My educational technology philosophy is shaped by experiences of teaching and learning, the drive to provide transformational learning opportunities that empower students and a belief that technology’s role in the classroom will only continue to grow, providing new ways for students to achieve the highest levels of success today and in the future. To achieve this, I will use research driven learning and teaching principles, a flexible and evolving instructional approach, innovative assessments and continually explore new practices to improve and evolve my teaching.

Learning: I believe that learning is an active process of discovery and growth that involves more than learning facts but instead is rooted in creating meaning. Learning happens when students are active participants that make choices, grapple with content, and collaborate with others to gain a deeper and personal understanding of the material. Technology allows students to create their own meaning by providing affordances like collaboration, feedback, discussion and choice. For example, technology allows me to create research projects that allow students to use multiple skill sets like collaboration, research, writing, critical thinking and problem solving. When used appropriately and effectively, technology can help students reach higher levels of learning by allowing them to combine modes of thinking and skill sets in new, meaningful and creative ways.

Teaching: My role is to facilitate learning by creating engaging, student-centered lessons that incorporate technology to practice foundational skills, allow new ways for students to apply their understanding and construct meaning in ways that were not possible without technological affordances. I enjoy using technology to foster learning because not only does it allow students new opportunities to apply and expand their knowledge, it is engaging and offers convenience and support for both teachers and students. For example, I use the program Revision Assistant. It provides instant, structured, and individual feedback and is programmed to encourage multiple drafts of student writing. While the whole class works on the program, I can have individual student writing conferences. While some might disapprove of a learning program like Revision Assistant that represents lower levels of technology integration according to the SAMR technology model, its benefit is twofold. The technology is appropriate to the task of providing students immediate and specific feedback that results in revision and it allows the teacher more time to focus on individual student needs.

Methods and Strategies: My instructional approach is based heavily on the constructivist learning theory. As a result, I use background knowledge to anchor new material and am conscious of the need for students to create their own understanding of the material in order to internalize and apply what they have learned. Student interests, abilities, and unique insights are valued and incorporated into learning experiences. I also rely heavily on collaboration strategies like think pair shares, peer editing, and group projects to facilitate critical thinking, build relationships, and create opportunities for students to demonstrate leadership and responsibility. In addition, I employ direct teaching strategies to clearly outline goals and measure student progress. Technology supports all of these endeavors by creating new ways to share, discuss, and work with the content. Without document sharing programs, access to a worldwide audience, organized information, and multimedia software made accessible by technology, students would not be able to participate in rich, authentic discussions, collaborate with experts outside their school community, link their learning to the outside world, or show understanding in creative and individualized ways. However, the technology itself does not affect student learning. Instead, educational technology integration must be deliberate and structured like outlined in the Technology Pedagogical and Content Knowledge framework. The TPACK approach supports student learning because it pairs best instructional practices and content knowledge with the appropriate technology for supporting and enhancing learning experiences.

Assessment: There are multiple ways to assess student learning. Technology allows students to use eportfolios, multimedia presentations and other technologies instead of the traditional assessments of the past to show competencies. The affordances of technology for assessment include reflection, authenticity and relevance. In addition to showing how a student's skills compare to a set standard, educational technology tools go beyond standardized testing to allow students the opportunity to publicly share their distinctive understanding. With technology, assessment becomes an opportunity for students to develop ownership of their learning, self-expression and a means for creativity.

Professional Growth: As a teacher, I feel I have daily opportunities to learn through collaboration with other teachers, administrators, specialists and students. Overtime, I have come to understand that there is not only one right way to teach and there is not only one way to show understanding. Technology allows us to create new ways to teach, learn and assess and it is my responsibility to keep up to date on new technological advancements to provide a whole, current and empowering education for my students.

Reflection:

My educational technology philosophy is written out of a collection of experiences inside the classroom, professional development and academic knowledge. It represents the reflections and understandings I have discovered about the relationship and connections between education and technology. Creating the philosophy challenged me to consider and evaluate how I have used technology in the past and think about how I can use it in the future to push student achievement. In this draft specifically, I used my newfound academic knowledge and past experiences assessing student work to explain why I feel that electronic portfolios are a better way to evaluate students than traditional tests.