4.3 - Diversity, Cultural Understanding & Global Awareness
Candidates model and facilitate the use of digital tools and resources to support diverse student needs, enhance cultural understanding, and increase global awareness. (PSC 4.3/ISTE 5c)
Artifact: ITEC 7430 - Diversity Blog Post
Reflection:
This blog entry, Diversity, was a discussion about how technology could be used to tap into the opportunities diversity presented in the classroom. In this class assignment, we were asked to discuss the diversity within the classroom and how we could leverage technology to best meet the needs of every student. In addition, we were asked to discuss how technology could be used to connect our students to other cultures and promote global awareness. This blog was completed as an individual class assignment.
Standard 4.3, Diversity, Cultural Understanding, and Global Awareness, asks that candidates demonstrate the ability to “model and facilitate the use of digital tools and resources to support diverse student needs, enhance cultural understanding, and increase global awareness” (PSC 4.3/ISTE 5c). The various teaching strategies and selection of digital tools discussed in the blog demonstrate my ability to do so. Using technology to create and implement personalized learning experiences and using technology to assist students with disabilities in meeting their learning goals, described in paragraph two, are two ways to model and facilitate the use of digital tools and resources to support the needs of diverse students. I have facilitated both of these strategies in my own classroom.
The last paragraph of the post outlines strategies for connecting students with others outside of the classroom. Both types of technology discussed in the post, Skype and blogging, are tools that have the capability of expanding the classroom walls and selecting these tools and explaining how they are to be used demonstrates my ability to model the use of digital tools to enhance cultural understanding and increase global awareness. I have used blogging in my classroom and invited other students and teachers to read, comment, and collaborate on the blog, a demonstration of my ability to facilitate the use of digital tools and resources to enhance cultural understanding and increase global awareness. Students from around the globe who lived in the areas that were being discussed were encouraged to provide personal insights about their culture. In addition, I have suggested and promoted the use of Skype and another digital resource, ePals, to facilitate the use of digital tools and resources to enhance cultural understanding and increase global awareness. These teachers have used these resources to connect with classrooms and students from around the world, to have students learn more about these cultures.
Examining the necessity to meet the needs of diverse students and how to connect students with the world around was an important and beneficial learning experience for me. I already felt that it was important to meet the needs of all of my students and knew technology could be used to meet that need, but reviewing the research that supported that and assembling more strategies to make this possible allowed me to broaden my battery of skills and knowledge to apply in my classroom. The other aspect of diversity allowed me to expand the walls of my classroom. Students enjoyed the opportunities to connect with others around the world and felt it was a valuable learning experience. If I were to go back and rewrite the blog, I would include more opportunities to meet the needs of the diverse learner. I only discussed a few strategies and there are far more that would need to be considered.
The impact on student learning can be assessed with interviews of all of the students and examining their opinions of the learning experiences. The impact on faculty development and school improvement can be assessed by observing which of these strategies are being used in their classrooms and how often. Since some teachers have been using some of the strategies in their classrooms, at this point it could be determined that it has had a positive impact on faculty development. If these teachers continue to use these strategies and convince others of the merits of using them, then it could have a positive impact on school improvement.
This blog entry, Diversity, was a discussion about how technology could be used to tap into the opportunities diversity presented in the classroom. In this class assignment, we were asked to discuss the diversity within the classroom and how we could leverage technology to best meet the needs of every student. In addition, we were asked to discuss how technology could be used to connect our students to other cultures and promote global awareness. This blog was completed as an individual class assignment.
Standard 4.3, Diversity, Cultural Understanding, and Global Awareness, asks that candidates demonstrate the ability to “model and facilitate the use of digital tools and resources to support diverse student needs, enhance cultural understanding, and increase global awareness” (PSC 4.3/ISTE 5c). The various teaching strategies and selection of digital tools discussed in the blog demonstrate my ability to do so. Using technology to create and implement personalized learning experiences and using technology to assist students with disabilities in meeting their learning goals, described in paragraph two, are two ways to model and facilitate the use of digital tools and resources to support the needs of diverse students. I have facilitated both of these strategies in my own classroom.
The last paragraph of the post outlines strategies for connecting students with others outside of the classroom. Both types of technology discussed in the post, Skype and blogging, are tools that have the capability of expanding the classroom walls and selecting these tools and explaining how they are to be used demonstrates my ability to model the use of digital tools to enhance cultural understanding and increase global awareness. I have used blogging in my classroom and invited other students and teachers to read, comment, and collaborate on the blog, a demonstration of my ability to facilitate the use of digital tools and resources to enhance cultural understanding and increase global awareness. Students from around the globe who lived in the areas that were being discussed were encouraged to provide personal insights about their culture. In addition, I have suggested and promoted the use of Skype and another digital resource, ePals, to facilitate the use of digital tools and resources to enhance cultural understanding and increase global awareness. These teachers have used these resources to connect with classrooms and students from around the world, to have students learn more about these cultures.
Examining the necessity to meet the needs of diverse students and how to connect students with the world around was an important and beneficial learning experience for me. I already felt that it was important to meet the needs of all of my students and knew technology could be used to meet that need, but reviewing the research that supported that and assembling more strategies to make this possible allowed me to broaden my battery of skills and knowledge to apply in my classroom. The other aspect of diversity allowed me to expand the walls of my classroom. Students enjoyed the opportunities to connect with others around the world and felt it was a valuable learning experience. If I were to go back and rewrite the blog, I would include more opportunities to meet the needs of the diverse learner. I only discussed a few strategies and there are far more that would need to be considered.
The impact on student learning can be assessed with interviews of all of the students and examining their opinions of the learning experiences. The impact on faculty development and school improvement can be assessed by observing which of these strategies are being used in their classrooms and how often. Since some teachers have been using some of the strategies in their classrooms, at this point it could be determined that it has had a positive impact on faculty development. If these teachers continue to use these strategies and convince others of the merits of using them, then it could have a positive impact on school improvement.