PS4: Collaborates with classroom teachers and staff to conduct needs-assessments that identify instructional problems for which information technologies might be appropriate components of the solution
Helping students access all levels of Bloom's Taxonomy becomes much easier with the use of technology. Here
is a graphic I created demonstrating different apps that I have helped teachers with, and where they fall on Bloom's Taxonomy. Of course, how teachers and students use the apps dictates where they fall on the scale, but I have included one application for each on this graphic.
Technology helps teachers provide alternative assessment options, measure mastery, and
provide immediate feedback--just a few of the tenets of personalized learning. It allows teachers to reach every student at his/her current level and provide lessons that will foster growth. While some of this is possible without technology, the fact is that teaching that way is incredibly time consuming and ineffective. The ability to provide timely feedback, for example, was something I always struggled with as a writing teacher, but technology provides tools that make this much more efficient and thereby effective.
With the adoption of the ISTE Standards for Students by the state of Vermont, using technology regularly to express one's learning in all of the ways Bloom's suggests becomes all the more important. Our world has changed and our education must change to match the needs of today's learners. Too many teachers still hold tight to essay writing and solving 20 math problems each night, but this kind of work isn't going to help students become global collaborators, innovative designers, or even empowered learners. I believe there must be a balance, and I work to help teachers who don't already see the value that technology can provide open up to new possibilities.
The best use of collaborative time with small groups has been our Lunch n' Learn, and this series in particular brought a wide variety of teachers from various disciplines, with varying mindsets and comfort levels in regards to innovation. We had lively conversations about teaching with technology including topics like using an LMS, expanding one's PLN via Twitter, and the benefits and limitations of utilizing iPads in the classroom.