Effective Bridging of Technology and Instruction Reflection

At the beginning of my Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology course I was asked to define my personal theory of learning. After learning about different learning theories; multiple teaching strategies; and many technology tools available to help the diverse learners in my classroom; I have decided to do some modifications to my current teaching approach. I decided that I should implement the use of more technology tools to engage my students into deeper and more meaningful learning. I would also like to implement a more constructivism learning approach to have my students construct artifacts that will demonstrate their learning of new concepts. The way my students can construct such artifacts can be by building concrete models or by creating digital representations using technology tools such as Internet research, PowerPoint, Publisher, Photostory3, Excel, Graph Club and Thinking Maps.

Many of these technology tools can be combined to deeply engage my students into their learning and enhance the products they will build. For example I can have my students find information about a subject in the internet and then have them produce a slide show with their information using PowerPoint. They could also create a graph in Excel or another program to include in their slide show.

One of my long-terms goals for technology integration is to spend more time at the computer labs to teach my students how to use different software so they can build their digital projects. I would also like to find more Webquest that align with my state TEKS to integrate into my curriculum. In addition to that I will continue writing grants to purchase more technology tools such as digital microscopes, and other interactive technologies that can help my students in their learning. With all the technology tools we have available today there is a huge opportunity to be creative, don’t you agree?