EDLD+5364+Week+2+Reading+Reflection

The quote, "Instructional goals should not be too specific," (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski 2007) was somewhat surprising to me. I've always thought that goals must be very specific and based on the state standards. While focusing on the instructional strategy of setting goals, the authors encourage teachers to incorporate technology to help both teachers and students set goals and objectives for a unit of study. In fact, by not making the instructional goals too specific, students are encouraged to personalize the learning goals. This is when the goals become more specific, based on the framework of the general goals set by the teacher. Four recommendations were made for incorporating technology including word processing software where students create their own KWL charts, data collection tools where students might take a survey so the teacher knows how to focus the learning, web resources that assist teachers in locating state standards and using them to create rubrics and finally, communication software such as blogs or e-mail newsletters to communicate with students and parents. When thinking of incorporating technology I usually think of something significant and/or exciting. The simple techniques mentioned in this book make it a lot easier for technology to become an everyday part of the curriculum.

In his article, Page spoke about the increased self-esteem in students who use computers for academic instruction (Page, 2002). One study shows that in students at-risk of dropping out classroom computers had positive effects in the areas of motivation, self-confidence and self discipline. Even more significant was the achievement in low socioeconomic students when computers were integrated into the classroom for significant periods of time. This could be because of the fact that students from more affluent families are more likely to have and use technology regularly in their homes while low socioeconomic students are in awe of the computers and therefore enjoy the opportunity to use computers while at school. He went on to talk about the significantly increased math achievement scores for first-time college students. Although there are some cases where technology did not show improvement or gains were minimal, the overall impact shows significant gains and achievement is positive.

Universal Design for Learning is a research-based method of customized technology integration to support the needs of diverse learners by differentiating instruction by providing multiple methods of acquiring information and choices to show evidence of learning.

References

Howard Pitler, Elizabeth R. Hubbell, Matt Kuhn, Kim Malenoski. (2007). Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. Denver, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning.

Page, M. S. (2002). Technology-Enriched Classrooms: Effects on Students of Low Socioeconomic Status. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 389-409.

Howard Pitler, Elizabeth R. Hubbell, Matt Kuhn, Kim Malenoski. (2007). Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. Denver, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning.