It has been my personal experience that learners have many different motivation and attitudes about learning. Understanding these differences allow the instructor an opportunity to address the needs of a diverse student population. As Felder and Brent, (2005) state, “The problem is that no two students are alike. They have different backgrounds, strengths and weaknesses, interests, ambitions, senses of responsibility, levels of motivation, and approaches to studying” (p. 57). The other difficulty is that instructors, themselves, approach instruction based mainly on their own learning style, some lecture, other demonstrate while others base instruction on activities “Instructors need to facilitate understanding using a framework that meets every student's level of learning within the affective, cognitive, and psychomotor domains so that each reaches a higher form of creativity and innovation…. The literature supports the case for incorporating technology into teaching” (Davies, 2014 p.23). Therefore, to illustrate the incorporating of technology into teaching, the author will present a redesigned learning opportunity that applies technology-enhanced instructional strategies to collaborative/cooperatively educational experience that support the needs of all learners.
As an example of the collaborative/cooperative educational experience I would like to point to two Master of Art Teaching and Learning with Technology (MATLT) activities. These were used to demonstrate the design learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the needs of all learners, from EDU649: Technologies for Teaching & Learning. The instructor Doctor Loren Naffziger, assigned an activity on January 18, 2016, this was titled Working the Website. The goal of this assignment was to design the WebQuest assignment for an existing course, the site Zunal.com was utilized as the media for that delivery. This instructional delivery method was chosen for two reasons. First, Zunal.com was a new instructional tool for the author, one not used in past course work, further, one of the course goals is to provide new or different instructional tools to expand the schools ability to deliver a holistic, collaborative, educational experience to the students, Zunal.com met that goal to perfection.
Secondly, the lesson’s objectives lends itself to the use of a WebQuest as a means of cooperatively learning. “The central idea is that cooperation and interaction allow students to learn from several sources, not just the teacher, while also providing each student opportunities to share their own abilities and knowledge” (Newby, Stepich, Lehman, Russell, & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, 2011, p. 108). The instructional methods used in the WebQuest were cooperative learning and discovery.
Demonstrate Knowledge and Skills in current and Emerging Instructional Technologies
Another design of this activity, an interactive PowerPoint presentation, reflects my knowledge and skills in current and emerging instructional technologies. On the surface this seems an odd choice, as the WebQuest was used to empower a student centered learning opportunity, it was hoped that the WebQuest would achieving this goal. However, in the intervening months, January, 2016 until now, a segment of the student population has struggled with the new activity. The achievement gap has not lessoned and while data is still incoming it appears to have grown. The use of an inquiry-based learning activity was to provide a holistic, collaborative educational experience, however it appears that only the highly motivated students with strong reading skills and higher developed problem solving skills benefit. Therefore, the needs of all learners are not being met. Based on this knowledge, the author constructed an interactive PowerPoint presentation that requires little reading skills. This form of differentiated instruction may give learners another options to learn. Tomlinson, (2001) states that “Differentiated instruction is a teaching theory based on the premise that instructional approaches should vary and be adapted in relation to individual and diverse students in classrooms (as cited by Hall, Strangman, & Meyer, 2003 p. 2). This was reinforced during each of my MATLT courses. Using the PowerPoint as the model to provide differentiated instruction might require an instructor to be more flexible in their approach, and adjust technology to the needs of the learner.
Hall, T., Strangman, N., & Meyer, A. (2003). Differentiated instruction and implications for UDL implementation. Wakefield, MA: National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum. Retrieved from http://aim.cast.org/sites/aim.cast.org/files/DI_UDL.1.14.11.pdf
Newby, T. J., Stepich, D. A., Lehman, J. D., Russell, J. D., & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. (2011). Educational technology for teaching and learning (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc
As an example of the collaborative/cooperative educational experience I would like to point to two Master of Art Teaching and Learning with Technology (MATLT) activities. These were used to demonstrate the design learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the needs of all learners, from EDU649: Technologies for Teaching & Learning. The instructor Doctor Loren Naffziger, assigned an activity on January 18, 2016, this was titled Working the Website. The goal of this assignment was to design the WebQuest assignment for an existing course, the site Zunal.com was utilized as the media for that delivery. This instructional delivery method was chosen for two reasons. First, Zunal.com was a new instructional tool for the author, one not used in past course work, further, one of the course goals is to provide new or different instructional tools to expand the schools ability to deliver a holistic, collaborative, educational experience to the students, Zunal.com met that goal to perfection.
Demonstrate Knowledge and Skills in current and Emerging Instructional Technologies
Another design of this activity, an interactive PowerPoint presentation, reflects my knowledge and skills in current and emerging instructional technologies. On the surface this seems an odd choice, as the WebQuest was used to empower a student centered learning opportunity, it was hoped that the WebQuest would achieving this goal. However, in the intervening months, January, 2016 until now, a segment of the student population has struggled with the new activity. The achievement gap has not lessoned and while data is still incoming it appears to have grown. The use of an inquiry-based learning activity was to provide a holistic, collaborative educational experience, however it appears that only the highly motivated students with strong reading skills and higher developed problem solving skills benefit. Therefore, the needs of all learners are not being met. Based on this knowledge, the author constructed an interactive PowerPoint presentation that requires little reading skills. This form of differentiated instruction may give learners another options to learn. Tomlinson, (2001) states that “Differentiated instruction is a teaching theory based on the premise that instructional approaches should vary and be adapted in relation to individual and diverse students in classrooms (as cited by Hall, Strangman, & Meyer, 2003 p. 2). This was reinforced during each of my MATLT courses. Using the PowerPoint as the model to provide differentiated instruction might require an instructor to be more flexible in their approach, and adjust technology to the needs of the learner.
Safety PowerPoint
WebQuest
Reference
Davies, A. (2014). Integrating E-learning to improve learning outcomes. Planning for Higher Education, 42(4), 23-29. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1622639169?accountid=32521
Felder, R. M., & Brent, R. (2005). Understanding student differences. Journal of Engineering Education, 94(1), 57-72. Retrieved from http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Papers/Understanding_Differences.pdf
Hall, T., Strangman, N., & Meyer, A. (2003). Differentiated instruction and implications for UDL implementation. Wakefield, MA: National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum. Retrieved from http://aim.cast.org/sites/aim.cast.org/files/DI_UDL.1.14.11.pdf
Newby, T. J., Stepich, D. A., Lehman, J. D., Russell, J. D., & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. (2011). Educational technology for teaching and learning (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc