Further Reflection and Continuing Questions
As I wrap up my research, I think back to all the questions I’ve asked myself and others and how that’s impacted what I’m doing on a daily basis in my classroom. When I first set out on this action research journey, I wasn’t sure exactly what aspect of educational technology I wanted to look at. I debated narrowing in on one application or piece of technology to see its effects on my students’ progress, but I opted to think broader and look at my classroom teaching as a whole. My research has challenged me to think beyond past routines, resources and plans and to begin to evolve into one that is more visual, more engaged and more tailored to my students’ interests and learning styles.
I think one of the most valuable things I learned in this process was the SAMR model – it helped me better understand where I was functioning at and what questions I need to ask myself to step it up to the next level. It requires self-analysis and will challenge me to look beyond what I’m doing at the moment. I think this model also creates new learning opportunities for my students – by redefining my teaching along with student responses and engagement, I’ll likely implement new strategies and skills that my students will learn and generalize into their lives. They’ll be engaged in new ways, with new tools and new ways to respond. It will open up new doors for them in this world that is becoming more and more integrated with technology. The one difference for my students that typically developing students may not benefit from is that substituting technology may allow for a new possibility of generalizing skills as well as allow some more independence. When I move to Augmentation with technology, these benefits will expand even further as Augmentation of my teaching practices with technology may lead to better understanding and applying their knowledge to new situations, contexts and opportunities all while again increasing their independence. Just as it’s a bigger challenge for me to take my technology practices to the level of Modification and Redefinition, my students face big challenges to reach the higher order thinking levels of analyzing, evaluating and creating but technology allows them to access information, approaches and applications that I may not have been able to provide on my own. Technology expands our classroom in ways I could never do in the past. Understanding this connection between my teaching approaches and their learning helps me to consciously move forward with technology integration and use and how it positively impacts my students.
As I wrap up my research, I think back to all the questions I’ve asked myself and others and how that’s impacted what I’m doing on a daily basis in my classroom. When I first set out on this action research journey, I wasn’t sure exactly what aspect of educational technology I wanted to look at. I debated narrowing in on one application or piece of technology to see its effects on my students’ progress, but I opted to think broader and look at my classroom teaching as a whole. My research has challenged me to think beyond past routines, resources and plans and to begin to evolve into one that is more visual, more engaged and more tailored to my students’ interests and learning styles.
I think one of the most valuable things I learned in this process was the SAMR model – it helped me better understand where I was functioning at and what questions I need to ask myself to step it up to the next level. It requires self-analysis and will challenge me to look beyond what I’m doing at the moment. I think this model also creates new learning opportunities for my students – by redefining my teaching along with student responses and engagement, I’ll likely implement new strategies and skills that my students will learn and generalize into their lives. They’ll be engaged in new ways, with new tools and new ways to respond. It will open up new doors for them in this world that is becoming more and more integrated with technology. The one difference for my students that typically developing students may not benefit from is that substituting technology may allow for a new possibility of generalizing skills as well as allow some more independence. When I move to Augmentation with technology, these benefits will expand even further as Augmentation of my teaching practices with technology may lead to better understanding and applying their knowledge to new situations, contexts and opportunities all while again increasing their independence. Just as it’s a bigger challenge for me to take my technology practices to the level of Modification and Redefinition, my students face big challenges to reach the higher order thinking levels of analyzing, evaluating and creating but technology allows them to access information, approaches and applications that I may not have been able to provide on my own. Technology expands our classroom in ways I could never do in the past. Understanding this connection between my teaching approaches and their learning helps me to consciously move forward with technology integration and use and how it positively impacts my students.