I have recently completed my second to last class for graduate work at Walden University. The course was called Reaching and Engaging All Learners Through Technology.In the class we discussed how technology can be used to reach every type of student that a teacher may encounter. The first thing that I learned from this course is how students can differ from one another. Usually students have varying levels of readiness level, interests, and learning preferences. Once a teacher knows their students in this way they can begin to construct lessons and activities which will reach them in these areas.
Another interesting idea that I learned is how we can develop lesson with Universal design for leaning (UDL) and Differentiated instruction (DI) as a foundation. These two principles are methodologies for creating lessons that give every student tools for success regardless of their readiness level, interests, or learning preferences.
Still another very interesting tool that I discovered is the possibilities that social networking sites hold for the classroom. I was a member of a group that used this technology and I have to say that I am very impressed. Because my county does not yet have a protocol for social networking sites, I have been reluctant to sign in with sites like facebook or myspace. Now that I have had this experience with my group I am sure that I will be creating class nings and other sites that have social networking capabilities. These sites provide many tools like text-to-speech features, image or video postings, and simply have a place to connect with many people, which help cater to the principles of UDL and DI
Some of my most immediate adjustments for the classroom are to communicate with the homeroom teachers to gain a better understanding of the student's readiness level, interests, and learning preferences, Getting connected with other music teachers through nings and grou.ps sites so that I can stay current with new music education techniques, and continue to find ways to implement UDL and DI principles in the classroom.
