Saturday, February 2, 2013
Chapter 3 Reflection
Chapter 3 started off by discussing how to promote technology integration and the process of adopting innovation occurs. When adopting an innovation there are 5 groups of people. The innovators are the ones pushing the change and are about 2.5% of the population. The early adopters are 13.5% of the population, they are typically respected and leaders, and they try out the innovation cautiously. The early majority accept change, but are very careful about it. They are 34% of the group. The late majority is also 34%, they are more suspicious about innovation, but when they see other people using the innovation they are open to trying it out. The last group is the laggards. They are the last to join, the ones that are set in their ways, and 16% of the population. This chapter also discusses the Concerns-Based Adoption Model, which breaks the process of adoptions into questions that people would be asking at each level. Chapter three also discusses how professional development is an important factor in integrating technology into classrooms. Educators must have the equipment to use but also must be prepared and confident in using it in their classroom. That is where professional development and professional learning communities (PLCs) come in. Teachers should be collaborating on how these tools fit into their classrooms.
This happened to me first hand. I was given a bunch of technology and told to use it in my classroom. In that situation I would have said that I was an early adopter. I was gung-ho about getting my students using all the technology they could in my class. Using the internet, creating presentation, all of that. But that can only go so far in a math classroom. Eventually these kids were going to have to do math with a pencil and paper. I have no doubt that the computers could have been used for that too, but I had no one really showing me how. Plus, our firewalls stopped some really awesome websites that could have been used. When I had a teacher to collaborate with on utilizing technology in my classroom I used it a lot. We went back and forth discussing how students could show us, and others, their knowledge of the concept. She was only there for a year, and when she left I had no one to bounce around ideas with. My usage of the technology went down because I didn’t have support on how to integrate it.
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I do feel like some subjects lend themselves better to exploring technology than others. Math I feel could be one of the better ones, but is often excluded for lecture and practice (becuase thats all you can do with math, right? why don't people like to learn it again?).
ReplyDeleteIt makes me happy to think of an interective math classroom with projects and research that encourages students to teach themsleves rather than persue the usual method. I would love to see what your classroom looks like during these processes, and I would like to know some of the innovations you used.
I got to teach math for a year in middle school. I found that I actually spent a majority of my time remediating the class. I unfortunately didn't get to incorporate technology, not that I had much to use anyway. So, I totally agree with you that students will actually have to use a pencil and paper for some things. I think had I stayed in the classroom, I would have eventually found ways to use technology somewhere. I think it lends itself as the opportunity for application--applying what they learned using pencil and paper to a real world problem. Do you have any specific examples of how you might have done this?
ReplyDeleteRobin, me too! I spent at least one day during each unit reviewing basic math concepts that were needed later--like adding fractions, adding positive and negative numbers--you name it! Some things that I did with the computers were webquests, Khan Academy tutorials, and presentations on concepts. The curriculum for my seniors last year was basically an overview of all the concepts taught in high school, but applied to real world situations. At the end of each concept there were two problems posed to them, and they had to create presentations on them. A lot of powerpoints were used, and they did many internet searches. In my algebra class I once asked them to find a parabola in the real world. I had them take a picture of it, then digitally put graph paper over it, and find the equation for the picture. I asked them to identify the key points on the graph, and give a short presentation of how they did it. It went pretty well, but I wish I could do it over again and explain it better. They understood the concepts, but It could have been way more awesome!
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