1. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that engage students in authentic learning,
I have developed a range of learning activities that incorporate technology and encourage higher level thinking. Here are several examples.
I teach a course on information literacy that helps develop the skills necessary to teach inquiry skills and work with teachers to incorporate these skills in the classroom curriculum. As one part of that course, students do a research project where they develop their own higher level questions, conduct the research process, discuss on how they might teach these skills to students, and reflect on their own strengths and weaknesses in doing research. The students are given a range of strategies to choose at all stages of the process as well as the option for choosing their own method of presenting their final results. Examples from this unit include:
Assignment in class on designing instruction: You and a partner or two will be developing a "workshop" that will focus on an enrichment activity to incorporate student interests, nurture creativity, motivate students, and expose them to topics, ideas, concepts, and/or events not necessarily covered in the classroom curriculum. These workshop should stimulate new or present interests and lead to individual or small group followup and possibly a creative product. (Renzulli and De Wet Type I activity). This workshop will be lead by an adult, in many cases the librarian, and supported by a website of resources that supports student discovery and incorporates their contributions. Assume this workshop would be done during lunchtimes or study halls, after school, as a club activity, or during summer school. Ideally, opportunities like this could be built into the regular school day, but we'll start with something a little less ambitious.
Uses of technology: I use Google Apps and other online collaborative tools frequently in my instruction to encourage student collaboration and feedback as well as to help them divide a larger problem or process into manageable steps. This is especially useful when the students are working at a distance. The attached presentation (slides 10-16) provides examples of how I used Google Docs as well as WebEx Training Center for audio presentations sharing of documents, and chat and Padlet for brainstorming as students co-constructed a learning activity for K-12 students that applies principles of student-driven learning, student control, questioning, critical and creative thinking, problem solving. The WebEx was the introduction to the assignment with initial planning in pairs via a Google Doc template , sharing ideas with the larger group, and feedback from the instructor. The planning continued via the Google Doc for several weeks and tracked their progress on a Google Site, allowing both instructor and peer feedback. The major objectives of this assignment were to develop collaboration skills and to develop creative projects that support student inquiry and interests through critical and creating thinking.
Skills used: Creating these workshops required a range of 21st century skills: Critical thinking, creative thinking, collaboration, communication, project management, adaptability, and self-direction. Members of the class interviewed students at the level of interest to them to determine topics that intrigued these students, selected a partner to work with, and developed their own project ideas.
Sample workshops - for good examples of student projects see:
I have demonstrated skills in a range of Google products, as evidenced on the Google Challenges page. I feel that with these basic skills I am able to design instructional environments that encourage collaboration, communication and critical thinking.
Online instruction
I have taught numerous online courses over the last 20 years using tools such as WebCT, Moodle, Desire2Learn and Canvas. I have also used Google Classroom with undergraduates in an introductory course for educators. While these classes are housed in password-protected environments, I will include the syllabus and calendar of one such course as an example:
In a fall 2016 class, I created an activity that required students to go through a series of makerspace stations with a partner and then develop ideas of their own on how they might incorporate activities that support student exploration of their own interests. For that class I created a Google Site that provided introductory materials on each station as well as the projects created by my students after going through the stations.
I am constantly revising my lessons and looking for new ways to raise the level of thinking and incorporate appropriate technologies. These examples have changed each time I teach them as I reflect on what worked and what didn't. By incorporating choice, reflection and self-assessment, group projects, and peer feedback, I try to encourage students to examine and improve their own skills as well as think about how this will impact their own practice.