I Believe what George McFly said about the future...
When I first read this assignment the first thing I thought of was the movie Back to the Future. I don’t know why, but when I think of what I want to do with my Master's of Educational Technology, MAET degree I wish I could go into the future and know which direction I took with this second master’s degree of mine. So the quote from the movie that I want to add is this, “George McFly: Like I've always told you, you put your mind to it, you can accomplish *anything*” (Back to the Future quotes, www. Imbd.com). So when I envision the future I will know that I made the right decision. I know technology is ever changing and very progressive; I guess I just want to make sure I didn’t make a rash decision in getting this degree. At first some of my goals were to try and improve my technology skills, effectively use technology in my classroom, and to create lessons that used technology. I wanted my students to come out of my class with technology they could use in college. In the future, I do want to create my own online classes or improve my blended (classes that are part online and in class) classes, I also want to know what role I will play our futuristic International Baccalaureate, IB program, at my high school in dealing with technology, and finally I want to become more proficient in using videos I have created for my classroom.
In my heart, I know I have made a very good decision in pursuing my MAET degree. Technology has been a passion of mine for the last four years and I am always looking at ways to improve the way I use technology in the classroom. At first it was all about the tools and which ones I could use. Then I was all about iPads and how they could help me in the classroom. So I have progressed in knowing that I need to not try to do everything but concentrate on what I know works, but at the same time keeping an open mind to new technologies. I know I can do a lot more in my online/hybrid classes (contemporary literature) and self-paced classes (junior and senior English). One thing I have learned is that, “…the trend toward use of hybrid learning designs will reach its maximum impact in schools in three to five years, policy makers are already taking important actions to design effective approaches and protocol” (Johnson and Becker et all, (2014), p.4). I need to add more videos, self-select resources, and allow for students to self-reflect on assessments, especially projects and papers. If I am to be working toward the future then I need to make some major changes to the way I run my classroom. Students taking hybrid classes is the future of education and online learning is not going away. Teachers and their solid knowledge about students, learning, and curriculum need to realize that we will still be needed with the online and hybrid classes, but our classrooms might not look the same in the future.
The International Baccalaureate (IB) program has a rigorous curriculum and demand on students and teachers. I want to know the future of technology at my school when we become an IB school. I need to know that what I am using in the classroom will still be applicable to my future IB classes. I want to continue with the technology I am currently using in my classrooms but then am able to apply it to the IB curriculum.
The last part of what my future holds deals with assessment and videos. I want to change the way I do many of my assessments and I think that video assessments are part of this change. Not all students learn the same, this isn’t new information, but I do think that alternative assessments are good for ALL students to do at one point or another. As stated by Wiggins and McTighe, “…useful guidance in assessment” that is not only a progression of skills, but “combines insight and performance related to understanding of ideas and meaning” (Wiggins and McTighe, 1998, p.70). I think video or screen casting can show student insight and can show student understanding on a particular topic. The times of multiple choice and true and false testing is becoming “old school” as my students like to point out. The time for video assessment or even audio assessment is here and can be a new way for teachers to check for understanding. The future for education and the use of technology is an area of uncertainty, but teachers as we always do, prepare for the future and the future of our students. We can accomplish “anything” according to George McFly we just have to trust that we are doing now does have a positive impact on the future of our students.
Works cited
Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Estrada, V., and Freeman, A. (2014). NMC Horizon Report: 2014 k-12 Edition. Austin,Texas: The New Media Consortium.
Wiggins, G.P., and McTighe, J (1998). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, Va: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development