Competency 8: Apply Computer-based Technologies and Media to the Solution of Instructional Problems
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Plans and designs effective learning environments and experiences supported by technology
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Applies technology to facilitate a variety of effective assessment and evaluation strategies
To demonstrate my competency in applying computer-based technologies and media to the solution of instructional problems, I present my web-enhanced lesson plan Global Warming in Your Community that I developed for my course EDCI56800 Partnering with web-based tools for learner centered environments. This lesson was developed around one of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science for grades six through eight and centered around the driving question, “how will global warming influence our local ecosystems and why is it important to make a difference locally?”
For this lesson, I had to plan and design effective learning environments and experiences that were supported by technology. To do this, I focused on inquiry-based learning and incorporated web 2.0 tools into each step of the learning process. Tools, such as Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Photos, YouTube, and data collection tools, were all utilized in initial investigations. Students worked collaboratively in groups to research ecosystems on the internet and were then given the opportunity to get out into nature and explore their local and state parks to gather data about their own communities. Students in groups compiled note, images, and videos from their park exploration into an online storage space to later analyze and hypothesize solutions to the effects of global warming.
In order to keep students involved moving forward in the lesson, I applied technology to facilitate a variety of effective assessment and evaluation strategies. Students were given quizzes through Google Forms that covered collaborative discussions and peer-to-peer learning activities. Additionally, students were required to create a video presentation of their findings and hypothesis using Adobe Spark online. They then posted the presentation directly to a Blogger account with a personal reflection and were asked to provide substantial comments on other students’ work to develop a web-based conversation.
Having students create online presentations allows students to express their thoughts and ideas in a way that is not only more familiar and more innate, but also gives them a global voice that can spark discussions with classrooms of students who reside near ecosystems that they were not able to experience themselves. This was a project that afforded me the freedom to design a course exclusively using Web 2.0 tools. Being the first lesson that I developed for young students and a discipline outside of what I am familiar with, it also pushed me outside of my comfort zone of multimedia creation and communications. It was a challenge developing driving questions with diction that was appropriate for middle school aged students and following a state requirement, which I had also never done prior to this project. However, I believe that this project was well executed and is one of my strongest projects my time in the Purdue LDT program.
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Demonstrates understanding of social, ethical, legal, and human issues surrounding the use of technology and applies it in practice
To demonstrate my understanding of social, ethical, legal, and human issues surrounding the use of technology, I’d like to share my evaluation of JetBlue’s Principles of Leadership Program that I completed for my course EDCI 57700 Strategic Assessment and Evaluation. This evaluation centered around the analysis of a case study of the airline company JetBlue. JetBlue’s rapid expansion had an exceptionally heavy impact on the corporate training department. In order to instill the core values, the JetBlue Principles of Leadership (POL), to the rush of new hires, JetBlue’s training specialist decided to develop a new POL program. My assignment was to develop a case supporting the importance of implementing an evaluation plan after employees completed the new POL program. Working on a case study with a global client such as JetBlue pushed me to research and understand many facets of the company. In order to have a successful training program with a diverse range of employees, it’s important to understand the ethics of the company and how each level of employee, whether on the managerial level or not, would interpret the POL training and leave feeling empowered and connected to a central mission (social, human, ethical issues). It was important to understand the limitations of technology in collecting data and that some employees may not be completely honest about the effectiveness of their training through the sole use of online questionnaires (human issues). By suggesting the use of more interactive evaluation methods, such as observations and interviews, I as an evaluator would be able to provide more accurate assessments of the effectiveness of the POL training and how deeply employees possessed the desire to change behaviors and provide a better customer experience and prevent conflicts (legal issues). This project imparted the significance of understanding a client, their employees and their needs in order to provide reliable results for the given situation.