EDUC 630 Self Assessment- Lisa Joyner
Technology Education Self-Assessment
Lisa H. Joyner
Department of Education, Liberty University
EDUC 630: Technology Practices for Instructional Improvement
Dr. Juanessa Booker
January 24, 2021
Author Note
Correspondence concerning this paper should be addressed to Lisa H. Joyner, Department of Christian Education, Veritas Baptist College, 181 US Hwy 50 E #204, Greendale, IL 47205, United States. Email: lisajoyner@vbc.edu or ljoyner4@liberty.edu.
Technology Education Self-Assessment
As an online professor, I am required to use a variety of technology tools for instruction. I prepare documents using Word for rubrics, syllabi, and assignment instructions. I create PowerPoint slides for each lecture that I record on Zoom. Once I have recorded a lecture, I upload it to Vimeo, and then I send that link to Playposit where I add “quiz” questions and discussion topics to each lecture for the students to respond to. All of these documents and links go into Canvas for the students to access each week. I feel confident with these programs and am competent enough that I am asked to train other instructors.
I have three areas where I would like to improve my technology skills: collaborative activities, quality video lessons, and formative assessments. Collaborative interaction among students builds relationships and reinforces learning; however, it is challenging to find and incorporate the right tools to do this for asynchronous courses. GoReact is a good tool for students to record presentations, but recently I have incorporated FlipGrid assignments so students are able to see and hear their classmates more frequently in shorter recordings. I need to discover more creative ways for them to collaborate on assignments and presentations. Collaboration is also important for younger students. I am particularly concerned about those with special needs; they can become frustrated and feel disconnected in virtual learning.
Watching lectures each week can become tedious for students; our brains learn best when the material is novel and presented in an interesting format. I am always looking for creative ways to improve my lessons to make them more professional and interactive. I have become reliant on PowerPoint, but I would like to learn about other tools to make interesting recorded lessons.
Because I teach education courses, I am also interested in finding ways that my students can use technology effectively for formative assessments when they have their own classes. Building in more formative assessments requires students to be more active in their learning. Virtual learning can allow students to remain passive learners unless they are challenged to respond and participate in their lessons. I chose articles from Edutopia that address each of these areas where I would like to grow.
Vollrath, D. (2021, January 14). Guiding special education students to stay on track for success in hybrid classrooms. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/guiding-special-education-students-stay-track-success-hybrid-classrooms
- I chose this article because it is relevant to the struggle that many teachers and their students are having during the pandemic. The author gives several ideas for encouraging students to work together and collaborate in their daily lessons. Students with special needs are particularly impacted by the difficulties of online learning; lack of focus, decreased motivation, and inexperience with technology create frustration for the students, teachers, and parents. I would like to learn strategies to promote a better learning environment for these students in order to maximize their learning under these conditions.
- The author shares six practical strategies for keeping all students active and engaged in the lesson: (1) bolster positive behaviors by holding students accountable, (2) create expectations together, (3) post a daily agenda, (4) use and teach non-verbal cues for communicating online, (5) set up revolving leadership roles, and (6) give time at the beginning and end of each class for students to make personal connections with each other. I found all of these extremely useful; the author has identified strategies that help both the learning-disabled students in his classes along with the students without disabilities. These would be effective in any hybrid learning environment.
- If I were teaching synchronous online courses, I would incorporate every one of these strategies. Since my courses are asynchronous classes for college students, not all of them are applicable. However, I can implement more opportunities for my students to “meet” in person via Zoom. It is difficult for college students who are taking all their courses online to connect with their peers in the classes. I can set up times and open a Zoom call for students to join a “help class” where they can get assistance with assignments and brainstorm with their peers. This would allow them to connect face-to-face with each other personally rather than on a discussion board only.
Joseph, M. X. (2020, October 28). PD that helps teachers improve the quality of their video instruction. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/pd-helps-teachers-improve-quality-their-video-instruction
- I teach all my college course online; I chose this article to learn tips on ways to make my recordings more interesting and engaging for my students. I also teach professional development courses online for American Association of Christian schools along with workshops at teachers’ conventions. Recently, all in-person teachers’ conventions were cancelled. Some of them went virtual. Since this may become more mainstream in the future, I would like to learn new ways to offer quality presentations for teachers virtually.
- The author discussed the importance of teachers’ being comfortable with technology. We focus on students’ efficacy with technology, but many teachers also have limited experience with Zoom. We cannot ignore the need for professional development of teachers. In addition to direct instruction in various technology platforms, they need to see models of thriving online learning environments that make learning fun and engaging for their students.
- One strategy that I will apply to my own teaching is the importance of “under-planning” for professional development workshops. I am guilty of cramming too much information into one 50-minute workshop. I need to pare down the amount of information that I include, and instead, allow time for teachers to practice the skills and ask questions. This is something that I know to do with my students, but for some reason, I forget this when teaching other educators. I must be sensitive to their cognitive overload as well.
Fleming, N. (2020, October 1). 7 ways to do formative assessments in your virtual classroom. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/7-ways-do-formative-assessments-your-virtual-classroom
- I chose this article because it focuses on creating formative assessments for virtual classrooms. Assessing students in a classroom is easily done with individual whiteboards, KWL charts, exit tickets, or a quick stroll around the room to observe students working in groups or independently. It requires more creativity to give formative assessments to a group of students on a live Zoom call.
- One concept that stood out to me is that many of the same strategies used in-person can be altered to accommodate virtual classrooms as well. Several of the strategies that the author described would work well in both enviroments: KWL charts, “321” responses, journal entries, and exit tickets.
- I am new to using FlipGrid, but I have been impressed with its ease of use. This article gave me several creative ways to use it more effectively. For example, the prompts that were shared require the students to react to the material they learned in the lesson. This increases their level of participation and engagement with the material. The responses of the students give valuable feedback to the teacher about the students’ level of understanding so more targeted instruction can be developed for each student.
References
Fleming, N. (2020, October 1). 7 ways to do formative assessments in your virtual classroom. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/7-ways-do-formative-assessments-your-virtual-classroom
Joseph, M. X. (2020, October 28). PD that helps teachers improve the quality of their video instruction. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/pd-helps-teachers-improve-quality-their-video-instruction
Vollrath, D. (2021, January 14). Guiding special education students to stay on track for success in hybrid classrooms. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/guiding-special-education-students-stay-track-success-hybrid-classrooms