Reflection+Three

=Reflection Three=

** Description: **
Technology is no different than any other resource. Some students have access and some students do not. In the educational setting, however, inequitable access to technology must be addressed. I work in an affluent school district, so I deal more with students who are suffering from TMI inequities. Most of my students, but not all, have access to technology infrastructure. At this point, at least in my district, the technology background of students is extremely varied. Most of my students have not used technology as an integral part of their instruction. This year, as I have begun to make technology an integral part of my instruction, I have found students who acclimate very quickly, students who have acclimated with quite a bit of difficulty, students who have failed to acclimate, and students who basically are doing everything they can not to acclimate at all. Much of the resistance has been the overwhelming amount of work it is to learn how to use blogs, Google Drive, and other tools correctly. Students have difficulty with the process of using educational tools. They forget passwords and techniques. They have a hard time following all of the steps necessary for success. Although they are digital natives, they have not developed the skills for using technology for learning. This will change shortly as more teachers are using TMI practices, but some teachers use very little technology in their classrooms. This makes it difficult for students to learn how to use educational tools efficiently.

Impact:

I have begun to create tutorials using Jing to assist my students who are having difficulty with the procedures for the various sites and tools we are using. This seems to have helped quite a bit. I am also allowing more time for assignment completion as I coach students who are having difficulty submitting work digitally via Google Drive.

Intent:

I intend to continue to facilitate and to coach my students until they become proficient. I will say, it has been much more difficult than I anticipated. I intend to allow students to come after school if necessary to use the school computers in my classroom if they do not have access at home. I intend to continue to use technology as I know these are tools that will impact their future. I will also continue to find ways to make the use of technology easier. I have already begun to use a new assignment calendar, Assign-a-Day, that streamlines my assignments and resources. This has been better for my students, and it has been better for me. During a lesson, I can simply link to lesson resources directly from the assignment calendar.