Standard 3.3 Information Technology
Candidates demonstrate their ability to design and adapt relevant learning experiences that engage students in authentic learning through the use of digital tools and resources. Candidates model and facilitate the effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research, learning, creating, and communicating in a digital society.
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Reflection
![Picture](/uploads/5/1/0/1/51013159/3-1-pathfinder_1.png?220)
One of my assignments in SLM508 Learning Technologies was to create a digital pathfinder to guide an inquiry project. I decided to focus on the second grade curriculum’s final inquiry project in which students research a famous American and write a biography about him/her. I selected emerging digital tools to assist students in learning about biographies, researching a famous American leader, creating a digital presentation about him/her, and communicating with others about their new knowledge. I organized all of the digital tools and resources into one convenient LiveBinder for students and teachers.
![Picture](/uploads/5/1/0/1/51013159/bitstrips-example.png?157)
One of my primary goals during this inquiry project was to engage students in authentic learning by integrating emerging technologies throughout the inquiry process. I met this goal by integrating multiple literacies such as BrainPOP videos, print resources, and age-appropriate websites. I also selected the production tool of a BitStrips comic to engage students. I wanted to teach students to communicate in a digital society, so I made collaborating and providing digital feedback to classmates the final step of this project.
![Picture](/uploads/5/1/0/1/51013159/3-3-livebinder-screencast.png?252)
However, I knew that integrating these emerging technologies and online collaboration tools would present challenges when teaching second graders. Therefore, I made screencasts to assist students during research, provided graphic organizers to support them in organizing information, and provided explicit directions for commenting on other students’ work. Ultimately, I hoped that these relevant learning experiences would strengthen students’ understanding of biographies and keep them engaged throughout the inquiry process.
This project also taught me the valuable lesson that taking the time to organize resources into a LiveBinder can save a tremendous amount of time in collaborative planning meetings each year. When the second grade team revisits this LiveBinder in the spring, they will only need to make minor changes to it rather than starting from scratch or attempting to track down the resources again. This saved time enables grade level teams to spend their time improving projects each year, rather than remaking them.
This project also taught me the valuable lesson that taking the time to organize resources into a LiveBinder can save a tremendous amount of time in collaborative planning meetings each year. When the second grade team revisits this LiveBinder in the spring, they will only need to make minor changes to it rather than starting from scratch or attempting to track down the resources again. This saved time enables grade level teams to spend their time improving projects each year, rather than remaking them.