Model Digital-Age Work and Learning

Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society. Teachers:

  • demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations

    Working as an Audio / Visual technician at UMKC has given me the opportunity to become fluent in a wide range of technologies, both in hardware and software.  I am expected to be able to use and troubleshoot a wide range of equipment, including computers, LCD projectors, SmartBoards, MiniDV camcorders, and Voice Recorders.  In addition to the usual software used in the workplace, I am expected to be able to understand packages like SPSS, Geometers Sketchpad, the Inspiration line of software, and others.  For my programming duties, I use a variety of tools such as Visual Studio and SQL Server 2005. 

    Whenever I gain knowledge, I feel it's important to share and improve that knowledge with others.  This was particularly true when I wrote the paper "What is Web 2.0?"  Web 2.0 is something I have very good knowledge of, but many in my workplace did not understand.  I wrote this paper in order to help them in this manner.

    Artifacts

  • collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation

    I use several strategies to keep track of the current and emerging digital tools for use in education. The most important is my RSS Reader, which is hosted by Google. Using Google Reader, I'm subscribed to tech blogs such as TechCrunch.com which posts many times a day about new technology startups. It is not an education specific blog. I also subscribe to the blogs of leaders in the field of Educational Technology, such as David Warlick and the blog "Ideas and Thoughts." Beyond RSS feeds, I also use micro-blogging services such as twitter and yammer to keep track of what my peers are doing in the field. Using a social bookmarking website like Diigo has been invaluable tapping into the wisdom of the crowds to find resources that I was previously unaware of. Using RSS feeds, microblogging, and social bookmarking to keep track of these websites has made it simple to keep track of ed tech trends.

    Artifacts

  • communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats

    Students gain information via a wide range of media.  As a teacher, I wanted to provide the relevant information for the class in a variety of ways: lecture, discussions, videos, newspaper articles, and the textbook.  This can be seen in the course materials section of the class.  In addition to the materials I provided, each class consisted of a lecture and then a discussion of the material.  Outside of class, discussions would take place on a textual discussion board at first, and then later, a discussion hosted on YouTube.  Mind maps are an effective way of visualizing complex ideas.  One of the largest topics in class is Digital Stories, and to help students gain an understanding of the big picture, I created a mind map for them to use.

    Artifacts

  • model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning

    To improve student learning, I use both internal and external sources of information throughout the semester.  The most obvious source for information is student assessments, which I gave using Google Forms.  Google forms is a new tool from Google that integrates inside of Google documents, and specifically the spreadsheet functionality.  Although I export the quizzes externally for grading, any analysis done on the answers given is conducted inside of the spreadsheet on Google.  Peer assessment is another important part of the class, and is required as part of all the major group projects.  Additionally, after they give their Web Application Presentation, students are given an assessment of their teaching / presentation by every other student in the class (and from me).  This information is also gathered using Google Forms. 

    Diigo has been my best source for external information.  Diigo is a social bookmarking website, and it has special education account for teachers.  I signed up for one of these.  As a member of this group, I receive a daily log of all the new resources that have been added into the education section of Diigo, and through this, I've discovered some amazing informational resources.

    Artifacts

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NETS text taken from the ISTE Website.