1.+Instructional+Theory+-+Fall+2009

=Instructional Theory - Fall, 2009, Instructor: Dr. Penny Garcia=

Competencies/Objectives (taken from Course Syllabus)
Students, through critical examination of characteristic, procedures, values, and limitation of selected instructional theories ans strategies, will: 1. demonstrate knowledge of the impact technology has on society; 2. develop an understanding of the impact of technology in education, especially in relation to the changing role of the library media specialist and the teacher, changing student/teacher relations, and changing learning environments and values. 3. synthesize knowledge of theory and current research from a variety of sectors and resources to create a fresh vision of the needed direction of education for tomorrow's students; 4. experience learning new skills and technology, using local resources - personal and professional; 5. transfer skills learned individually into cooperative ventures with other teachers who are not part of this class, this consortium; 6. demonstrate an understanding of the use of technology and the application of its tools in the culturally, linguistically, and physically diverse learning environment; and 7. reflect knowledge f the difference between teaching ABOUT technology and teaching WITH technology.

Required Readings - In-depth discussion on the readings were done in small groups, online using Desire2Learn.
//The World in Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century// by Thomas L. Friedman //A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future// by Daniel H. Pink

Projects
Blog Post 1

Blog Post 2

Culminating Project Assignment/Description

Culminating Project: Letter to Duncan

Virtual Community Experience

Reflection
Much has changed in education since I took this course; however, the basic concept of this course -- the impact of technology on society and its impact in education is still vitally important to the role of the school librarian.

The biggest change in education has been the State's adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). I think this class, taught today, would focus on how technology in education is driving the new state standards. Today's technology makes it simple to quickly find facts and information on any topic; however, with this change in technology in education, comes the need to teach students how to weed through all the information that is readily available to them, look at authorship credentials, and synthesize all the information into something valuable. The CCSS focus on teaching students to learn and teaching students to think -- not simply regurgitate facts, which in today's world are easily accessible.

Today's students need to have opportunities to create and be creative -- these skills cannot be outsourced. For example. I had groups of fourth grade students use a virtual library on simple machines to research types of simple machines. They created videos using iMovie to teach their classmates about the various kinds of simple machines. Finally, students created their own machines using various simple machines they learned about. Students used technology to teach themselves, teach each other, and finally create a unique invention to show what they had learned.