EDUC 6305: Learning with Technology Response

Today's assignment required that we respond to the following:

"Your undergraduate program represented the 'teacher is a decade behind the students' model of technology adoption. Many of you have previously provided examples of how you would use technology to teach and/or represent a topic in your subject. Today's question is 'How do you plan to integrate technology into the learning of your content in order to break the cycle of teacher being behind the students with regard to technology use?'"

Internet-based discusssions such as these lend themselves to a variety of academic purposes and might effectively be used for pairing the development of specific content knowledge domains(CK) with pedigogical knowledge (PCK), and technological components (TPCK). Doing so in the secondary level English language arts classroom demonstrates comprehensive awarness of Grossman's four central TPCK compents:

1. an overarching conception of what it means to teach a particular subject integrating technology in the learning;
   
2. knowledge of instructional strategies and representations for teaching particular topics with technology;
   
3. knowledge of students’ understandings, thinking, and learning with technology in a particular subject;
   
4. knowledge of curriculum and curriculum materials that integrate technology with learning in the subject area.

(p. 8, ¶4. TPCK)

In the process of using this approach, the first four ISTE NETS guidelines might also be met. Specific content-based standards, which might be addressed, or better facilitated and evaluated, by use of this method and like activities include:

• Examination of the social, historical, cultural and biographical influences on literary and informational texts.

• Recognition of literary styles according to genre.

• Increased independent reading with emphasis on fiction and nonfiction, as evidenced by individual reflective posts

• Development and use of various pre-reading skills and comprehension strategies for activating prior knowledge or generating questions during reading and post reading, literary experience, information and/or performing a task.
  
• Location and analysis of the author’s use of specific information in text (e.g., author’s purpose/perspective, main and supporting details, specific facts, statistics, definition).
  
• Formulation of supportable predictions, generalizations, opinions, inferences and conclusions based upon text.

• Explaination of the literary devices used to construct meaning and define the author’s/reader’s purpose
  
• Recognition of the relationships of the literary elements (e.g., setting, plot, narrative perspective, point of view, theme, conflict, characterization, voice, tone, structures) within specific genres.

• Recognition and examination of organizational patterns (e.g. problem-solution, cause-and-effect, textual features including table of contents, headings, sidebars, marginal notes, graphical representations such as tables, timelines, captions, maps, photographs) and ideas in informational and literary texts.

• Formulation of working research question and identification, organization, and consideration with regard to the relevance of known information from print and electronic media (e.g., Internet research, electronic databases for magazines and newspaper articles) to guide further research.
  
• Formulation and delivery of grammatically correct messages, taking into consideration the purpose of the message and the speaker’s and the listener’s culture, knowledge, beliefs, feelings, and life experiences.

Relevant content domains, which might be addresses as such, are not limited however to these examples. In fact, the braod nature of internet-based discussions allows for adjustment to address multiple learning domains.

Click here to see the complete discussion, as well as my response.