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Standard II: Design & Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences & Assessments (2008)
Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessment incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS•S. Teachers:
A. design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.
Teaching in a computer lab, my students use digital tools and resources on a daily basis. However, the challenge presents itself in using those resources effectively for student learning. The Computers Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow WebQuest is my way of teaching both PowerPoint skills and computer history in an engaging way that allows for individual creativity. I also use learning experiences like the Animated Timeline of Computer History and the Lunar Phases Animation to present information in a more accessible, interesting, and hands-on format.
B. develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress.
To facilitate an individualized learning experience, the Technology Integration Plan was used in my alternative middle school classroom during the 2001-02 school year. The Spelling Practice PowerPoint was developed when I taught Special Education. The spelling curriculum I was using at the time suggested a "See, Say, Spell, Write" approach to learning spelling in which the teacher would briefly display a word on an overhead projector. After the word was removed, the students would then say the word aloud, spell the word verbally and finally write the word on paper. By developing a PowerPoint to automate the process, I could have each student working on an individual spelling list based on their needs rather than having the entire class working together on the same list.
Creating the Peformance Support System Prospectus was also a highly individualized learning experience, though I was in the role of a student rather than a teacher. Each member of the class was given a task to support and were required to devise, through our own experience, a system that could better support the assigned task.
C. customize and personalize learning activities to address students' diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources.
Having taught in an alternative school environment for two years and Special Education for three, I understand the need to provide differentiated instruction for learners based on their individual needs. The Disability Case Study outlines several assistive technologies designed for students with hearing difficulties while the Technology Integration Plan describes how technology would be used in the alternative middle school classroom I was teaching in 2001.
During the time I taught Special Education, I developed this Spelling Practice PowerPoint based on the Stetson spelling curriculum I was using at the time. The teacher was suggested to conduct "See, Say, Spell, Write" study sessions in which each spelling word was briefly displayed on an overhead projector for the entire class to practice. However, by developing this PowerPoint I was able to allow students to work on individual spelling lists based on their needs rather than having the entire class working together on the same list. In my class, each student worked individually at a computer. The PowerPoint was automatically timed to display each word very briefly on the screen. After the word was displayed, the student would say the word aloud, spell the word verbally, then write the word down on paper. When finished, they would check their own papers to see where they needed to improve. See related Standard IV.B.
D. provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching.
As a teacher of technology, I often have to come up with creative ways to assess student learning. In Keyboarding, I use the Speed Test Record to monitor student performance. The students do a pretest and then a post test at the end of each term to measure their typing speed. I then calculate grades in two ways: one based on their overall speed and the other based on their percentage of improvement. Whichever grade is highest is the one that I count. Students who type slower than average can still succeed based on their improvement.
In Computers class, I use the Standard Report Test as an authentic assessment in which students must correctly format a Standard Report in Word. The Performance Assessment Plan details another authentic assessment for desktop publishing. Finally, the Online Collaborative Lesson Scoring Guide and the WebQuest rubric both represent assessments that I have developed and used with various groups of learners.
Jeffrey T. Young ~ jty6w7@mizzou.edu ~ Updated June 2009