During the summer quarter, the EDTC 6104 course for the Digital Education Leadership program focused on the ISTE Coaching standards, but specifically on standard 3: how technology coaches “create and support effective digital age learning environments to maximize the learning of all students.”
To begin the four week course, Professors @RMoeJo and @ellenjdorr assigned readings and discussions based on the following ideas:
- technology as a why and a when rather than a what and a how
- the fluidity of environments and how technologies can augment, supplement, support or even harm spaces
- the role of technology as a tool to promote learning as well as teaching
- how to support faculty in the development of an ease and economy in their use of digital technologies and environments in the classroom (Moe & Dorr, 2015).
The first bullet listed above reshaped my thinking as a teacher. When I introduce a technology tool to a colleague it’s usually, “This is ‘what’ you can use…” Followed by, “This is ‘how’ you use it.” I was not providing colleagues with the ‘why’ it should be used. It was through the course project, that I had to push myself to think about technology as ‘why and when’. Colleagues in the cohort helped me ruminate through this by providing feedback on my blogs. I realized how important it is to have the research support your practice, so it can provide credibility to any plan.
What are you biggest take-aways? What has stuck with you the most? (Steighner & Henrikson, 2015)
The biggest take aways this quarter were creating the ideal digital learning environment, learning to utilize the Blog hub for postings and the benefits of utilizing the Tuning Protocol as a collaborative reflection tool.
This quarter, students in the DEL program designed their own ideal digital learning environment for their current practice. My action plan focused on gradually improving the ELL learning environment at my school by implementing staff development for paraeducators and a rotation model for students. Phase 1 of the plan will begin in September.
At the beginning of the quarter, I was curious to know how the hub would house our blogs and its overall purpose. But by the end of the course, I found it quite useful to have the syllabus, course readings, and blogs in one place.
The Tuning Protocol tool was a very effective resource to use with our action plans. As I mentioned in my post, “Fine-Tuning My Digital Learning Environment,” going through the process helped me think deeper about my project. Since I was the first presenter, I was a little disoriented when the next presenter began because I was now a participant and unsure of my new role. To benefit from the Tuning Protocol step 4: “Examination of student work samples”, next time I should focus on the presenter’s plan or implementation section, instead of trying to read from the beginning. For me, reading 15-20 pages was too much information to absorb and comment on in 15 minutes. @MrsBTodd ‘s infographic on the Tuning Protocol is a wonderful visual that succinctly displays the whole process.
How do you foresee yourself using this knowledge in the future? (Steighner & Henrikson, 2015)
The ISTE coaching standard 3 taught this quarter led me to proceed to the next step in my journey: leadership roles. For the next school year, I am working with the school’s technology team and the technology coach. My goal is to continue using the technology tools learned in my DEL course when presenting to colleagues. Thinking about the future, I foresee myself continuing to learn about coaching and inspiring educators to deepen their knowledge in the use of technology in order to enhance student learning experiences.
References
Moe, R. & Dorr, E. (2015). Digital learning environments [Class syllabus]. Digital Education Leadership, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, WA.
Steighner, C. & Henrikson, R. (2015). Teaching, Learning, and Assessment II. Digital Education Leadership, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, WA.
