Moving Forward with Technology
Given that my undergraduate teacher preparation program at Oakland University was exceptional, the single area it did not seem to prepare pre-service teachers in was the use of technology. In fact, the technology available now is significantly different than it was when I was first licensed in 2004. Therefore, my immediate goal is to complete the Educational Technology Certificate Program at Michigan State University to complement the Master of Arts degree in Middle Level Education which I have nearly completed through Central Michigan University. The combination of these two programs will enable me to harness the power of technology to meet the unique needs and characteristics of my middle school students. I will earn the Educational Technology Certificate in Spring, 2010. The Master of Arts degree will be awarded upon completion of two classes which will be available in 2011.
Following the completion of this coursework, I would like to become involved in professional opportunities at various level. I will continue to research and implement proven instructional strategies that represent "change with a difference" and share the outcomes of these undertakings with my colleagues in my district and ISD. For example, I am currently involved in a year-long Integration Creation workshop which focuses on teaching and developing expository writing and critical thinking skills using document-based questions (DBQ). Although DBQs are traditionally paper and pencil lessons, I have created an electronic version which I imagine children responding to in web-based authoring applications. I plan to share the electronic DBQ, which I am currently constructing, with the ISD as well as my colleagues in the workshop. I will also implement this DBQ in my classroom.
Technology will continue to play an important role in conducting the daily business of teaching and managing relationships. I will continue to use technology to increase my efficiency. I will use it to promote communication with families and other staff. I will continue to use technology to locate and access resources, such as the Japan Culture Kits from U of M that I used this year, that I would not be aware of were it not for the internet. Finally, I hope to increase the role of technology in instruction by integrating applications such as Google Earth into my teaching and connecting with others via online collaboration projects such as epals. Technology offers limitless possibilities. It is up to us to find and harness those that will best serve our communities.
In order to promote change from within, I will demonstrate effective uses of technology by sharing my research-based practices as well as their results with administrators and others in the district. It is easier for people to buy into actual rather than theoretical results. I will encourage district level changes that will help close the "digital divide" and provide students and staff with the resources and training needed to make effective use of technology and build 21st century literacies. To do this, I will maintain a website, provide administrators with user ids and passwords that will allow them to access my wiki, and send e-mails and other communications with examples of the change that technology can support. I will also build strategic alliances with other stakeholders in my district who share my vision of technology in order to effect meaningful and lasting change.
Back to Beginning of Mrs. Mansfield's Technology Plan
Given that my undergraduate teacher preparation program at Oakland University was exceptional, the single area it did not seem to prepare pre-service teachers in was the use of technology. In fact, the technology available now is significantly different than it was when I was first licensed in 2004. Therefore, my immediate goal is to complete the Educational Technology Certificate Program at Michigan State University to complement the Master of Arts degree in Middle Level Education which I have nearly completed through Central Michigan University. The combination of these two programs will enable me to harness the power of technology to meet the unique needs and characteristics of my middle school students. I will earn the Educational Technology Certificate in Spring, 2010. The Master of Arts degree will be awarded upon completion of two classes which will be available in 2011.
Following the completion of this coursework, I would like to become involved in professional opportunities at various level. I will continue to research and implement proven instructional strategies that represent "change with a difference" and share the outcomes of these undertakings with my colleagues in my district and ISD. For example, I am currently involved in a year-long Integration Creation workshop which focuses on teaching and developing expository writing and critical thinking skills using document-based questions (DBQ). Although DBQs are traditionally paper and pencil lessons, I have created an electronic version which I imagine children responding to in web-based authoring applications. I plan to share the electronic DBQ, which I am currently constructing, with the ISD as well as my colleagues in the workshop. I will also implement this DBQ in my classroom.
Technology will continue to play an important role in conducting the daily business of teaching and managing relationships. I will continue to use technology to increase my efficiency. I will use it to promote communication with families and other staff. I will continue to use technology to locate and access resources, such as the Japan Culture Kits from U of M that I used this year, that I would not be aware of were it not for the internet. Finally, I hope to increase the role of technology in instruction by integrating applications such as Google Earth into my teaching and connecting with others via online collaboration projects such as epals. Technology offers limitless possibilities. It is up to us to find and harness those that will best serve our communities.
In order to promote change from within, I will demonstrate effective uses of technology by sharing my research-based practices as well as their results with administrators and others in the district. It is easier for people to buy into actual rather than theoretical results. I will encourage district level changes that will help close the "digital divide" and provide students and staff with the resources and training needed to make effective use of technology and build 21st century literacies. To do this, I will maintain a website, provide administrators with user ids and passwords that will allow them to access my wiki, and send e-mails and other communications with examples of the change that technology can support. I will also build strategic alliances with other stakeholders in my district who share my vision of technology in order to effect meaningful and lasting change.
Back to Beginning of Mrs. Mansfield's Technology Plan
