Essential Questions
In establishing a vision for learning and technology, I’ve been trying to answer three questions pertaining to the particular circumstances within our district: What is the vision for learning and technology? What are the outcomes? What are we doing to move toward our goals?
This weekend, I need to work this through, but here is what I’ve outlined so far:
What is the vision for learning and technology?
Learning is defining and solving problems creatively and in original ways, often in collaboration with others. In this collaboration, students and teachers share knowledge in ways that are authentic – like scientists, historians and other communities of learners. Teachers select goals and materials and act as guides and intellectual coaches. While teachers make broad decisions, students give input into how they achieve these goals and how they will be assessed and evaluated.
Technology is a support and catalyst for this type of learning. Technology extends the classroom environment focusing on inquiry, guessing, debate, and multiple materials including books, libraries, museums, videos, and experts.
What are the outcomes?
Student-centered learning experiences, disciplinary and inter-disciplinary project-based and problem-based learning, higher order thinking, authentic assessments, sophisticated collaboration among students, changing roles of teachers and students, student input into designing and assessing learning activities for achieving objectives, access to digital content, access to experts outside of the classroom, greater use of rubrics, and a shift in the way teachers think about teaching and learning.
What are we doing to reach those outcomes?
Assessing, through the use of rubrics, where teachers are in relation to the ISTE NETS. From this assessment, providing professional development to address areas of needed growth. These professional development opportunities will occur on a regular basis, over an extend period of time, and involve collaboration among teachers. The specifics of each meeting and the work accomplished will largely be guided by teachers’ personal goals for technology use in the classroom.
I can see this developing more by hanging some real examples on the theory. This can’t be theoretical. What do these concepts actually look like in a classroom, and how does the technology help to achieve this vision? I’ll be pulling from some of my experiences.
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