Chapter 3 Reflection Questions and Photo Sharing
A. Describe at least three possible reasons why the project had
very little effect on the instructional practices employed by the
teachers. Each of the factors you identify should be related to the factors mentioned in this chapter as to why earlier
forms of instructional media (i.e films, radio, television) had very
limited effects on instructional practices.
First, I think one of the possible reasons why the project had very little effect is that the teachers didn't know what do with the technology and how to implement using it in the classroom
. It's wonderful that they gave them the technology and resources, but if there is no training or someone there to tell them how to enhance their lessons and implement it into their teaching, how are they supposed to know what to do? There should be some formal training on how to use the technology to enhance the lessons and someone or a "go to" person that can answer any questions they have and even hold them accountable to using the technology.
Another reason why the project may have had very little effect is that the teachers might have resisted change. Sometimes when you have been teaching for a long time and you know what works for you and your students it can be hard to adapt your teaching. So, when the teacher doesn't want to change how they teach, of course, this project will have little effect on the teacher's practices. I feel like sometimes, things, ideas, technology is thrown at you and you are expected to use it somehow. But, that can be very overwhelming when teachers already have so much on their plate.
Finally, a reason why the project had little effect could have been because the teacher may have not had access to supplemental technology, programs and resources. It did mention that curriculum and text books, etc. was installed onto their computers, but that does not mean they were given resources on how to present the material differently. I just see it as great, now they can read it off their computer rather than from the book. How does that change instruction? It did not mention if they had any other technology to use in the classroom, like projectors, access to instructional websites etc. So, I think this could have been a big factor.
B. Describe at least two strategies that could have been
employed to help mitigate the factors that you think contributed to the
minimal effect this project had on instructional practices. Indicate why
you think each of these strategies might have been helpful.
As
I stated above I think one big strategy would have been to provide comprehensive training on how to use the technology and then trained on how to use it and implement it in the classroom. In addition, I think providing support and trainings as they went through the school year would be helpful too. This way they can learn one or two ways to use the laptops to enhance their lessons at the beginning of the school year, but as they go along they could learn new ways. Sometimes it can be overwhelming, so this way it would feel less overwhelming.
Also, another strategy would to provide supplemental resources and technology. If they had technology like projectors that could connect to their laptops then I could see the teachers using the technology more in their instruction. Also, it mentioned they had wireless internet access 24/7, but did not say if they had access to other programs on the internet to help supplement their teaching. This could have been helpful as well. I think of programs I use as a virtual teacher like Study Island, Reading a-z, and Discovery Education that you need subscriptions to in order to use them. Those can be great teaching tools that could have helped as well.
Photo Sharing
I have been using Instagram for a while now. It's an app that I use on my phone and I think it is really easy to use. I love the different filters you can use on them, and it's easy to share the photos on Facebook too.
http://instagram.com/gparsons05
