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The Author
Professional
Practice
Integrating technology in
the curriculum to try to become more effective
at
connecting student learning in the
classroom to real world learning has been a long
time goal.
How do you do it effectively with or without
support? How do you prove it to colleagues?
How can we promote positive change in education?
What had we done to prompt
changes in
learning? I had started with research
in 1987 at a unique school in the San Juan
District, knew some things and liked this line, "The
future belongs to those with vision who can grasp
not just trends, but the importance of them.
Nothing is more relevant to you than your brain or
the brain of your spouse, parents, or children. We
might as well get used to it. Integrating
brain research
with our every day lives is here to stay." Jensen
Learning, 2001.
Graduate level courses have had a
dramatic effect on my philosophy and methodology of teaching. On
this journey with my co-members what I found
was a trail through the reading and projects that has
given me a set of new partnerships and has led me to
a paradigm shift in my thinking. I graduated
from University of California at Davis with double
majors in Art and Philosophy. Graduate work
seemed an immediate fit for me because we started
with readings from Hilda Taba ,
Dewey, Gardner, Thornberg, Senge and
Vygotsky....... Thornberg has
been a great influence. I had come to a
point in my career where, like others. I hoped that, "The
edge of the millennium makes a good vantage point
for thinking about the future in terms of the
past. Like standing on a mountain ridge where the
view is unobscured in all directions, it is exciting to be poised on the cusp of time with the
opportunity to take the long view."
In one of
our readings by
Linda Darling Hammond, we read about need in
today's learning environment, "We
are far enough along in the technological
revolution and its application to learning that it
is time for systematic review and analysis of what
works best." U.S. Secretary of Education
Richard W. Riley National Conference on
Educational Technology Washington, D.C., July 12,
1999.
That particular quote targeted one of my
professional goals.
Are
we being effective?
What can we do to be effective?
How can we facilitate change? In another
article
An Introduction to Action Research,
we read "AR
is an process designed to empower all participants
in the educational process (students, instructors
and other parties) with the means to improve the
practices conducted within the educational
experience (Hopkins, 1993). All participants were
knowing, active members of the research process."
Dr. Geni Cowan's Book "User Friendly Action
Research," we learned the process. I found, however,
as
Senge says,
"there's absolutely
no choice but trying to create change on multiple
levels. Yes, there needs to be fundamental
innovation in the classroom. Yes, you've got to
find and support these teachers who are really
committed to that. And no, it's completely
inadequate by itself, because you have to be
working simultaneously to create a totally
different environment in the classroom, in the
school, in the school system, and eventually in
the community. And that's why it's not easy."
As a result my focus on Action Research has
increased.
My emphasis has
been the effective integration of computer-based
activities into all subject areas.
We utilized a
variety of tools and strategies, including word
processing, data based exercises, power point
presentations, and spread sheet activities that
could be used in all types of curricular areas.
Activities that were not only available in the
classroom but could be extended into online
learning programs available twenty four hours a
day. These activities have encouraged me to think about
ways that I can integrate computer-based
instruction into my teaching plans, my school, my
District, and my community.
Projects and assignments in in graduate school
were group, collaborative efforts. We not only saw
first hand the effectiveness of this type of
arrangement, but we developed new skills in how to
best organize group-based, cooperative learning
projects. Now, based on this experience, my focus
as an educator in the classroom is more effective
using these strategies. My focus in the
school and the system is more effective. The
web based learning has made it possible to reach
the larger community in new and exciting ways.
So it has also become clear that a computer-based,
or group-based activity by itself is not going to
make for a successful learning experience.
There is still the mistaken impression that the
more computers that we put into the classroom the
better. Computer-based instruction can be an
effective tool for improving student motivation
and learning, but it does have its limitations,
especially when it is used by untrained and
unprepared teachers. Hopefully through
Action Research we as trained teachers can provide
research based effective strategies.
Effective
Teaching
As I have gone through graduate school I have been
thinking about the inclusion of the strategies and
tools that we have learned for my own classroom. I
have used one of the projects that we did on
Concept Formation in my computer class that dealt
with the interrelatedness of computer components.
I do believe that the use of web-based lessons is
an effective way of doing inquiry-based learning.
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