The learning activity addresses 1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity letters A, B, C, and D because the lesson encourages students to reach out and contact actual poets to create their own lessons (letters B and D), and to create their own mini- lesson using iMovie software to create and illustrate for the class what they believe the poem to be about after doing extensive research (letters A and C).
2. Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments - I believe that this learning activity clearly addresses letters A-C of this number more or less, although it weakly addresses "C". "C" requires the lesson to personalize the learning to the needs of diverse learning styles. Although the lesson allows students to create a video of their choosing, it mainly focusing on visual and audio learners and not so much on kinesthetic and tactile learning styles. I feel that the lesson may not be differentiated enough to address the varying cognitive levels of students. Perhaps the individual teacher addresses these differences by scaffolding how to research and by spending more time with students that struggle using the appropriate technological tools and/or who struggle with the cognitive demands of deciphering a poem. A and B are integrated by the fact that the lesson gives students a choice in the poem they choose and the type of research they would like to perform on their laptops. It also offers them the technological tool of iMovie software, but allows them to design their mini-lesson and video however they choose, as long as it is educational and incorporates the pertinent information.
3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning - This is probably the weakest components of this assignment because the video does not provide enough information, therefore I do not know really how fluent and versed the teacher themself is in the technology. I imagine that in order for students to use the Internet to communicate with poets and conduct research, as well as to create their own iMovie and mini-lesson to demonstrate their poem, they must have been exposed to and versed in the technology by the teacher. If this is the case, the assignment addresses letters A-D because the assignment is refined and requires knowledge of several computer programs, how to use to internet, as well as how to create a movie using iMovie. From this video, it is not clear how the teacher got the students to the level where they were able to comfortable use these technological tools on their own.
4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility - Letters B,C, and D are addressed by this activity because everyone is given a laptop, meaning that the use of technology is equitable and available for all learners (letter B). The assignment requires students to correspond via email with the actual poets who wrote their poems, meaning that students must be versed in digital etiquette and responsible social interactions (letter C) as well as the fact that students are getting experience working collaboratively and engaging with colleagues (poets) across time and space (letter D).
5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership - Letter A is clearly a part of this assignment, and although I believe a teacher that created this type of assignment is also continuing to grow professionally and be a part of the educational research community (letters B,C,D) this is not made clear by the video. Letter A is addressed because the teacher has students contacting outside "experts" (the poets themselves!) and even has brought in one of the poets into the classroom to meet with students. This is an example of how the teacher incorporated the global learning community into his or her own local learning community (the classroom!).
I feel that over these past few weeks, my own technology integration in the classroom has begun to blossom. Despite the fact that my school's computer lab is outdated and often causes aggravation for myself and my students because of the speed at which the computers run, I have begun taking my class into the lab more and more. In the beginning, my assignments gave students options as to how they wanted to complete assignments (for example, create a PowerPoint, do a skit, work collaboratively or alone) and I believe my activities existed on the Entry and at times Adoption levels. Lately, as my own personal use of technology has improved, I believe that my integration is now on the level of Adaptation.
Here is a little anedote to exemplify why I feel I am not adapting technological integration rather than just integrating it on the Entry or Adoption levels. I currently have a class of seniors that I have given an assignment to where they must create a Google Docs account, conduct real research using peer reviewed scientific sources, and create a PowerPoint and written paper collaboratively with their classmate using the "sharing" function within Google Docs. Although at first my students groaned and complained about using Google Docs (something no one in the class was familiar with), I showed them some of the ins and outs of the program, showed them how they could easily collaborate with one another and access their work from any computer that has an Internet connection, and in no time I was hearing "cool" and "wow" from several students in the room. I did also feel that some of my students were groaning and complaining because they were forced to try something new, and when things didn't go smoothly for them the first time around, they wanted to give up. It is becoming clearer and clearer to me that these types of new experiences with technological tools are EXACTLY what my students need in order to be ready to enter the 21st Century working world. Students need to accept that new things can be challenging and uncomfortable and that the results they are looking for may not be instant or perfect at first. The only way to become more comfortable and even "good" at using these new tools is to try, try again!
