Professional Growth

Reflections

Growth is something that is synonomus with education. We as educators, grow (you sometimes have no choice but to, your observations depend on it!) throughout the year, and our learners, who we try and help mold into brighter, better, thinkers and people, grow through each lesson we teach them. We check them for understanding through assessments & exit tickets, and we're able to give them feedback and help them along the way. Reflection is the feedback for educators, and something that is important to learn how to do in order to push yourself along.

In the text box below is my Reflection on each of the previous 6 Modules.

We also had an opportunity for extra credit if we used AI to create a unit plan for 9th graders, focusing on student ownership, collaboration, and ethical technology use. It’s amazing, how the AI can just put together not just lesson plans, but lesson UNITS in seconds! This is stuff that can take many hours to do, especially if you have to use Bloom’s Taxonomy, make sure the measurability is there, etc. I’m definitely impressed at the detail the AI put into the lessons; from the standards they align with, assessments, the tech tools, it’s astounding. I wish I could’ve introduced something like this to my Mom, an elementary educator of 37.5 years that I watched do lesson plans almost nightly. In undergrad, the lesson plans we had to create were excruciating to say the least, they were a ton of work, especially the ones we had to create for the edTPA. A tool like AI, that will get as specific as you want it to, would take a lot of pressure off of educators, and give us way more time to focus on the learners. Great tool!

My Extra Credit assignment will also be posted in the text box under the Reflection.

Elliot Ellison-Banks

Module 7

                                                                               Reflection

                  This assignment is a culminating Professional Growth Reflection that summarizes our development & learning throughout this course, where we reflect on how we have applied the ISTE Standards for Educators in our assignments and teaching practices, focusing on specific examples from our work in Modules 1 through 6. There has been so much of said growth, I have learned so many neat tricks & tools that believe it or not, have already benefited me as an educator and my learners as learners. The best part about it all, everything was fun and new, exciting. Educational Technology is truly a special major, a special topic, and something that is the future of education. I’ll go through the entirety of the Modules and break down what was gotten from each one and my future goals for continued professional development in Education Technology.

                  Module 1, our intro into ELRC 4507, was a great introduction with great introductory activities. The star of this Module was Padlet, snatching the show away from the teacher blog post that I chose, Ms. Cassidy’s Blog. Here’s an excerpt from my reflection reflecting on the introduction to classroom/teacher blogs, “The learners at my school, high school learners, are asked to keep paper portfolios. Read that again, paper portfolios. We're tasked with keeping them in crates, we have a crate for each class, and they throw them out the second we hand them to them when we're switching over to the gym from PE at the start of the 2nd semester. I don't even give paperwork. I've been an advocate for digital portfolios from the beginning of my time as an educator here at my school, so I don't have any genuine critiques of blogs, my apologies. I think learners would be beyond excited to keep blogs of their work from 9th grade to 12th, I think I would go as far to make it a mandatory thing for them. They would appreciate it so much when they graduate, and I would even go as far as say it would encourage them to try harder because they would be faced with what they have done every time a post is uploaded.” Teacher blogs, as you can see from my excerpt, are an ideal way to keep a log for learners’ work. Such a cool concept would be a hit at every school. Padlet, one of the coolest educational tools that I have ever come across, give students a source to go to for endless information from me, the educator, and another option for a digital portfolio. When I graduate from this major, I will be armed with the proper backing to go up against administration to present ideas like Padlet as realistic & modern replacements to old, antiquated practices like paper portfolios & binders.

                  “Digital citizen concepts such as privacy, responsible technology use, and online behavior are critical when it comes to Educational Technology. There's so much freedom with technology, but with great freedom comes great responsibility.” Module 2, the Digital Citizenship Module, introduced us to the importance of responsible technology use, a very important topic, but the most impactful thing I took away from that Module was how to create infographics on Canva. I had no idea how to use Canva. I had an account from a previous class, but I decided against using it, so the account was just going unused. Sometimes, all it takes is a brief introduction to a topic to unlock a whole new world of possibilities. I easily put that infographic together and I plan on having my learners use Canva to make their own as soon as next month when we get back from break.

                  I can see I’m creeping up on the 700-word mark, my apologies to all who read, I know this is supposed to be 500-700 words, so I’ll try to condense Modules 3 & 5 into one because we had to create lesson plans for them both. “Getting a chance to design lesson integrated with tech tools is about the only thing that can make lesson planning exciting. I often have to design admin approved, stick to their script lessons that follow what they want, not what I teach. I admittedly stray from what I have submitted, but only in good ways. I may say that we're talking about mental health, but I may not include that we might throw on The Martian on Friday to take notes on how Mark Whatney's mental health is holding up (as well as the crew that left him stranded) on Mars all alone. Or that we use Tik Tok or YouTube skits that the learners make to assess them on what they learned about Depression. There are always fun ways to integrate technology and promote digital citizenship amongst our learners.” Module 3 tasked us with designing a lesson integrated with tech tools, so I chose Google Docs, Padlet, and TikTok s mine and put together a fun mental health lesson, Module 5 I chose PearDeck. PearDeck is another magical tool that has been hidden from me for some strange reason that makes Google Slides interactive. My next PowerPoint presentation, I definitely plan on using it. I’ve always used  tech tools in my classes, but I never official planned for it in lessons. It was refreshing to do so, and again, when I graduate from this major, I will be armed with the proper backing to go up against administration to present ideas like these as realistic & modern replacements to old, antiquated practices.

                  “Combining collaborative tools like Google Docs (the collaborative tool I chose for this Project), Moodle, Blackboard, and Padlet with collaborative projects breeds the best creativity and inspires learners to self-teach, give peer to peer feedback, and knowledge exchange with each other.” Module 4, I created a narrated PowerPoint presentation detailing how things like Google Docs can be used to track learners progress in group work. This is something I have always done, and something that I plan on continuing to do in the future.

“Assessments are one of the most important parts of education. We put so much into making sure we have the best lessons, clear & concise objectives, Bloom's Taxonomy, but the only way we can be sure if all of that reaches the learners is through assessment. There's so many different ways to assess learners, but the normal tried & true pen and paper formative & summative assessment style is what most districts require. While most times we can't get away with new, innovative ways, there's a lot of things we can do with technology that refreshes assessment. One of which I chose as my tool for this presentation, Google Forms.” Module 6 tasked us with showcasing assessments, and I did a voiced-over presentation on a screen recording of one of the assessments in my 9th Grade Health class. I have always used these assessments through Google Classroom. “Google Forms allows you to do so many unique things that you just can't do with pen and paper. Instant, real-time feedback is almost always begged for from leaners when I'm grading their responses after they've hit submit. The data that you have in your hands after an assessment on Google Forms is astounding! You can see what answer was most commonly selected on multiple choice questions, allowing you to see the thinking of the majority of your learners, something that is invaluable when checking for their understanding.”

                  This assignment is a culminating Professional Growth Reflection that summarizes our development & learning throughout this course, where we reflect on how we have applied the ISTE Standards for Educators in our assignments and teaching practices, focusing on specific examples from our work in Modules 1 through 6. There has been so much of said growth, I have learned so many neat tricks & tools that believe it or not, have already benefited me as an educator and my learners as learners. The best part about it all, everything was fun and new, exciting. Educational Technology is truly a special major, a special topic, and something that is the future of education. This class was amazing, I learned so much, it was definitely a pleasure!

Unit Title: Empowering Innovation with Ethical AI

Grade Level: 9th Grade

Subject Area: Interdisciplinary (English Language Arts, Technology, and Social Studies)

Duration: 4 weeks (12-15 lessons)

Unit Objectives

Learners will:

                  1.             Understand how AI tools work and their potential applications.

                  2.             Analyze ethical considerations and biases in AI.

                  3.             Collaborate to develop a project using AI tools responsibly.

                  4.             Reflect on the importance of ownership, collaboration, and ethics in technology use.

Standards Alignment

                  •               ELA: Writing arguments with clear reasoning (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.1).

                  •               Technology: Understanding the societal impact of technology (ISTE Standards for Learners 2b, 3d).

                  •               Social Studies: Analyzing the influence of technology on cultural and societal change.

Unit Outline

Week 1: Foundations of AI and Ethical Considerations

                  1.             Lesson 1: What is AI?

                  •               Activities:

                  •               Interactive video on AI basics (e.g., from YouTube or Khan Academy).

                  •               Learners explore and discuss examples of AI in everyday life.

                  •               Tools: Google Jamboard for brainstorming.

                  2.             Lesson 2: Ethical Dilemmas in AI

                  •               Activities:

                  •               Case studies of AI biases (e.g., facial recognition inaccuracies).

                  •               Group discussion: Who is responsible for ethical AI?

                  •               Tools: Padlet for sharing thoughts.

                  3.             Lesson 3: Data and Bias

                  •               Activities:

                  •               Experiment with an AI tool (e.g., ChatGPT or DALL·E) to explore potential biases.

                  •               Reflect on how AI models learn and can reinforce stereotypes.

                  •               Tools: AI-powered tools for experimentation.

Week 2: Ownership and Collaboration in AI Projects

                  4.             Lesson 4: Project Planning

                  •               Activities:

                  •               Learners form teams to identify a real-world problem AI could solve.

                  •               Develop project proposals.

                  •               Tools: Trello for project management.

                  5.             Lesson 5: Collaborative Problem-Solving with AI

                  •               Activities:

                  •               Teams experiment with AI tools to brainstorm solutions.

                  •               Peer feedback on feasibility and ethical considerations.

                  •               Tools: Miro or Google Slides for collaboration.

                  6.             Lesson 6: Digital Citizenship and Ownership

                  •               Activities:

                  •               Discuss plagiarism and copyright issues with AI-generated content.

                  •               Learners create ethical use guidelines for their projects.

                  •               Tools: Canva for designing a “Code of Ethics.”

Week 3: Building AI-Enhanced Projects

                  7.             Lesson 7: Prototyping Solutions

                  •               Activities:

                  •               Teams work on their projects, integrating AI tools.

                  •               Teacher check-ins to guide progress.

                  •               Tools: AI tools like ChatGPT, DALL·E, or Teachable Machine.

                  8.             Lesson 8: Collaborative Refinement

                  •               Activities:

                  •               Teams present prototypes for peer review.

                  •               Use feedback to refine their projects.

                  •               Tools: Google Docs for peer editing.

                  9.             Lesson 9: Documenting the Process

                  •               Activities:

                  •               Teams create a multimedia presentation documenting their project development.

                  •               Tools: Adobe Spark or Google Sites.

Week 4: Sharing and Reflecting

                  10.          Lesson 10: Showcase Presentations

                  •               Activities:

                  •               Teams present their final projects to the class or a panel of teachers/peers.

                  •               Q&A sessions to defend their decisions.

                  11.          Lesson 11: Reflection on Learning

                  •               Activities:

                  •               Individual reflective essays: “What I Learned About AI, Ethics, and Collaboration.”

                  •               Group discussion: How can we use AI responsibly in the future?

                  12.          Lesson 12: Unit Closure and Feedback

                  •               Activities:

                  •               Learners complete self and peer evaluations on their contributions and teamwork.

                  •               Teacher facilitates discussion on the role of technology in shaping society.

Assessments

                  •               Formative:

                  •               Group discussions, brainstorming activities, peer feedback.

                  •               Teacher observation during project development.

                  •               Summative:

                  •               Final project and presentation (rubric-based).

                  •               Reflective essay evaluating personal learning and growth.

                  •               Peer and self-assessment of collaboration and ownership.

AI Tools in Use

                  •               ChatGPT: Writing support and brainstorming.

                  •               DALL·E: Visualizing concepts and ideas.

                  •               Teachable Machine: Simple machine learning experiments.

                  •               Canva: Designing ethical guidelines.

                  •               Google Workspace (Docs, Slides, Jamboard): Collaboration and documentation.

Focus on Student Ownership, Collaboration, and Ethics

                  •               Ownership: Learners lead their projects, make decisions, and reflect on their learning.

                  •               Collaboration: Teams work together on problem-solving, using shared tools and responsibilities.

                  •               Ethics: Built into every step—learners explore the impact and responsibilities tied to AI use.