ETC585 - Technology Integration in the K-12 Classroom

Professional Development Unit

  • Select and upload or link to the assignment that best represents technology integration. (NETS*C, 6.A.)
Professional Development Unit Site

The signature assignment for this course was to create a professional development unit.  I chose to explore the topic of “communities of practice”.  This was a new term I discovered in my research.  I had an idea to create a virtual professional learning community.  The description of a community of practice is not as precise as the idea I had in mind.  I think that organizations and companies can create internal communities of practice to enhance employee learning and engagement.
Communities of Practice involve a broader pool of participants.  They are mad up of people involved in the same field, (i.e. teachers, doctors, social workers, etc.).  It is not likely that everyone involved in the community works for the same organization.  My idea was born of the intent of using a virtual space to bring together those who work for the sam company to provide directed on-going training without requiring attendance at multiple workshops.  Employees are also able to share their own discoveries and expertise.  This would allow any group of workers to grow and invest in their professional development.

Forming and supporting this idea with research and while using the technology to present it gave me a rich experience of technology integration.  I was able to use the tools and create ways to incorporate them into workplace learning.

Virtual Professional Learning Community

  • Select and upload or link to the assignment that makes you the most proud and/or that you found most challenging but that pushed you "to improve and strengthen your ability to effectively model and facilitate technology-enhanced learning experiences." (NETS*C, 6.C.)
The UDB Book Builder challenged me to think about making fully universal lesson plans.  I found it difficult at times to adjust the way I thought about designing instruction.  The UDL Book is a tool to help take into account the different means for providing instructions so that it is accessible to as many learners as possible.  It did help me to expand these considerations.

However, I found the book builder program, itself, difficult to use.  I struggled to identify useful ways to integrate the “coaches.” The layouts and editing process were difficult as well. After submitting a first attempt for the assignment, I polished it to incorporate into the final version of my professional development unit.  This second pass through the program allowed me to find better methods to utilize the available tools.