Throughout my CEP 810 experience, I have been challenged to reflect on ways in which technology and professional learning networks can support my learning process and, consequently, that of my students. In the first week of this course, we were asked to write an essay about learning and the methods that can support it in the classroom. Influenced by Bransford, Brown, and Cocking’s writing, I stated that “for proper learning and understanding to occur, teachers must make a lesson’s purpose explicit, connect new ideas to existing knowledge, and address student misconceptions so learners can properly assimilate and retrieve information.” While I always strived to do this in my classroom over the past three years, I was not always aware of the best practices to achieve this.
Over the past seven weeks, I have learned ways to help students build upon existing knowledge and explored additional tools to identify and correct students’ misconceptions. During the fifth week of the course, I designed a 21st century lesson plan that utilized Socrative to formatively assess students’ understandings of absolute value inequalities and Google Docs to promote collaboration amongst students. Being introduced to ways to use these tools in my classroom will help me engage and assess students efficiently.
Additionally, the networked learning project prompted me to consider the access learners have to information. As long as students have some form of technology in their hands, be it a smart phone, an iPad, or a computer, they have endless resources to support their learning. As an educator, my role is to teach students how to navigate the internet and find reliable information. Moreover, I must show them how they can use these digital tools to expand their knowledge base.
As I reflect on this semester, what stands out the most is that I found I was oddly excited to complete assignments for this course. I had the opportunity to teach myself any skill utilizing online learning networks. The key here is I had the freedom to choose what I wanted to learn and how I documented this process. Being given a sense of choice and autonomy helped me realize how powerful this could be for my students. With choice comes engagement and motivation, two key factors in helping students learn and build upon their current knowledge base. However, I still wonder how I can give students projects that allow for creativity in a high school classroom. I have designed and utilized engaging discovery learning tasks, however, these did not allow students to dictate how they demonstrated mastery. I hope to find ways to create opportunities where students have more freedom to explore topics they are interested in.
References:
Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (Eds.)(2000). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition (pp. 3-78). Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. Retrieved from http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=9853
MacEntee, S. (2012, June 29). ipad. [photograph]. Retrieved August 11, 2014, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/smemon/7469170810
Whytock, K. (2014, July 28). Educational Postcard: “Benefits of learning through discovery”. [image]. Retrieved August 11, 2014, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/7815007@N07/14771088184
*Note: All images were used under the Creative Commons license
Learning is Alive 
I would wager that the excitement you felt to complete some of the assignment in CEP 810 stems from the knowledge that you were in control of their direction. With the Networked Learning Project, the guidelines were given to you, but you had full ownership over the direction, scope, and end goal. Projects such as that, and the TPACK quickfire cooking challenge, give learners the agency that is so often missing in more traditional learning environments.
To bring this same sense of authenticity and ownership to your students, I would recommend starting small. Introduce multiple ways for them to present knowledge; perhaps a choice of a couple forms (presentation, short video, reflective blog post, etc.). Once you and your students are more comfortable with multiple forms of presentation of knowledge, you can move towards greater autonomy of how students consume information (youtube, self-guided web searches, structured debate with other students and/or classrooms online). The possibilities are out there, and the sooner you start to branch out, the sooner they will likely surprise you.
I’m excited for this journey you’re about to start on, and if there’s anything I can do to facilitate it with the help of connecting you to teachers in other districts, please let me know!