Chapter 2

TPCK - Chapter 2 Reflection

A statement made in the text really stood out to me. M.A. Kelly states, “Whether technology helps to increase achievement for all, or merely exacerbates existing inequities, is largely dependent on how it is used in the schools.” This statement sums up an internal struggle I have been wrestling with this year.
I mentioned previously that I was the K-3 Technology Integrator for MSAD9 these last six years. Most of my time in this role was at Mallett School, as it had both the largest population and the largest number of teachers interested in technology. Now that my position has been cut, and I am back in the classroom, I see a dramatic decrease in the use of technology. I’ve heard comments such as, “ I haven’t taken my students to the lab yet this year. I know that I should go at least once before the year’s end.” or “ Now that I don’t have support I’m not planning on doing anything.” Chapter 2 discussed inequities in technology but an additional one is within the school itself. Students, at least in the MSAD9 district, and I would presume to generalize this issue to other districts, have an inequitable experience depending on their classroom placement.
I had hoped, thought, that I had done a better job of helping teachers to see the benefits of technology integration; how technology, curricular content and pedagogy interrelated and supported learning for all. I knew that there would be a decrease in use once my position was eliminated but I had thought it wouldn’t be quite so drastic.
In my second grade unit, of four classrooms, I am the only one that integrates technology on a regular basis. I am very fortunate that a laptop cart is housed in an extra room across the hall. My students can often be seen traveling across the hall to get a laptop for word processing stories for our classroom wiki, researching, dictionary use, e book libraries, spelling practice, math practice, project use, or to get the projector cart or Smartboard. I feel that one of my strengths is using technology to support and transform learning. Our classroom wiki has provided my students with outside comments on their writing pieces and growth. We created a historical calendar of area inventors, as a fund raiser, as part of our local history and invention unit. Students digitized artifacts and photographs for this. As we study the founding of the Sandy River Valley we are preparing to create a claymation video of Stephen Titcomb’s arrival in the Farmington area and his family’s settlement. Both of these experiences are to help make history alive and understandable for young students who developmentally have a difficult time with the concept of time. Making scenery, dressing characters and reenacting the story will help young students compare and contrast time “then and now.” The video will be uploaded to Maine Memory Network for global viewing. The technology supports this process. The learning of the tools and applications are embedded in the greater work of recording history.
While I feel good about what I am doing I know I have much to do. I feel that I have a democratic classroom and that children have a voice in decision making and in their learning. I feel that I am working to have a technologically equitable classroom but I am not “ all the way” there yet. I think that the gap between my students with access at home and those without is narrowing. Learning in the classroom is for all whether technology is included or not. I think that daily incorporation of technology tools is helping to take the “ novelty” of using a digital camera, a scanner or a laptop away. All of my kids set up and put away projectors and the Smartboard. I still am working to make sure that all of my students have feedback on their wiki entries. I am searching out college and high school classes that will give my students an audience for writing. At parent conferences students without access showed their parents our wiki. I have encouraged public access through the public library but know that that has not been taken advantage of. I know that MSAD9 had a once a week lab open to parents and students but stopped this practice last year due to poor attendance.
I feel that I have made a start in building a TPCK foundation in my classroom. I know I have much work to do. I am excited by the potential of this course and the discussions and sharing we will have and the growth I can make.