Module 5 Reflection

Student-centered assessment is often more valuable and relevant than more teacher-centered assessment methods because students tend to be more aware of the expectations as well as their own progress toward reaching their learning goals. I think they are also held more accountable for their work and they have more invested in it if the assessments are more student-centered. I believe student-centered assessments are strongly linked to the level of intrinsic motivation students will exhibit while working on a project.

Module 4 Reflection

Technology provides opportunities for students to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways and for teachers to assess what students know and what they have learned. Students can communicate their learning with teachers and with each other through blogs, wikis, websites, email, etc. They can create various technological products on applications such as MovieMaker, Word, Publisher, and Kidspiration. Finally, teachers can use technology to assess student learning through surveys, online rubrics, voting/polling websites, etc.

Module 3 Reflection

This module has helped me think about the impact of the Internet on my students' learning in various ways. Not only can they communicate in new and sometimes more effective ways using the Internet (blogging, websites, etc.) but they can access a wealth of reliable information that would not necessarily be available to them otherwise. Considering how much this generation of students is going to rely on the Internet in countless ways, both in school and out of school, I think it would be a disservice to them not to incorporate it in their learning as much as possible. As long as we do this in valuable, relevant ways we can not only make technology integration a smooth and natural part of our classrooms but we can also make it fun and engaging for our students as well.

Working Backwards

So far I feel like the most significant lesson I am learning from class is how to most effectively plan a large unit that encompasses many different instructional aspects. Specifically, I am realizing the order in which I like to create the various components of such a unit--I feel like I need to start at the very end of the unit first. I need to determine my distinct vision of the product I want the students to end up with and then work my way back to decide how I'm going to assess them, what materials/resources they're going to use, what questions they're going to ask/answer, and what standards they're covering. I prefer to have the "big picture" first, and then once I have that I can begin to assemble the smaller pieces.

Reflection

This module has made me think about my role as an instructional designer in several ways! I am already feeling more competent as far as designing problem-based instruction that is both student-centered and incorporates technology. I thought that this first session was useful and informative. We began planning our PBL unit, brainstormed content, set up our blogs, and gained access to some great resources. It was a productive first night!