EDUC 630 Technology Practices for Instructional Improvement

This course has students research and engage best practices in educational technology usage for the purposes of inclusion in instructional practice for student learning and for assessment of student achievement as a result of instruction. Students practice and demonstrate competency in using productivity tools for professional and pedagogical practice. Further, students will develop means of effectively using technologies for communication and collaboration to improve teaching and learning.

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

Technology usage has been focused on by society at large and educational institutions in particular (higher learning and those in the field) as a solution to perceived problems and deficits in learning. With the advent of computer-mediated communication systems such as the internet, the pace at which education is expected to adopt technology both as a target of curriculum and as a pedagogical approach to learning has increased. It is vital that educators at all levels understand the role technology plays in the essentialist expectation of educational practice (as a curricular goal), the role technology plays in the actual practice of teaching and learning as an agent of access, and the role technology plays in the assistance in the day-to-day functioning in the profession of education.

No details available.

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the candidate will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the candidate will complete 4 Video Discussions throughout the course. Each Video Discussion consists of a thread and 2 replies. The video thread is the candidate’s response to the instructor’s prompt, and the replies are the candidate’s response to another candidate’s thread providing substantive additional thoughts and an explanation of why the candidate agrees or disagrees with the idea in the thread. The thread must be a 1-minute video post (the video cannot exceed 1 minute by more than 30 seconds), and the replies can be either video (at least 30 seconds, no more than 60 seconds) or written replies (at least 100 words). For all videos, the candidate must provide a written transcript and quality audio, lighting, and background to enhance the video. Each thread must be supported by at least 2 scholarly sources (verbally and in a written references list in current APA format). Sources for replies are not required, but, where applicable, the candidate should cite and reference sources in current APA format with a written references list included. Each post must meet all other writing, structure, and etiquette expectations. (CLO: A, B, C, D)

Each candidate will conduct a personal self-assessment regarding his/her ability to include technology in his/her classroom instruction. Once the candidate has assessed areas that need development, he/she will go to the Edutopia link provided and locate three articles that address those areas. A brief summary of each article will be written and submitted. For each article, the candidate will address three questions in paragraphs of 100–200 words each. (CLO: B, D)

The candidate will write a 2–3-page personal philosophy paper regarding the use of technology in education. The paper must include a summary of technology’s purpose in education, a biblical defense of the candidate’s responsibility to include or not include technology in curriculum, and the candidate’s approach to the use of technology in education. The candidate will need to include at least 3 Scripture references as biblical support, as well as at least 2 research-based references in his/her paper. The paper and all citations must follow current APA formatting guidelines. A reference page must be included, and the paper should be free of errors in spelling, grammar, or punctuation. (CLO: B, D)

The candidate will create a brief overview of the ISTE website with a 10-slide presentation with audio recording using a presentation program of the student’s choice. The candidate will identify helpful resources for professional development, as well as a short synopsis of the previous year’s ISTE conference. The presentation must include a summary of why one should join a professional organization and how it could benefit teachers. The presentation will include a minimum of 3 sources (such as journal articles, podcast presentations, conferences, videos, or blog sites) from the ISTE website that will promote professional growth, including the resource titles/names and their relevancy to the field. At least 1 resource must address special needs learners or assistive technologies, and the presentation must describe how the information is applicable to address special needs. The presentation will also include a detailed overview of the most recent ISTE conference with a summary of key themes, speakers, or presentations, including at least 2 sessions that the candidate would have been interested in attending. The presentation must be a minimum of 10 slides (not to exceed 15 slides) with a title slide and a reference slide using current APA formatting, include a written transcript or notes section of the presentation, use clear audio recordings, and meet all writing and structure expectations. (CLO: B,C)

The candidate will use personal interviews of at least 3 teachers or research from an online educator’s blog to determine how the educator selects appropriate technology for any given objective. Interviews should be a minimum of 5 questions per interviewee, and all interviewees should be asked the same questions. The candidate will then compile the research in an Excel spreadsheet or Word table (refer to the Professional Interview Project Example provided with this assignment) and identify common criteria or themes. Then, the candidate will use this data to create his/her own checklist (of 3–5 reflective questions) for which he/she could validate the selection of technology for a given lesson. The candidate will indicate how the questions were chosen by referring to common criteria in the data and include examples of suggested technological tools that could be used for each question. The candidate will submit 2 files for this assignment: the spreadsheet/table and the resulting checklist. The assignment must use current APA formatting and adhere to all other writing and formatting expectations. (CLO: A)

The candidate will select a lesson in which he/she would like to add a current technology component. The technology tool must have been developed or updated within the last 5 years. Then, the candidate will develop a lesson activity that integrates the selected technology and asks students to use the technology to create a final product. The candidate will provide a 3–5-minute video recording modeling the technology component and demonstrating for students how to access the tool, how to create the product, and how to submit the product. The video must be uploaded to a sharing location, such as SchoolTube, TeacherTube, Vimeo, Dropbox, Google, or Box.net. YouTube must not be used for this assignment. The candidate will also provide a 200–300-word written explanation as to how this assignment could be differentiated for students, including the intention of differentiation, at least 1 alternative way to allow students to demonstrate understanding of course content, and a justification for the alternative approach. The written explanation should include at least 1 outside source to support the work. A reference page in current APA format should be included on a separate sheet. The candidate will also provide the lesson objective and a rubric to evaluate the student work, describing each component of the assignment and assigning appropriate point values. The candidate will then submit the link to the video, the written explanation, and the rubric to Canvas (the explanation and rubric may be included in the same Word document). The assignment must be free of errors in spelling, grammar, and current APA format. (CLO: A, B, C, D)

The candidate will develop an infographic describing the future of technology in the classroom. (CLO: B, C, D)

The candidate will research the uses of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for classroom instruction and use a screen recording program to model appropriate methods of including AI in the classroom. Additionally, the candidate will review considerations teachers should examine when including AI in the classroom. (CLO: A, B, C, D)