Reflection of EDU 255 Technology in Education

The past 8 weeks have been very interesting indeed!  It seems that even though I have been teaching with technology my entire 23 year career, I was not aware of the power of the "Read-Write Web" and the amount of information that can be communicated fairly easily in many formats.  A brief history of my technological literacy follows:

1989:  First year teaching high school mathematics - used the brand new TI-81 graphing calculator and an overhead projector.

1989-2001:  Technology use in my high school classroom was basically newer models of the Texas Instruments calculators (TI-81, 81, 83, 83+, 84, 84+, 89, 92), an overhead projector, and software for the computer lab (Geometer's sketchpad, Green globs and graphing, Fraction Munchers, etc.).  A computer was added to each classroom - with Internet access, but mainly used for grades. 

2001-2004:  Went to Oregon State University to work on PhD in Mathematics Education.  My major professor's research area was technology in mathematics education. I learned about spreadsheets, real-time data collection devices, Internet applets and lesson plan resources, and numerous websites with collections of activities, lesson plans, etc. 

2004 - 2007:  Taught community college and learned about course management systems - Blackboard and designing online courses, MyMathLab, and free downloads for spreadsheets, graphing, statistics.  Taught online professional development and learned Moodle and Sakai course management systems.

2008-2009:  Taught at the university level and learned about new software and technology for K-12; TI-nspire, Fathom, Tinkerplots, WebCT course management system.

2010- present:  WOW!  How did I miss all of the communication available???  Now there are Blogs, Wikis, YouTube, screencasts, podcasts, slide share in addition to all of the other items above.  All of the technology has been really easy to learn, very user friendly and has unlimited possibilities.

Some ways to use the technology from this class are:  use of a wiki to share information with colleagues or have students share their work, blogs for posting information and comments, podcasts, screencasts, and video to enhance online coursework and communicate more directly with students.  We have read about and seen many different examples of how the technology can be used.  I am still thinking of ways to utilize the technology in online courses to make them more inviting, more opportunities for students to be engaged and communicate with each other, more opportunity to communicate with students through visual and audio modalities, and the ease of communication when students have specific questions.  A combination of the course management systems, homework and test management systems such as course compass, and Web 2.0 function can be utilized to make a quality online course (or supplement the in-class course).

There are a few technologies I still want to learn and use:  creating a web page for students to access course information, learning the new course management system from Pearson we will be using next year for all of our courses, Skype for communicating with students via video real time, and some real-time chat functions where I can discuss problems and write solutions while working with students.  I still only have a phone that I use to talk to people - no apps, no texting, no Internet, and am not sure I want to venture there just yet.......

I think as soon as I am caught up - it will all have changed.

Teaching Philosophy

I've shared my teaching philosophy below.  What is your teaching philosophy?  Please post a comment describing your teaching philosophy!

My teaching philosophy has changed throughout the last 26 years of being a student of education and 23 years of teaching students and teachers.  The comments below are based on experience with students and strategies that have helped them be successful in my classes.  My philosophy is based primarily on a blend of two psychological orientations:  humanistic psychology and constructivism.

     Humanistic psychology “emphasizes personal freedom, choice, awareness, and personal responsibility.” (Parkay, 2001, p 93).  This perspective takes into account motivation, feelings, and needs in addition to intellectual aspects of learning and is based on the idea that learning is within the individual’s control.  In the classroom, teachers are facilitators who create a classroom climate of trust and respect where students have some decisions about their learning.  Aspects of my teaching that align with this philosophy are:  getting to know each student as an individual and asking them what their goals are (course and career), creating a classroom climate where students contribute, share information, and work together, and including activities where students have a choice about some aspect of the activity.

     Constructivism focuses on the mental processes students use to learn new information and focuses on active learning (Parkay, 2001).  A constructivist classroom is one where students are involved in their learning and activities take into account prior experiences.  In mathematics, many of the new concepts are based on or extensions of previous concepts and there are many real world applications of mathematics that students can relate to.  Characteristics of my teaching that align with a constructivist perspective are:  connecting the current topic with topics students have learned previously (either in a previous class or earlier in the semester), encouraging students to work together in groups to complete problems or tasks, and relating mathematical concepts to many real world applications.

Please add your comments!