Goal 1

Summary:

As I explored different teaching methods that promote student engagement I noticed the opportunities that technology could present to the seminary classes I teach. Technology use in the classroom is often misunderstood and misused. In religious education the embrace of the use of technology and learning is lacking. While identifying areas to increase performance and improve student learning and engagement, I have pursued on understanding of ways to better train students in the use of mobile devices during seminary class.

This goal has helped me identify challenges and opportunities mobile devices can have on learning. This understanding has come through literature review and conducting my own research. It has changed the way I approach preparing lesson and the way technology is used in my classroom.

Reflection:

My background prior to entering the instructional technology program was in the medical field. While I was happy there I ultimately decided that my passion for working with and helping people was best achieved in the classroom as a teacher. In achieving this goal, I wanted to expose myself to some of the essential writings and research in the field of instructional technology (see Classics Works). One of the first learning opportunities I had came from a simple assignment to gather and study some of the classics works on instructional design and technology. This experience has helped provide a foundation that I can use in my own research. I’ve also learned the importance of current research and using referred journals to support my own work. This early experience would provide me with the foundation I needed to build my teaching career on. I soon learned the importance of learning contexts, learner characteristics, needs assessments, prerequisite skills, and instructional design strategies based on the collected information. These were all foreign terms and processes to me, but I’ve been able see their application in the work that I do. As a religious educator I work with a wide variety of students who have unique needs that I’m now more able to recognize and assist them with their learning. I've come to appreciate the value of understanding the needs of your students.

I really enjoy working with young people. It can be a challenge at times, but it’s exciting and the students are excited about learning in new ways. Learning in new and effective ways was an important reason I chose to study instructional technology and design. The seminary program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a four-year religious education program for high school aged students. Technology and media play an important role in religious education. Our curriculum at its core comes from scriptural text, but recently videos, social media communication, and technology add to what the students are being taught. I’ve always wondered the place technology and media would take in religious education. One of the questions I had was, does media use influence learning? I found the answer as I studied articles from Robert Kozma and Richard Clark. These two have become strong voices in a debate that goes back decades. I took my own position on the matter (see Positions Paper). What I’ve come to realize is that media certainly does influence and even improve a learning experience for students. In education I don’t believe it’s just about the destination or outcomes, but also the journey you take to get there. Instructional design plays an important role in the experience students are having with what they are learning. When using technology effectively, teachers must select materials that help meet carefully defined instructional objectives and integrate them into learning experiences that motivate learners.

Learning opportunities aren’t just for students they are for teachers as well. I’ve learned the value of feedback from those I work with and those I teach. I learned how to write and conduct an effective survey in my EDRE 5530 course. This was not my favorite course, but I did take a lot from it. You can see an example of how to write effective questions in a survey (see Survey Creation). I put these acquired skills to work as I developed at teacher survey for the area that I work in ( see Weber Area Teacher Student Survey Sept 2015). I can’t take all the credit, my secretary helped with some of the excel work, but I knew how to write effective questions that allowed students to express themselves while providing valuable feedback to me as their teacher. I took the data gathered and was able to see opportunities for growth in my lesson preparation and instruction. Exploring new methods of teaching and seeking greater understanding from the literature that available to me has helped me be a better teacher and gives my students new opportunities to learn.