PHILOSOPHY

Since I teach both Technology and Mathematics, I will try to describe my beliefs in teaching as it pertains to both fields. I believe very strongly in teaching students through "discovery" learning. I do this by giving students certain basic tools and then letting them "discover" theorems, ideas or concepts related to a subject. In this way, there will be a moment of "Ah, ha!" for the student when they connect the relationships and "come up" with the concept. As this relates to technology, I like to teach students the basics of applications and then give them a creative project that allows them to think about where they want to take it. By allowing them the openness of creativity they will take the application much further than they would if I show them everything. This makes my technology classroom more of a lab environment where students are testing ideas or experimenting with where they can take the software. They come up with the ideas outside of the software and I help them to find the tool in the software to make there ideas come to life.

This idea of allowing students to be creative, changes my role in the classroom to more of a facilitator or "helper" role where students are empowered with the application and the concept. In the video clip on the right, you will see me helping an 8th grade student with Macromedia Flash. I get down on her level and listen to what she is trying to do and let her try to solve it. In this example, the student is trying to use music in her animation, I help her by giving advice with how to match the audio with the animation that is occurring in her project. You will see in the video, that I have a rather "fun" personality. I think that enthusiasm for learning and humor are some of the best tools we have as teachers to not only create rapport with our students, but also to show them that learning can be fun!

Click on the image above to see a short video of me helping a student with Macromedia Flash. (Note: the video is 1.6 MB and will require a few minutes to download if you are using a dial-up connection.)

As I mentioned above, I really like the idea of having students "discover" what they are learning. In the short video to the right, I describe a very simple lesson for beginning Geometry students that allows them to realize the Theorem that "The sum of the interior angles of all triangles is 180 degrees". Of course, any teacher could just give them the theorem and have them put it in their notes, but why not let them discover it! Click on the video to see one approach.

Click on the image above to see a short video of me describing a simple discovery math lesson. (Note: the video is 2.3 MB and will require a few minutes to download if you are using a dial-up connection.)

Click here to learn more about the National Standards for Technology in Education and see some samples that meet these standards.

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MY CORE VALUES
Click here to see the core values for University of Hawaii - College of Education.

Since I have only just started my Master's Degree Program in Educational Technology, I am not sure that I can fully address the 5 core values for the College of Education, but let me try.

Knowledgeable - Everyday is a new learning opportunity.
I believe this to be true even as I get older and this motto is what I must impart to my students. If I can teach my students to come to school with an open mind and with a desire to learn, I have done most of my job. I didn't really need to have my Master's Degree, I wanted to pursue it to learn more and become a better teacher and to find better ways to integrate technology into every classroom.

My first class last semester was all about Telecollaboration. I had done some videoconferencing and some discussion board work, but it was almost always for personal use or self-directed learning. I never fathomed how far I could take telecollaboration! I could take it to the point of having groups of people around the world discussing issues and trying to resolve real-life situations. And, with that, learning more about other cultures and people around the world! Suddenly, a discussion board is more than just a place to boast about the latest Denver Bronco win, it was a place almost like a classroom. With it, of course, came a lot of responsibility in setting up and controlling this environment for the students so that it was a safe learning place with goals in mind.

When I teach students technology, I know that at some point the software they are using will be obsolete and be replaced with something else. Or, students may go somewhere without these same programs. So, when I teach them to become knowledgeable about technology, it is sometimes more than just learning about the application, it is about learning how to find answers, using help screens, looking through pull-down menus to find the answers. It is about becoming self-sufficient, life-long learners and becoming confident in sitting and a computer and figuring out how to use a piece of software. It is about learning how to design papers, websites, and charts that are easy-to-read, look "nice", and meet the objectives for creating it.

Collaborative - As the Director of Technology at my last school, I was constantly working with other core teachers finding ways to help them integrate technology into their classrooms. Additionally, one of the harder tasks is how to evaluate/assess technology projects students have produced in lieu of a written paper. This is very collaborative in nature as teachers learn more about technology and try to keep up with the students' knowledge and learning.

In both of my Master's Degree classes and in my graduate work in Mathematics, working collaboratively has been very important and beneficial to me as a learner. Most people come from different places in the country, different cultures and different learning experiences, by working collaboratively, I am able to gain experiences in producing the work that I would not have gained in working alone.

One of my goals now is to take back my learning on collaboration and find ways to incorporate this into my own classrooms, through group projects and group investigations.

Inclusive - As I explained in the Collaborative core value, I feel that it is critical to work together as a team to learn more about the project, share ideas and gain more knowledge about the goals at hand and each other. This is a goal that needs to be taught to many students. They need to know how to work together to achieve a goal or objective.

Inquiring - The only way to grow as a person and an educator is to ask questions. Here were my goals for my graduate program:

1. Integrating Technology in Any Classroom – I want to learn how to integrate technology in core and elective classes. I do this now, but have run into many stumbling blocks, for example, teacher training issues, teacher enthusiasm problems, concerns with the ways to make technology fit with curriculum objectives, etc.
   
2. Psychology Behind Technology Integration – How does technology help in student learning?
   
3. How should Technology projects be evaluated, assessed and graded? What are effective ways of evaluating technology projects, and how does alternative assessment fit into a teacher's overall curriculum goals?
   
4. National Standards for Technology – I want to learn more about the standards and how they are integrated with the "No Child Left Behind" policies. While I don't teach in a public school, it would be beneficial for me to understand this and make sure that we are meeting student needs even in the private realm.
   
5. Teaching Technology Classes – I teach technology courses on a daily basis now, but I would love to learn more about how students learn technology and innovative ways to teach it.
   
6. The Latest Technologies – Although I am exposed to current technologies through workshops and networking in my current job, it would be nice to see what other ideas are being used in the classroom from the latest software and hardware to online resources like distance learning classes.

These are just some of the questions that I am hoping to answer through the graduate program.

Reflective -

Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they're yours.
Richard Bach - Illusions

As I teach my students about becoming life-long learners, I must practice what I preach. Everyday I do learn something new and every night I try to reflect on what I have learned and what I might learn the next day. When I look at what I am learning in my graduate classes, I try to look at how the learning might help me become a better teacher and how it might help my students as well. What has been great about this program is that my professors are thinking along the same lines, they don't just "feed" me the material, they help me to think about how the knowledge might be applied.