Technology is revolutionizing education because it is constantly changing. Educators need to provide an engaging learning environment and support student achievement, they must be willing to change. Teachers must continue to grow daily and be willing to implement innovations that will guide changes in the classroom. In addition, applying theories and introducing innovations allows teachers to have more tools to support their students' needs and provide more opportunities to learn with innovations using technology.
MEDT 8461: Diffusion of Innovations
Magnifying ClassUverse Project
My Magnifying ClassUverse Project for Diffusions of Innovations gave my team a chance to be a change agent and determine a new instructional technology innovation (Microsoft HoloLens) in classroom instruction. This project shows the step-by-step process we took to introduce a new, student-centered learning environment with the implementation of Microsoft HoloLens. Click on this link to view my project Magnifying ClassUverse Project .
MEDT 8462: Leading and Managing Instructional Technology Programs
For this assignment, I got to experience being a change agent within my school. I determined a technology need for my school based on what I discovered through a needs assessment survey I administered to the staff and administrators. I was able to take the data from the survey and determine the best method and plan to meet the needs of the school, teachers, and students. Here is a link to my Technology Plan.
The biggest challenge I found with the Magnifying ClassUverse Project was that I had to collaborate and work with a team on this very involved and detailed project. We had to organize multiple team meetings that worked with everyone's schedules. This project was also challenging because some team members did not fully understand the expectations of the project causing communication barriers between some of the team members. Working with a group of individuals can always be daunting. The team must respect each other's opinions, which became an issue with this project. In the end, we finally worked out the kinks, respected each other's opinions, and the project turned out a success. The 2nd artifact was an assignment that tested my knowledge and skills to develop a technology plan for the school. This assignment was eye-opening because I never performed a needs assessment for a school and develop a technology plan for a school. However, after doing this assignment I enjoyed learning the process of creating a technology plan. Now, I feel confident taking on a bigger role in my school to make changes that positively benefit the school, staff, and students.
I believe that both of these assignments display my understanding of SLO 2. I strongly feel that these assignments demonstrate my knowledge and understanding of being able to apply different theories of change in order to introduce innovative changes in educational settings. The Magnifying ClassUverse Project introduces Microsoft HoloLens as an innovation to be utilized in classroom learning to improve student engagement and motivation by providing students with more hands-on learning experiences. The technology plan that I created for my school addresses a need for my school to help improve student learning and academic achievement. Both of these artifacts encourage change in instructional techniques with the use of technology to help improve student learning.
These assignments did a great job of taking skills that I learned throughout this program and displaying the knowledge I gained. For the Magnifying ClassUverse project, I was able to see the process of introducing a technology innovation into a classroom. For this project, my group and I had to focus on how to introduce Microsoft HoloLens to a high school for science classes. We had to identify the benefits and impact of the implementation of this technology on student learning, engagement, and motivation. The second assignment challenged me in ways I didn't think I was capable of doing. I had the opportunity to survey and interview some of my co-workers and administration on what they believed are some of the most imperative technology needs of the school. I took the results from these surveys and came up with a school technology plan. After doing this for my school, I am now a member of our technology team and I feel confident in my abilities to share insight into our school's technology implementation and usage.