EDUC 630
Meeting the standards through the needs of individual students is something that most teachers are always looking for ways to enhance. An effective teacher will build relationships with the students that will enable them to understand their individual needs. The teacher learns students’ needs and determines what resources will best help each one. No one magic resource will work for all, and often, the teacher will try a few to see which best fits the student. The more teachers learn about students and resources, the more effectively they will match each student with the tools that he or she needs to meet the standards.
An effective teacher is always looking for more tools. Roblyer and Hughes defined educational technology as resources used “to support the educational processes” (2019, p. 5). Traditionally, teacher tools were things like manipulatives, mental strategies, and posters. The digital age has brought many new technologies into the hands of teachers and students, such as interactive whiteboards, handheld devices, and a global network. The technology changes so fast that often teachers and students are learning together.
Some of the most useful technologies that I have found are: the SMARTboard and applications that adapt to student’s needs, like SplashLearn, and Lexia. As Shute and Zapata-Rivera said, adaptive technologies must offer an “accurate diagnosis of learner characteristics” to be successful (2008, p. 280). Effective learning environments will assess students and then systematically develop a plan for the students to learn and practice.
References
Roblyer, M. D. & Hughes, J. E. (2019). Integrating educational technology into teaching: Transforming learning across disciplines (8th ed.). Pearson
Shute, V. J. & Zapata-Rivera, D. (2008). Adaptive technologies. In D. Jonassen, M. J. Spector, M. Driscoll, M. D. Merrill, J.van Merrienboer, and M. P. Driscol (Eds.), Handbook of research on educational communications and technology (3rd ed., pp. 277-294) Routledge.
Created by: Casey Jo Burrus © 2021
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updated: January 28, 2021
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