Professional Learning Plan

I started my Professional Technology Plan by reflecting on the one I wrote for CEP810 in April 2012. My vision statement remains the same: 

Vision Statement

Technology is ever-changing.  Therefore, how it is used in the classroom is constantly evolving.  When technology was first used it was limited to presenting static content to the learners through the use overhead projectors.  It evolved to respond to the user and make content more dynamic (Nice overview of the Evolution of Classroom Technology is available here).  Technology can be used as a tool to engage students, increase learning, differentiate instruction, provide experiences that would otherwise be foreign to students, and more.  Technology is an integral part of our students’ lives.  They have grown up on it. Therefore, it is important to utilize it to reach our students (DuFour, et al., 2010).  One of the major pitfalls of using technology in the classroom is all-too-often time.  Learning a new technology takes time.  Some technologies are quicker to learn than others and once learned can be a task more efficient.  However, others may take a long time to learn and even when mastered it requires considerable time to use (especially if you’re a perfectionist).  If you are having students use the technology, not only do you as a teacher have to learn how to use it, you then need to set time aside to teach students how to use it.  With the packed curriculum, this time may be something that is difficult to justify. Another pitfall that can occur is teacher’s using technology without tying it to the curriculum.  Some teachers will decide to do an activity involving technology because they want to excite their students.  However, the activity may have little to do with the curriculum.  Therefore, it’s important to consider pedagogy and curriculum goals when deciding whether to utilize a technology (SRI International).  Another pitfall that can occur is teachers using technology without tying it to the curriculum.  Some teachers will decide to do an activity involving technology because they want to excite their students.  However, the activity may have little to do with the curriculum.  Therefore, it’s important to consider pedagogy and curriculum goals when deciding whether to utilize a technology (SRI International).

Below you’ll see a timeline that incorporates my goals from the April plan along with new goals that I have developed. For past deadlines, I noted the outcome with some being successful (having students complete digital stories) and some not so successful (getting funding for Donor’s Choose). However, even though I wasn’t successful in getting my Donor’s Choose project for an interactive whiteboard funded, through CEP812, I found a new technology that can be used in much of the same way—Twiddla. Thus, using Twiddla in the classroom has become a new goal.

The timeline below shows my current plan. You can click on the various goals to read more about them including the purpose for that goal and what help may be needed (i.e. PTO funding, parent support, etc.) 

Created using TimeToast.

Resources

DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Barell, J., Darling-Hammond, L., Dede, C., Fisher, D., . . . Seif, E. (2010). 21st Century skills: Rethinking how students learn (J. Bellanca & R. Brandt, Eds.). Retrieved from http://www.solution-tree.com/products/21st-century-skills.html

Dunn, J. (2011, April 18). The evolution of classroom technology. Edudemic. Retrieved from http://edudemic.com/2011/04/classroom-technology/

SRI International. (n.d.). Overview of Technology and Education Reform. Retrieved April 20, 2011, from U.S. Department of Education website: http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech/overview.html