Reflection+on+EDLD+5364+Assignments

Teaching With Technology
For the first assignment I was to join with a group of other students in the class to create an action plan, a lesson using the Universal Design for Learning. We were to use Web 2.0 tools, either a wiki or Google site, to work on the action plan. Because Web 2.0 software is online and accessible to anyone with an Internet connection and a browser, we have new avenues for collaboration and communication (Solomon & Schrum, 2007, p. 46). Collaborating online with other students taking the course was an excellent model for us to use in our classrooms. I worked with a group of two other educators I had worked with in a previous class. Although I knew about Google docs and sites, I had no preconceived idea about how easy or difficult using the Google site would be. I had attended workshops at TCEA about using Google sites, returned home and told other teachers in the district about how to use them but had never created either a Google doc or a Google site myself. Our fearless group leader, Jackie, created the site and sent the link. Then it was time to start brainstorming. I really struggled with the concepts for the action plan. At first it seemed like all three of us were lost, but then the questions, answers, more questions, suggestions, and even more questions took place and by the end of the third week we began to get a grip on what we were supposed to be doing. Johnson, Johnson, and Stanne (2000) clearly state, when students work together in cooperative groups, they make sense of, or construct meaning for, new knowledge by interacting with others (as cited in Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 139). I really liked using Google docs and sites as it was not only easy but there is a high potential for use in the classroom. During one of the times I was adding to the Google doc one of the other teachers was also adding. It created a time lapse between the time I hit the keys and the time the letters appeared on the screen, which was rather interesting, and since we were working at the same time we also were able to chat on the side while we were working. We were able to clarify a few things we were unsure about in ‘real time’. I found that I liked working in a collaborative environment.  Universal Design for Learning is a set of principles for curriculum development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn (http://cast.org, n.d.). I have been teaching for a long time and when I took the Education courses the first time around I did not learn much. Creating lessons meant following the textbook and teaching as if the students all had the same level of ability. Creating the UDL Lesson was the hardest part for me. I read and reread the information on the UDL website but everything seemed so vague. I kept clicking on links thinking I had missed something. I finally used some of the examples and created a lesson. I personally think this part of the assignment was a low point in my performance. I chose an Algebra 1 objective thinking it would be a good one for the many differentlevels required for a UDL lesson but then struggled with how to do just that. I probably should have chosen a different objective, but I am sometimes stubborn and wanted to prove to myself I could do it. The outcome was not as good as I would have liked. Working with the other team members and seeing the results of their UDL lesson plans made me realize collaboration is a quick and valuable way for someone that is not good at creating lessons to get ideas from a colleague that is good at creating lessons. The next part of the assignment was the electronic book created using UDL Book Builder. This was more up my alley as I love making books. When teaching digital graphics, animation, and multimedia in school I always have assignments for the students to create books. I looked at many examples on the UDL website before making mine. I can see a great potential because the books are interactive, the students are not passively watching the story unfold. The places where students respond to questions asked provides feedback to the teachers and the students might not realize they are being tested. When making the book I tried to think about how a 4th grader would be able to work the math problem. One thing I learned with making the book was that I could have put much more information in the book than what the students would need for the problem. I am usually not satisfied with my first, or second, or third edition, I keep finding things that would be better or look better and finally I have to make myself stop and say it is good enough. If I keep making changes I will never finish. The last assignment was to write a reflection on creating the ebook and post it on the Google site. Concerning reflections, Dana (2009) writes, capturing your own thinking over time can lead to critical insights (p. 88). Writing this reflection was not difficult since creating the book was something I enjoyed. After finishing all of the other assignments posting the reflection was easy. I had posted so much by then it was just another click of a button.

About UDL. (n.d.). Retrieved on October from []. Dana, N.F. (2009). //Leading with passion and knowledge; The principal as action researcher.// Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Pitler H., Hubbell E., Kuhn K., and Malenoski K. (2007). //Using technology with classroom instruction that works//. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Solomon G., Schrum L. (2007). //web 2.0 new tools, new schools.// Eugene OR: International Society for Technology in Education.