Reflective Post #2 EDU 780

Reflective Post #2

By: Deanna Mulay

Image Source: https://www.globalfocusmagazine.com/tag/technology/ 

1. Now that you have finished the course, what is your stance on your role as an educator of Digital and Media Literacy? Has this changed from the beginning of the course?

    Now that I have completed the course, I have learned what digital and media literacy is and why it is important to have in our classrooms. At first, I thought that digital and media literacy was just having students use tools, such as social media or use different sites to research topics. Now that I have learned more about digital and media literacy, I know that it is a way for students to use critical thinking skills, be more engaged in lessons, and allow all students to participate. Digital and media literacy is also a great way for enhancing lessons. Technology is not suppose to replace lessons, only enhance them. In terms of my role as an educator of Digital and Media Literacy, I take more of a stand on different technology platforms for students to use and for me to advocate to enhance lessons for every classroom by  using technology. Technology may seem like a distraction, but educators need to find ways of using the tools to make more lessons engaging for all students. 

2. How can you continue growing as an educator of Digital and Media Literacy?

    I can continue growing as an educator of Digital and Media Literacy by taking risks with technology tools and continue looking into different tools to add in my technology toolbox. I can also create and attend different professional developments to help discover new tools to use for teachers and students as well. During this course, we were asked to find a new tool and also create a professional development. By repeating those assignments, I will be able to continue to grow and develop my skills as an educator of Digital and Media Literacy.  

3. Overall, what will you take away from this course?

    I will take away many ideas from this course. However, the one point that sticks with me is that technology is NOT meant to replace lessons. I think many educators, including myself, thought adding a technology tool at the end of the lesson was a way to incorporate more technology. In reality, technology should be included in every part of a project that students are working on. This course has given me a different take on technology and how I view it in the classroom. It is NOT a distraction or add-on to a lesson, rather an enhancement to the lessons to support all students. 

4. Any other feedback regarding this course (suggestions, questions, feedback etc.)

    I really enjoyed taking this course because I learned so much. I really enjoyed the Cool Tools Show-and-Tell. I think it was a great activity to learn more about different tools. It was also great to read about other educators' tools that they chose. I would like to do a similar activity in the future. I have really enjoyed this course and have learned so much!

Image Source: https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2021/03/15/reflection-in-action-a-case-for-case-studies-amid-covid-19/

Implementation Reflection

    I really enjoyed being a part of an implementation plan at my school. We did not use any technology for science or social studies, plus the students were not engaged in the lessons. I really enjoyed learning about two technology platforms that I did not even know existed until this project, Makers Empire and Tinybop Schools. I thought the most positive aspect of this plan was learning the new platforms and seeing how the students went from zero engagement to complete engagement with science and social studies. I am very proud of our team because all of us, classroom teacher and three instructional aides, went out of our comfort zones to try something new with our students. We were able to collaborate and communicate more than we ever have this year. The students really enjoyed Makers Empire because they were able to create their own animal with the guidelines that we provided them with. The challenge that we did face was when we tried to have our students try Tinybop Schools independently. The students were becoming frustrated and we could see their engagement drop. However, we quickly thought about a whole group lesson, which really pulled the students back into our lesson. When we did Tinybop Schools as a whole group, the students were able to verbalize their thinking while using this platform. Overall, I really did not think we had too many challenges besides switching our one platform to a whole group lesson rather than independent work. 

    I love that I was able to learn more about my topic of incorporating more technology into our classroom. I believe that it is so important to have the technology because it allows students to have real-world experiences. I believe that if we choose to include/look into new platforms, we can use the same approach to implement different platforms with our students. 

Image Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/jobs-and-careers/story/10-uses-of-technology-in-21st-century-jobs-1358394-2018-10-08

    As a future Technology Leader/Change Agent, I realized that there is tons of planning that goes into an implementation plan. This was a simple new technology addition to our classroom, but it made me realize that we had to learn about these platforms, make sure they were going to support our students in more ways than one, if we needed to pay for them, etc. This project has given me a bigger appreciation for the role of Technology Leader/Change Agent. 

    One of the next steps that I need to take for my journey in the Technology Specialist Program is to complete two more courses with confidence and pride when I think about my dream job. I want to make sure I am continuing to pursue my passion of teaching students about technology and the importance of how teachers can utilize technology in their classrooms. One of the steps that I am nervous about is to take the Technology Content Exam. That being said, I know that if I focus on my passion for my dream career, I know that I will pass my exam!

Image Source: https://www.teachingquality.org/learning-to-lead-together-harnessing-your-change-agent-superpower/

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

What is UDL?

Image Source: http://blog.core-ed.org/blog/2019/03/why-udl-is-valuable.html

UDL stands for Universal Design for Learning, which allows teachers to differentiate instruction and also is a way to think about different ways to give students an opportunity to succeed. UDL is flexible because students can access materials and show their thinking in different ways. When a teacher uses UDL to create a lesson plan, they are able to develop the lesson to meet the needs of all their students. 

Teachers are able to support all of their students with UDL and the goal is to remove any barriers to learning. This allows students equal opportunities to succeed. There are three UDL Principles that provides flexibility. When teachers use UDL and teach a diverse group of students, they build flexibility and the students can gain access to information and show their thinking. 

The three main principles are: Engagement, Representation, and Action and Expression. I will be explaining the principles in the video below along with what UDL is, the pros and cons of UDL, and also examples for how to use UDL in the classroom.    

Additional Resources:

Getting Started with UDL, click here.

For podcasts about UDL in the classroom used by teachers, click here.

For top 10 UDL Tips for Engaging Learning Environment, click here.

What is UDL video.

For UDL Research, click here.

Why is UDL Valuable?

More information on the three principles, click here.