EDUC 630: Technology Practices for Instructional Improvement

Transcript: The theme for this week talks about how assistive devices and technology are helping educators provide students with access to the internet and its content.  When we discuss equitable access to information online, we need to focus on (1) providing all students with devices and (2) making sure that they have access to a reliable internet connection. Efforts on the part of school districts, government agencies, and private sector businesses have created programs that are equipping students with technology devices and reliable internet connectivity inside and outside schools.  Once this is achieved and every student has a device and a way to access information, it is up to the teacher to develop content that reaches all students. When teaching and engaging students with disabilities, finding alternatives to present and access information is the key. Technology software and hardware such as closed captions, speech-to-text, braille displays, screen readers, screen magni...

Canva The application that I use to do summative assessments in my classroom is Canva. Although this application was launched in 2013, new tools and upgrades are launched every year, making this a reliable resource for creating impressive displays of creativity and showing comprehension of the material.  Differentiation This activity, “Fashion magazine e-project,” is a team activity that asks students to use the Canva application to create fashion pages. The assessment focuses on correctly describing clothing items, colors, and seasons with accurate grammar, adjective agreement, conjugated verbs, and demonstrative adjectives in Spanish.  One alternative to this activity is to create a fashion show video of students modeling different types of clothes and describing what they are wearing. This activity will use another type of technology and cater to students needing kinesthetic and auditory skills to show creativity. Students are still being evaluated on the same skills b...

ChatGPT app Computer-based app and phone-based app AI technology is becoming a prevalent classroom resource in today's education system. As educators, we can either embrace it and teach our students how to use it ethically and creatively or avoid it and set them up for failure later on in the future. I used the ChatGPT computer and phone app versions for this demonstration to demonstrate how this resource can help teachers and students with academic material. As a teacher, I can develop a differentiated lesson plan that can be adjusted to meet my student's needs and their level of knowledge in a matter of minutes. I can get ideas on different projects, teaching methods, and evaluation strategies. As a student, this resource goes beyond a source of text information and becomes an interactive application that students can use to communicate and receive feedback on their answers and questions. As with all AI resources, teachers must begin lessons using ChatGPT by introducing the a...

Transcript: Our students live in a digital era, and to prepare them to become productive members of a fast-growing workforce, we need to teach and reinforce skills like creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and effective communication. Introducing gaming in the curriculum gives educators "role-play, puzzle, problem-solving, action, drill, and practice" strategies to engage students in content (Hughes & Roblyer, 2022, p.159). Some of the challenges that educators need to overcome when introducing gaming are ensuring that students can access different levels based on skills, use creativity to solve problems, have challenging activities that are achievable, and are given choices based on their decisions while they have productive interaction with partners (Alzahrani & Alhalafawy, 2022) in my classroom, I use review games at the end of each unit on individual and group modes so students can practice vocabulary words and escape rooms so they can apply the material ...

Professional Interview Questionnaire   Math Teacher Mrs. Smith has been a math teacher for 18 years and teaches Algebra 1 and Honors Geometry. Her students have access to individual Chromebook class iPads, and a class interactive TV. Mrs. Smith does not have any educational certification in technology, but she attends in-district training in technology provided by our technology department and Pioneer RESA (Regional training agency) History Teacher Mrs. Broome has been teaching a history course for 17 years and teaches History and AP human geography. Her students have access to individual Chromebook class iPads, and a class interactive TV. Mrs. Broome does not have any educational certification in technology, but her husband works in the technology department of another school district, and she is always well-informed and trying new apps and programs that she refers to our technology coach to post on the technology teacher’s page. French Teacher Mrs. Hughes has been teaching foreig...