Reflections (Heidi)
Reflection #1
At the core of UDL is the premise that often the curriculum is disabled (and disabling!). It is not flexible; it often poses barriers, and consequently prevents rather than supports optimal learning experiences. Do you agree or disagree with this view? Why or why not?
Reflection #2
What are the benefits of analyzing the curriculum for strengths and weaknesses rather than focusing on the student’s strengths and weaknesses? What are the challenges of this approach?
Reflection #3
How can using a variety of materials and methods reach more of the learners within your classroom? What are the benefits of doing so? What are the challenges?
Reflection #4
What barriers are inherent in traditional assessments? What are the challenges in offering varied options for assessment?
Reflection #5
Given the realities of our modern age and the demands of our children’s future, is it really okay to allow teachers to choose whether or not they incorporate modern technologies into their instruction?
Reflection #6
TBA
March 18th, 2012 at 2:36 pm
Given the realities of our modern age and the demands of our children’s future, is it really okay to allow teachers to choose whether or not they incorporate modern technologies into their instruction?
I think that if given the choice, most teachers will not opt to include it in their classroom. Instead, if you differentiated to the teachers, giving them options instead of mandates , and training instead of five minute presentations at a faculty meeting, teachers would choose to include technology. To tell someone they have to use technology is too broad based. To ask someone to choose from a list of five or six possible sources will allow for the teacher to feel this task is more manageable, be more apt to sincerely use it and allow for them to become masters at it. Half the battle is finding technology that complements your teaching style. If given time, training and a manageable list, teachers could do it.
March 18th, 2012 at 2:37 pm
Reflection #5
Given the realities of our modern age and the demands of our children’s future, is it really okay to allow teachers to choose whether or not they incorporate modern technologies into their instruction?
Teachers who choose whether to incorporate technologies may not actually be given the choice, but are just not confident or are unsure of how to use it. They lack the confidence, and possibly even the desire, to learn the new technologies in order to use them. Should teachers still be given the choice? No, they should not. However, risks are taken when choices are not given in alienating and losing good teachers who are still able to engage their students without modern technology. As teachers become more and more confident in the technologies, less and less choices will need to be given.
March 18th, 2012 at 2:39 pm
What I meant by the first sentence is that they may not be making a inherent choice NOT to use the technology, but are not confident in how to use it.
March 18th, 2012 at 2:38 pm
Given the realities of our modern age and the demands of our children’s future, is it really okay to allow teachers to choose whether or not they incorporate modern technologies into their instruction?
With the way in which the world is changing every minute, I feel that it is our responsibility as educators to adapt our teaching to meet the needs of our students. I don’t think teachers should have the choice to incorporate modern technologies into their instruction, but rather it should become natural. I don’t think that every single lesson that is taught needs to be based around the latest technologies, but it is so important to consider the options that are available to educators today. There was a quote from one of the videos that said, “Education is adapting to a changing world,” and I feel that we need to be aware of the changes that are happening all around us. The students of today are much different and learn differently than the students of the past, therefore they cannot be taught in the same manner.
March 18th, 2012 at 2:38 pm
Reflection #5
Given the realities of our modern age and the demands of our children’s future, is it really okay to allow teachers to choose whether or not they incorporate modern technologies into their instruction?
I think it is important for all teachers to incorporate some modern technologies into their instruction but unless we are given proper training, we cannot expect to be proficient in all the new technology out there. Therefore, it wouldn’t be right to demand that teachers give up some proven old-fashioned methods of instruction to incorporate new modern technological methods that teachers may not be proficient in or comfortable doing.
March 18th, 2012 at 2:40 pm
Reflection 5
Given the realities of our modern age and the demands of our children’s future, is it really okay to allow teachers to choose whether or not they incorporate modern technologies into their instruction?
Personally I do believe you should allow teacher to choose whether to incorporate modern technologies into their instruction since I believe that good teaching is good teaching no matter what one uses to do it. Modern technology and ideas does not necessarily translate into good teaching and student learning but rather the person who is doing the instruction. A teacher whose only piece of technology is a piece of chalk can still do a remarkably better job then a teacher who has an ipad, smartboard, or any other new piece of technology. A teacher should be given the training and availability to use modern technologies if they choose to but should not be forced to do it.
March 18th, 2012 at 2:40 pm
Reflection #5
Given the realities of our modern age and the demands of our children’s future, is it really okay to allow teachers to choose whether or not they incorporate modern technologies into their instruction?
As our students become more and more tech savvy, it is no longer an option to incorporate modern technologies into instruction. The old way of teaching in a classroom does not give our students what they need to succeed in the future. They do not participate in activities in the same manner as previous generations and therefore, do not learn in the same way as previous generations. We are doing a disservice to our youth if we do not create opportunities for them to learn in the modes that they so easily access. The principles of UDL maintain that all students should have equal access to the curriculum. The more we as teachers resist change, the fewer students we will be able to reach.
March 18th, 2012 at 2:41 pm
Given the realities of our modern age and the demands of our children’s future, is it really okay to allow teachers to choose whether or not they incorporate modern technologies into their instruction?
I don’t think that it is okay to allow teachers to avoid technology in their classrooms. I do think it is okay to allow them to regulate the extent to which they use technology. I think that technology must be used in balance with other methods, to truly reach every learner and to allow learners to grow. Even though students may learn most easily through technology, trying to expand the way they learn is not a bad idea. Students need to be open to other methods of learning just as teachers should be open to other methods of teaching. Teacher and students may find that they can teach/learn some things better through a hands-on activity, or through music or visuals. But they need to be given the opportunity and be willing to embrace it.
March 18th, 2012 at 2:42 pm
Reflection #5
Given the realities of our modern age and the demands of our children’s future, is it really okay to allow teachers to choose whether or not they incorporate modern technologies into their instruction.
I feel that the fundamental goal of teaching is to prepare our students for the future. The future looks quite different now than when many educators began their careers. If educators do not incorporate modern technologies into their classroom than ultimately we are doing our students a disservice. The transition will not happen overnight in the field of education but I feel that educators should be provided with the necessary training to incorporate modern technology into their teaching. In addition to learning how to use the new technology, educators also have to undergo a paradigm shift. Many will have to let go of hard fast beliefs about what teaching should look like and how learning is demonstrated. For some this task may be overwhelming. I feel that it is imperative for our educators to being to make this shift in order to produce students who can compete on a global level in our society.
March 18th, 2012 at 2:45 pm
Given the realities of our modern age and the demands of our children’s future, is it really okay to allow teachers to choose whether or not they incorporate modern technologies into their instruction?
from Dangerously Irrelevant
I am torn about this question. To a certain degree, how competent are some of the teachers with the technologies we have and are they capable of being the technological leader in the classroom? If the modern age is so digitally driven, wouldn’t they get exposure to these demands generally at home or outside of the classroom? I have never taught a computer lesson to my second graders, yet each of them knows how to start the computer, log on, find the program, and start working on the assigned web activity. In fact, when our smart board goes haywire, they are the first to offer helpful hints to solve the problem. The assumption is never that there is an issue with the program or equipment for the technology, but that the teacher has mistyped or created the error.
Teachers would welcome the opportunity to facilitate these new ways of learning if they were given the proper support and professional development. The training that is necessary is often omitted or it is visited briefly during a staff meeting and never discussed outside of the faculty room again. We need to break down the walls that have the teachers as the all knowing leaders in the classroom and ask the students what we all can bring to the table to create a product. Then the students and the teachers learn together. Communication is vital in all areas of society today and this would allow everyone an opportunity to grow and develop these skills.
We should encourage the teacher to become more adept as using the technology and provide the tools needed to be able to apply these skills in the classroom, to and with the students.