Professional Development and Program Evaluation

MEDT 8462 Leading and Managing Instructional Technology Programs

The needs assessment below helped me identify and address the needs and gaps between the current conditions of technology to the desired condition in my school. The task of gathering information gave perspective that I needed to analyze areas for improvement. One thing that became clear to me was that there are vast amounts of technological tools to use, but many educators are daunted by the amount of time and work it takes to make the transformational shifts needed in their classrooms. The biggest shift needs to be in the disposition of the leaders can impact instructional practices and provide support for those who are willing to take on the task.

MEDT 8484 Research on Media and Instructional Technology

The purpose of the research paper that I wrote in this course was to investigate the flipped classroom model of instruction and ascertain if and how applying it increases student achievement in a 6^th grade world language classroom with a 1:1 iPad device to student ratio, in a Title I, middle grades, International Baccalaureate (IB) school environment, in a north metro Atlanta suburb. The flipped classroom model of instruction is defined as “a reversal of traditional teaching where students gain first exposure to new material outside of class, usually via reading or lecture videos, and then class time is used to do the harder work of assimilating that knowledge through strategies such as problem-solving, discussion or debate” (Brane, 2013 as cited by Institute of Teaching and Learning, para 1). This definition describes the concept, but not the method or the instrument. In this study students use a personal iPad tablet with an IOS 10.3.2 operating system and the Google Classroom multimedia teacher platform. Google Classroom is “…a free suite of productivity tools that includes email, documents, and storage. […] designed collaboratively with teachers to help them save time, keep classes organized, and improve communication with students” (Google, n.d., para 1). Both the practical and theoretical aspects of research on instructional technology overall and the flipped classroom model in particular helped me see the need and develop some professional development to present to my peers. The research conducted includes a literature review and findings of said research.

Reflection

As the world becomes smaller by the miracle of the World Wide Web and people throughout the globe connect via the Internet, now more than ever it is vital for the youth of this world to be fluent in more than one language. “Language education benefits both the workplace and the multicultural world students will inhabit“ (Osborn, 2006 p.3). As a world language teacher I see the importance of being able to communicate in more than one spoken language. Today, it is the technological language, with which we all need to learn how to communicate. It is great to have the fastest Internet and the best devices, but if the operator of said device does not have the skill and proficiency of the basics of our digital age, life is very difficult. I see this first hand when I try to teach my parents - who are both in their 80's, the basics of WhatsApp, FaceTime and electronic mail. The World Wide Web is as important today, as electricity was at the turn of the last century. Everyone around the world will need to be connected and once connected, skills and know how need to be developed to communicate digitally.