Instructional Design Flowchart

I chose to make Addie the foundation of my instructional design because the five steps it entails are vital to any model that is used for teaching. One has to analyze what the learners' needs are and the goals and objectives that need to be met. Once this information is obtained, then one can begin to design what the unit is going to look like along with the assessments that will be used to measure knowledge obtained. The development phase includes planning the instruction and then teaching it. TPACK is a part that I think should be implemented all through the instructional design process as well. Throughout the process, one must continuously evaluate if the teaching strategies, the technologies used, and content are all helping one to meet the desired goals. This flowchart is comprehensive and details all that should be done to ensure one plans the best instruction to meet our learners' needs. Though it seems like there are many steps to follow, doing it repeatedly will help us to effectively implement every step as we plan our units.

Instructional Approaches Infographic

Reflection

After re-reading my blog about what it means to be a teacher leader in the Digital Age and how I am going to use what I have learned in this class in my future course, my perspective has not changed. It has been strengthened. Our students need to be immersed in technology, but they need to be taught to use it appropriately. We as teacher leaders need to instruct our students and fellow teachers to embrace the technology and to realize that it is an amazing medium with which to teach and explore our world to become literate in the things that truly matter. Technology, especially in my content area- social studies, will enlighten my students about the many different cultures in our state, country, and world. They will learn to be an active part in our globalized economy which is imperative to their success as individuals and professionals. If we can share all the amazing things that can be accomplished by consistently implementing technology in our classrooms, we will have more engagement and success from our students.

Technology in our lessons

 Our students all learn differently and as a result we find ourselves constantly accommodating and differentiating to their needs. Because we live in the Digital Age and our students are digital natives, I often differentiate for them by using technological devices and applications. I find that students work better when they using a technological device or application as opposed to the traditional pencil, paper and textbook. Technology makes it quicker and simpler for students to obtain information in ways that they can completely understand. It is imperative to make sure that students know how to use the technology appropriately so they get the most out of the lessons and their learning. Still, though I encourage technology usage for learning in my classroom, I understand that there may be students who may not like technology. These students are allowed to use the traditional forms of learning and that is ok because I stated earlier, everyone learns in different ways.

The constant usage of technology in the classroom for differentiation has not only aided my students in their learning, but it also has improved my classroom management. I have had to implement more strategies into my management to be able to deal with the technology and keep the students on task. Constantly telling students what to do as soon as they are done completing an assignment with the technological device keeps us all on task and focused on the end goal for the day. Students don't have time to get distracted as they are constantly engaged and working on their assignments. I hope to continue using the various strategies to enhance my teaching.

Using technology is like using everything else that we have in our lives. Sometimes things don't work for some reason and therefore we should have a backup plan. Things such as a blackout at the school building or the internet being down are some big reasons as to why we should always have a backup plan. In addition, some students may or cannot use technology for several reasons and it would be apporpriate to have a back up plan for these students. Technology is amazing and it takes learning to the next level. But on some days, it will be ok to go traditional and just use pen and paper if it turns out to be the best way to teach that particular lesson or set of students.

Backward design and Technology Rich Focus

Developing a unit for teaching is no easy task as one has to carefully plan out what will be most important to teach the students. We plan backwards starting with the assessment so we can teach to that and be able to focus on the most important points from the core standards. But, to effectively teach, we have to enrich our lessons, within that unit, with appropriate technology that will help students gain a deeper understanding of the concepts.
When we plan the unit at the same time that we choose the technology for it, we are ensuring that the tech implementations are the best ones for teaching that particular content. When we do not plan the unit/lessons while also thinking of the tech to utilize we are most likely preparing for chaos to occur within our classrooms and for lack of learning. 
Therefore, I will ensure that as I plan my unit, I will also keep in mind to find the best technological applications that will serve my students best when learning all about the unit at hand. Learning happens best when these two go hand in hand.

Curriculum 21 Take aways

After my classmates presented the information in chapters 5-12 of the Curriculum 21 book, I have come to cherish even more what technology can do for all of us as teachers and students. There are no boundaries that are not able to be overcome with technology. Every presentation emphasized, however, that technology must be used appropriately for it to render its amazing results. We the teachers, need to help our students understand that there is more to technology than simple media usage. That being stated, I still wonder what would be age appropriate activities to engage students in discovering how to use the technological devices and applications the right way. I think that once this is figured out, teaching the students to remember to use it appropriately would go smoother. 

It has finally become clear to me that with technology students can become globally aware as we are becoming more globalized every second of our lives. However, our students seem to think that all that exists is their city and sometimes their state. They have not realized that different cultures surround us and that they all play a part in who we are as Americans. That being said, I want to expose my students to other cultures through more technology integration in my classroom. I am going to format my curriculum so that students can learn about other cultures and how those affect them daily. I am in the process of exploring the best apps to help my students meet the goal of globalizing right from our own classroom. 

I believe that technology integration is what will keep our nation afloat as everyone will be more globalized and better connected to each other. 

Understanding by Design

Many times, as teachers, we focus on creating our scope and sequences based on what we want to teach the students with little regards to the final outcome of all the lessons. After listening to Grant Wiggins in Understanding by Design, I understood why it is so important to plan with the end result in mind. In other words, we should always ask ourselves: "what is it that I want my students to be able to do once I have taught this unit?" Once we have responded this question, then we are able to start planning our lessons-to target the final outcome. 

For example, when I want to teach my students about geography I first ask what I want the end result to be which in this case is for them to analyze how geography affects settlement. They will be able to demonstrate this by creating a brochure that can attract tourists to this area. They need to explain how Utah's geography will be beneficial or detrimental to those who move. But for my students to have sufficient knowledge to be able to create a brochure, I will need to teach them what geography is, what landforms are, the kinds of land regions we have among other vital information about our state. 

Being able to plan the performance assessment I just described before I teach the unit, helps me to choose technological applications and devices appropriately. Instead of having to think on the spot how to enrich the lessons with technology, I can think ahead and check the different websites and applications I would implement to ensure that they work and that the students will be able to learn most effectively from. 

Furthermore, "unwrapping" standards and objectives for our content area impacts decisions about assessment. Choosing the assessment and technology first is extremely helpful in planning a curriculum. There are so many standards and objectives that are not as vital as others for students to know. We need to examine each one and decide what is most important for the students to know. We also need to look at the verbs used in each. In Utah Studies, all six standards use the verb "understand." This word is rather vague as it is not something the students can demonstrate a skill with. Therefore, we as educators, need to use Bloom's Taxonomy Level list and implement the appropriate verbs so that students may be able to do what they learn. At the same time, they will develop higher order thinking skills which are vital to survival in their lives as they will almost always have to critically think to solve everyday problems. 

Students know they are capable of learning and expanding their knowledge through more than just memorization and regurgitation. This is why we need to challenge them as they learn; to do so we must analyze our course's standards, choose the appropriate verbs to teach with, create an assessment with the end in mind and then create a scope and sequence. 

Teacher Leaders

Recently, there have been more teacher leaders who visit teachers at their schools. Their role is to help teachers in whatever they can- whether it be curriculum planning, course mapping, or classroom management. They are there to give teachers viable options that may work better than what the teacher is trying to attempt to do in their classroom. These teachers that go around helping others are known as "teacher leaders" because at some point in their careers they have taken the initiative to try something new with their students with regards to teaching and learning. Their methods, though new, may have produced great results to the point that people in the district become aware of what these teachers are doing. 

Last week, in class, we had a guest speaker, Andrew Clark, share his experiences with us as far as technology and teaching were concerned. He had graduated from USU with a teaching degree and was able to start teaching 4th grade at a school in small, rural town in UT. The school had no technological devices. Mr. Clark sought out to find ways of obtaining devices by applying for grants. By the end of the school year, his students had iPods that were used to create podcasts. Also, he found a movable computer lab. He put these technological devices to use in his classroom. For example, he had his class dissecting owl pellets through these devices. His class was extremely engaged and motivated to learn. Parents, grandparents, and faculty noticed the change that Mr. Clark brought about to that small school in rural Utah. Eventually, the school district tore down that facility and built one that would be able to support technological devices. I like to think that this change began because Mr. Clark, a teacher-leader, had tried something that no one else in his school had tried before- implementing technology into his students' learning activities. 

With regard to educational technology, teacher-leadership is essential. This is due mainly because there are many teachers who are hesitant to use technology because they are set in the traditional ways of teaching. They may think technology will not work or that it is a waste of time for their students. They may not know how to use it or the best ways to apply it in their content area. But, if they were to see a teacher-leader implementing various forms of technology into different lessons, the traditional teachers may start to feel more inclined to learn about the new methods. The teacher leaders would demonstrate how to properly use the technology in the classroom setting and would provide support for the teachers who are learning. For example, Mr. Clark mentioned that he would go to different PLCs in his school and would sometimes just show other teachers how to power on/off devices. Other times he would show them ways apps could be implemented into a particular lesson or content area. If it were not for teacher leaders like Mr. Clark, traditional teachers would not be as willing to use technology in their classrooms. How can someone know whether or not something is beneficial if they have never used it before?

Because so many people find that technology in general is detrimental, especially to the younger generations, there is a misconception that it will not work in the classroom either. But, with the help of teacher-leaders in our schools and districts, like Mr. Clark, these misconceptions will be replaced with more teachers enriching their curriculum with more educational technology.

Technology in Curriculum and Instruction: Benefits and Barriers

In this era where technology is a vital aspect of an American student's life, it is vital to utilize it as a means to enhance and facilitate learning. Teachers who have been working in the education field since before the Digital Age commenced, may feel certain reservations as to the effectiveness of technology usage for teaching and learning. However, if properly used, technology can be a very valuable asset in students' education.

When teachers plan their curriculum and instruction, they should always do so with their students in mind (Jacobs, 2010). We need to find the possible ways to meet our students' needs while also finding the best approaches to introduce and teach our students concepts that they should know about (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005). When we prepare our units we should always do so keeping in mind what the end goal is (Jacobs, 2010). As we do this, we can incorporate higher order thinking skills into the activities the students will complete so that they can become more agile and be able to critically think in real world situations.

Creating a curriculum can be tedious as we are trying to differentiate and accommodate all of our students to help them attain optimal learning experiences. While many teachers focus on traditional ways of teaching- with pen and paper and strategies that involve no technology, others are integrating technology into their daily lessons. When technology is used appropriately, it can help students accomplish amazing tasks and develop their critical thinking skills which one of the ultimate goals of obtaining an education. It can be used across all content areas. Some of the the the positive effects of technology are noticed in language acquisition, test scores, motivation and self-esteem development (O'Hara & Pritchard, 2006).

Even though many teachers are including more technology into their classrooms, there are others who are set in their beliefs that it is actually detrimental to students. One of the reasons why some teachers may continue to have a negative view on technology is that they have not received the proper professional development training to understand how it can impact their students' learning (Kim, Kim, Lee, Spector, & Demeester, 2013). Even when attending these training sessions, some teachers cannot relate the technology to their classrooms as they are not given concrete examples of how to use it to enhance their content. They need to be given the time to experiment with it to understand the impact it will have on their students' education (An & Reigeluth, 2011).In other words, teachers need to be able to be able to see a connection between the technology, the pedagogy and the content they are teaching. Still, a major obstacle that prevents teachers from using technology more often and more effectively is lack of time and resources (An & Reigeluth, 2011). These impediments, however, can be overturned if only teachers changed their negative beliefs about technology, their behaviors toward using it in the classroom would be more positive. If they were willing to give technology a try in their own content area, they would see the benefits that it will bring to their students and they would even go as far as writing grants to ask for technology in their classroom.

I know how important technology is in the classroom as I use it daily and have seen how much my students have learned. They are able to research topics that support the projects they create. About a month ago, they were able to research the news to find factors that are negatively impacting our economy. Once they had found this, they proceeded to create a product that would boost our economy. They designed their products and presentations using various technological apps on their iPads and Chromebooks. My students and I are fortunate to be part of a school that is so supportive of technology in the classroom.

References

An, Y., & Reigeluth, C. (2011). Creating Technology-Enhanced, Learner-Centered Classrooms. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 54-62.

Jacobs, H. (2010). Curriculum 21 essential education for a changing world. Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Kim, C., Kim, M., Lee, C., Spector, J., & Demeester, K. (2013). Teacher beliefs and technology integration. Teaching and Teacher Education, 76-85.

O'hara, S., & Pritchard, R. (2006). What is the impact of technology on learning. 1-4. Retrieved January 13, 2016, from http://www.education.com/reference/article/what­impact­technology­learning/

Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design (Expanded 2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.