Foundations of Educational Technology Course Reflection: Thank You for the Reminders

Technology is a key component in my classroom. If it weren't I don't think I'd be involved in this cohort.Through the last 6 weeks of this course I found reminder after reminder of best practices with technology in any classroom. I found myself in constant reflection mode. Asking myself "how can I do this better?"  Yet, it hasn't been something I have given as much attention to over the last few years. I think I took for granted my tech savvy background and expected students to follow my learning with technology. Yet I was ignoring many learning opportunities for career readiness.

Students have become more "tech comfortable" yet still need to be taught many best practices within the network of technology. They need to see models of what technology is going to allow us to do in the future and how to best use tools of technology for daily life.

Since taking Foundations of Educational Technology my level of "connected educator" has multiplied. My Twitter account has become a place I enjoy becoming professionally educated. I enjoy reading and seeing what other educators are working on and learning about. I'm engaged in a whole new network that I visited rarely in years past.
More importantly the role of an educational leader is something I'm excited to take on with regards to technology in my school community. As a member of our Building Leadership Team, I'm excited to become more of a contributor to best practices with technology in our school community. I can't wait to share what we can all do to connect our students to become global digital citizens, especially starting with my 4th grade teammates. Having a colleague in this cohort helps with this goal and allows us to move together for better use of technology in our school.

It is an exciting start to the school year and this first course was key in that excitement!

Artifact Reflection Blog #2 Trendy Research Paper

Writing a research paper was one of the assignments I dreaded most in my first graduate course in almost 10 years. I was not ready nor prepared for the depth of writing required...or so I thought. As with many students, I had talked myself into the "Negative Nellie" mindset on this assignment and was letting the negative thoughts cloud what ultimately was a significant learning opportunity for growth in educational technology. Once I opened my mindset and actually started researching for the paper, I was flooded with excitement for next school year. I was ready to start with the two trends I studied: parent communication and online student portfolios.

Click here to see my research paper.

Throughout the work I did for this paper I naturally paused to reflect on past practices in my own classroom. Last year, I began using Remind.com to communicate with families. I chose to integrate this tools because I heard great things from other teachers about the success they had with Remind in their classroom communities. The benefit to my classroom was the way that parents were able to comfortably and securely text me with questions or comments about their child. I enjoyed being able to send quick reminders to the whole class or select only a few at a time. It made communicating much easier and convenient for all of us and I intended on continuing to use it, but now I was on to the best practices with Remind...I couldn't wait to learn more.
I since have been discussing remind with other colleagues in my PLN (Professional Learning Network) and enjoyed a few suggestions I can't wait to use. First and foremost, the idea of sending parents positive notes throughout the day. I did this rarely last year, but know it will make a big impact on the home school connection by utilizing it more with many students each day. Secondly, the ability to schedule messages was something I knew was an option in Remind, but did not utilize to its fullest potential last year. I will focus on this and pre-type messages for parents throughout the year to aid in my classroom organization and to-do list completion.

Like Remind, Seesaw will get a lot more attention and use from me this school year. Though I used it regularly with students last year, there are so many more ideas that I have found to be useful. Those ideas and suggestions came once again through my studies for this research paper. I found ways to integrate Seesaw and focus on the student reflection piece that so desperately needs attention within my classroom. Students reflecting on their learning means students are focused on learning. This goal is key in any successful classroom. I know I need to work more here for student success and Seesaw is going to be a significant tech tool next school year.
The second benefit that I need to focus on more with Seesaw is again that parent home connection. Some parents really got into the online portfolio and commenting on their students work, while others didn't tap in as much. I left it up to their comfort level, but didn't think about the parent education end of it all. Through the research I did on this paper, I learned a lot about the need to sometimes teach parents to help them become more comfortable with the technology our students are using. I intend to do this through offering times I will meet with parents to share how to use Seesaw painlessly. If parents want help, I'll be there as before, but this time just center it around the technology that might be holding them back.

Needless to say, once I got rid of the fixed mindset I had on this research paper assignment, the learning occurred. See even an "old dog" needs a growth mindset reminder once in a while!

Artifact Reflection Blog #1: Keep it Academic

Keeping technology in our classroom strictly for academic purposes was probably one of the most "Ah ha moments" I have had throughout this first Educational Technology course. During Module 7 we reviewed and discussed strategies for technology integration models as well as managing devices in our classrooms. To be honest, I thought I had this covered. I have been teaching with tech devices in my classroom for at least 10 years and I just thought I had this figured out. I numbered my Chromebooks, set expectations for students to retrieve and return the devices in an orderly fashion, and discussed how to hold the computers properly. We went through apps and websites they could use during the school day, and I expected them to do so. I spent an hour or so each year discussing with students the importance of using computers for the right reasons in our classroom, and that was that. Rarely did I return to the conversation or expectations, until this module...

During class, a colleague and I studied the first article for our class discussion from Ulearning.com. 7 Tools to Help You Managing Digital Devices in the Classroom is an article full of fantastic reminders about using technology in our classroom. And the very best tool, in my opinion, was the reminder to keep technology use centered around the academics in our classrooms. Though it was an obvious statement, it was this tip that got me reflecting on this practice in my classroom.

Keeping technology academic at school has always been my goal, yet was it always at the forefront of my students' minds when they were using tech in my classroom? I certainly could answer "no". Too many times I remember having discussions with students about their choice of time with a computer. I asked what they were really doing. I knew even before I asked the question that playing a racing game wasn't the best way for them to be practicing any standard for learning in class. Yet, how did I get them to the point of understanding? The answer was clear after I reflected on the article I read: model and discuss this expectation explicitly in the beginning of the year. Expect students to stick to this rule! It became my inspiration for the poster I created for the Module 7 assignment "Guideline Design".

My goal is to discuss this poster with my students on the first day of school and revisit it regularly. More importantly the creation of this artifact has encouraged me to be more reflective on my own personal use of technology in my classroom throughout the day. I often have my phone in hand, or right next to me during my lessons. Why? I think it is easy to use the excuse it's because I'm a mom and if someone needs me I need to be there. But this is just an excuse. I wear an Apple Watch for that reason. I have my phone by my side because it is a habit. One that is probably not the best in following my "keep technology academic at school" rule.

So, after this reflection, I'm certain to make some changes next year. My phone is going to stay on my desk, or in my cabinet until lunch or after school. I will still see alerts and messages on my watch, but I don't have to have the phone on me at all times. This is a model to  my students of my "keep technology academic" rule. If I expect them to follow it, I should too!