Moving Toward Dynamic Technologies

At this point I can see that as an educator I am strong in the dynamic area of content creation or generation. I am weaker in the dynamic areas of communication and collaboration. Currently I work in a school with limited student access to technology. However, I have had primarily positive experiences in my own graduate studies. These positive experiences have developed a desire to use more dynamic technologies with my instruction.

Engaging Learners with New Strategies and Tools

Building Knowledge

Building knowledge involves moving from the lower level to higher order cognitive skills. Instead of memorizing and repeating information their knowledge should reflect their ability to synthesize and create using the data they have access to. Creating various types of multimedia products will allow students to demonstrate their ability assimilate and analyze data rather than simply recall that same data.

Engaging in Communication

Expanding social media across a broad range of today’s society provides educators with a rich selection of communication tools. One the challenges facing faculty in online distance programs is creating a culture where these common tools are used for strategic educational purposes. “To encourage high student interactivity in an online setting, the learning environment must be supportive, open, and respectful” (Durrington, Berryhill, & Swafford, 2006 p. 191). This type of interactive learning environment where all stakeholders are valued and respected will bring tremendous depth to the online classroom. It may even be possible to create online courses with higher levels of engaging communication than traditional face to face courses.

Authentic, Collaborative, Problem-based Tasks

No one likes to spend their time on busy work or tasks that seem to have no value or meaning. Online faculty members have the opportunity and responsibility to engage students in challenging real world tasks that stretch the limits of their abilities. This includes completing tasks that require collaboration with other students. In life there are often challenges that cannot be achieved through a single genius or mastermind. It is more realistic to conceive that a team of individuals with unique skills could work together to achieve a far greater feat than that of any single person. Real authentic tasks can be presented as text in collaborative workspaces or as problems in some type of virtual environment.

References

Durrington, V. A., Berryhill, A., & Swafford, J. (2006). Strategies for enhancing student interactivity in an online environment. College Teaching, 54(1), 190−193. Use the Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article's Accession Number: 19754742

Teaching New Technologies

Over the past several years I have struggled with a particular teacher resisting the use of technology to aide her communication with parents and staff members. On the outside she seems to have a desire to use technology to improve her effectiveness in communication. However, she seems to lack the required motivation to attempt to grow in her communication skills. During this same time period she has learned to effectively use our school software for lesson plans and grades. Her attitude toward the whole situation seems to be that every time she attempts to use her computer to communicate she is at war with the computer. She becomes very angry and frustrated with her own inability to quickly navigate this type of situation. I believe that this teacher lacks the necessary motivation to press through the early stages of learning this new skill.

Keller (1983) describes “four conditions for motivation that must be met to have a motivated learner” (Keller, 1993 as cited by Driscoll, 2005 p. 333). The conditions are attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction (Driscoll, 2005 p. 333).  If I am going to assist this teacher in further developing her skills I must guide her to the point where she reaches these four steps to become a motivated learner. First her attention must be captured. This could possibly be accomplished by demonstrating a simple shortcut to begin the communication process. Next the relevance of this type of skill will need to be demonstrated. I believe that she has a limited perception of the importance of successful communication skills. She might benefit from a demonstration of how she can become even more effective by improving her communication skills. In the area of confidence she has been given specific tasks to complete within close proximity to someone who can assist her. I feel that her confidence will be boosted when she is able to complete important tasks with limited assistance. Finally she will become motivated to continue working on her communication skills when she is able to achieve a small level of clear success.  

Reference

Driscoll, Marcy P. (2005). Psychology of Learning for Instruction XML Vitalsource ebook for Laureate Education, 3rd Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions. <vbk:9781256352952#outline(12.5)>.