Education Today

EDLD 5314 Reflection I started out my EDLD 5314 with needing to come up with an area that I wanted to research and find out more about in helping to create an innovation plan. It was clear from my previous research that our school does a good job on the state exams, but what was missing was creating an atmosphere for developing higher order thinking skills that would lead to mastery of the exams. So my topic that I wanted to do more with was using the flipped classroom approach to gain more class time for actual higher order thinking activities. I wanted to tie this into e-portfolio’s that are a great resource that I learned about from a previous course. Using an e-portfolio with the flipped classroom approach would lead students to take more ownership on their learning and reflecting on their individual learning. It would also show their growth as students and how their higher order thinking skills were developing by using the flipped classroom model.  As I start...

My Flipped Classroom Research My research was done on flipped classroom along with e-portfolio’s and how to utilize those two tools to increase student high order thinking through more engaged activities and reflections within the e-portfolio’s. My plan and vision is to use flipped classroom to share the content with students so when they come into the classroom we are able to engage in deeper discussions or activities that are more of the higher order thinking activities. I will have students keep an e-portfolio during this process to show their growth and reflect on the learning process. What worked well during my research was finding information on flipped classroom and e-portfolio’s separately, but nothing really tied the two tools in together. There was good information on how to use flipped classroom to engage students more along with how it can promote higher order thinking. What could have been done better during my research was I found out why flipped clas...

Five Resources I Used For My Flipped Classroom Research I have been working on researching ways to use flipped classroom and e-portfolio’s to engage students in higher order thinking skills. My vision with this innovation plan that I am creating is using a adjusted style of flipped classroom to not only engaged every student by allowing them to take ownership in their learning and meeting their learning styles, It goes another step in creating more class time for deeper discussions, labs, projects, and hands on activities that will develop higher order thinking skills. The finishing product in this innovation plan is having students keep e-portfolio’s that will help show their growth as students and their learning. This can be a tool used in assessing their higher order thinking skills and life-long learning that was created by the flipped classroom approach. Some of the resources I have come across and been using are: 1.       Goodwin and Mil...

After watching the TED talk, I have more of an understanding of why it is so important to tell your story. I never really thought about how my stories or “ideas” will die inside of me because I do not tell them. I must do a better job as an educator to tell my story so I can help grow and make a bigger impact in education. A good story must have a clear vision and plan of what it is you are trying to change or develop. You must get all stakeholders excited about the vision and give them reasons why it is important. If you can get them excited and feel like they are part of the movement then they will take up ownership on pushing the vision further down the road as the movement on change starts. It must take all stakeholders for the vision to grow. The true owner and hero of the story is the people. The audience or the people you are telling the story to are the true hero’s. It will be up to them to take the vision and the plan you deliver and spread it to the world. It is ...

According to UNESCO’s report on mobile learning in North America, “mobile learning involves more than merely incorporating new technology into current pedagogical strategies; it requires an instructional paradigm shift that promises to fundamentally change the way students learn.” As you continue to review the literature and the case studies in this week, share your thoughts on this instructional shift. I like how the use of technology mentioned in ICT article encourages students to manage their own progress and take ownership in their learning. I do feel when allowing students the opportunity to use cell phones or any type of device leads to better student engagement and collaboration when teachers understand how to utilize the technology within the lessons. Unfortunately often school administration or teachers are against allowing cell phones or personal devices within the classroom because of the negative issues associated with social media or cyber bullying or other ...

I was able to pickup on several issues in this week's readings for EDLD5314. I saw a video over using the plus delta review tool, read over several articles about technology plans that worked or did not work. It is so critical that we have a plan and vision to how we want to utilize technology in the learning process. As mentioned in the quote above from Joel Barker, "a vision with action can change the world."  I like the use of the Plus Delta Review tool and currently use it to some degree in my own classroom. It is a great way to establish what is working in the classroom, what needs to be changed or modified, and what needs to be given up. I have always allowed students a voice in our classroom, which I feel it has allowed me to become a better teacher through student feedback. I believe that technology enhances the student learning and allows for more global collaboration. As mentioned in the reading by the US Department of Education, “technology enables...

I have learned and grown in my learning after going through my first two courses of the DLL program. I started out learning about the growth mindset and how having a growth mindset enables learners to develop their learning through reflections. It pushed me to think outside the box and try something new by creating a powtoons video on growth mindset for my classes. I then encouraged my students to try something new by putting together a video assignment. What I learned from the project that I assigned to my students was tremendous. Not only did I develop a better understanding of the power of COVA by allowing students a voices and choice in their learning, but saw how students rose to the challenge. Some of these students were students that would have struggled otherwise, but because they were allowed to be creative and put together something that was unique to their learning was able to shine. This got me thinking how education today has taken away from allow students to be...