SLO 1: SYNTHESIZE RESEARCH ON ISSUES AND TRENDS
With the ever evolving nature of technology, educators must keep abreast of the field, including current research and general trends. Educators must be able to seek out information, assess it's validity, and synthesize it to create practices that are relevant to the population the teacher serves.
Image credit: Google
Artifact 1
MEDT 8463: Issues in Instructional Technology
Clark vs Kozma debate
For this project I look at the classic debate between Richard Clark and Robert Kozma on the influence and role of multimedia on learning. The heart of the argument is: does the use of media influence student learning, i.e. does the medium change the message. For my position, I agreed with Clark.
MEDT 8463: Issues in Instructional Technology
Clark vs Kozma debate
For this project I look at the classic debate between Richard Clark and Robert Kozma on the influence and role of multimedia on learning. The heart of the argument is: does the use of media influence student learning, i.e. does the medium change the message. For my position, I agreed with Clark.
Artifact 2
MEDT 8461: Diffusion of Innovations
Barriers to Technology Integration
The Prezi investigates the different types of barriers that prevent successful technology integration in schools as well as proposing solutions. First level barriers are beyond a teacher's control, while second level barriers are internal.
MEDT 8461: Diffusion of Innovations
Barriers to Technology Integration
The Prezi investigates the different types of barriers that prevent successful technology integration in schools as well as proposing solutions. First level barriers are beyond a teacher's control, while second level barriers are internal.
Challenges
I took both MEDT 8463 and MEDT 8461 the first semester of the Ed.S. program. My greatest challenge was getting back into the mindset of a graduate student. The Clark vs. Kozma paper required extensive background reading and synthesis of new information while I was still trying to re-acclimate myself to thinking academically. The Barriers to Technology Integration prezi was not difficult to make, but it did require a lot of reading (even though only one reference is listed) for me to get a good grasp of all of the issues/difficulties about integration.
Rationale for Artifacts
SLO one asks students to synthesize research and trends in instructional technology. Even though the original Clark vs. Kozma debate began nearly 30 years ago, the idea of whether or not media changes learning is still important today. My artifact 1 paper shows that I was able to pull research information from a variety of sources to determine my stance on the issue. My artifact 2 demonstrates how I researched barriers affecting technology integration, which is still an incredibly hot topic that jumped to the forefront when educators and students had to transition to virtual learning in a very short time period.
Reflection
The Clark vs. Kozma debate raised some very interesting questions about how I thought about media and learning. I ended up siding with Clark only because, technically, extreme hands on learning could preclude the need for media representations. Funnily enough, Clark did not believe in the effectiveness of serious educational games, which was the other project I was working on (serious educational games) as I was writing this paper. I’ve still used it as a touchstone of sorts, and asking myself, before I integrate any technology or tool -- is this better, or just different? As much as I would like to claim that every digital tool or technology used has made things better, there have been situations when the innovation was just different and not any better (or maybe even worse!) In theory my barriers to technology integration project could have been presented without using digital technology, but that would defeat the purpose a bit.
