I genuinely enjoy working with technology and see great benefit when it is used to enhance student learning in the classroom. I routinely explore new possibilities to integrate technology into the classroom, and I appreciate when opportunities present themselves for me to get exposure to new tools. It is only through my continued learning of technology that I will be prepared to equip my students with the skills that they need today and tomorrow.
Artifact 1: Development of Educational Technology Philosophy Statement
Despite my affinity for new technology, I find that many formal professional development opportunities that are built around educational technology rarely establish a clear vision for how the student or teacher experience will be improved through the use of technology. This stems largely from the tendency for technology presentations to be targeted towards a generalized audience with no appreciation for the nuances of how the technology could practically be utilized within a content area, in my case, science. My statement of educational technology philosophy originated from this point of frustration with the dichotomy between possibility of significant transformation that technology offers and the ineffectiveness of the education system to bring it into the classroom.
Through my involvement in ETEC 524, I had the opportunity to dig deeper into the meaning of ‘educational technology’, and learned that it is much less about the tools than I expected. I now understand that educational technology is a discipline that emphasizes the process of researching how new tools can transform the learning experience, creatively exploring the method of integrating those tools, and reflecting on the impact of student learning. This has fueled in me a greater passion for seeing teachers effectively being supported to thoughtfully explore new technology, as is reflected in the final draft of my Educational Technology Philosophy statement. Links to earlier working drafts of the statement are also provided below, for reference.
The focus of the above statement emphasizes the importance of supporting teachers to integrate technology in the context of content knowledge and good pedagogy, largely inspired by the TPACK framework. While the lens of that statement is through the eye of teacher support, the ultimate goal is for the support of students, a thread that has been constant throughout my teaching career.
Artifact 2: Educational Philosophy Statement
The following document is the final draft of my Philosophy of Education statement that I developed in 2009 through the completion of my first graduate program, the Teacher Certification Program for College Graduates at the University of Connecticut. In this statement, I explain that “I see my class, not as a final task for students to complete at the end of their high school career, but as a stepping-stone for my students to use as they venture out in pursuit of their own dreams.” The world for which our students are preparing to navigate is continuously evolving, and it is through effective implementation of educational technology that we can best support them for in this goal.
physicseveryday.com 