, M. (2018). Malala’s story. Malala Fund. Retrieved from https://malala.org/