3.6 Selecting and Evaluating Digital Tools & Resources
Candidates collaborate with teachers and administrators to select and evaluate digital tools and resources for accuracy, suitability, and compatibility with the school technology infrastructure. (PSC 3.6/ISTE 3f)
Artifact: Emerging Technologies Project
Reflection:
The artifact used to demonstrate my abilities in selecting and evaluating digital tools and resources is the Emerging Technologies Project, which was completed as an individual assignment. For this assignment, I had to use choose and evaluate an innovative and current digital tool to introduce to the administrators and teachers within my school building. The assignment outlined the purpose and functionality of Google Classroom, how it correlates with the vision and beliefs of the county in which I was working, the accessibility according to the current technologies, limitations and possible issues that may arise, how to use the tool, the relevance of using the tool, and an implementation plan of use throughout the school.
After discussing different ideas with the administration and select teachers at my school, Google Classroom was decided as the best digital tool to select and evaluate prior to execution. Because our school had recently purchased one-to-one Chromebooks in third, fourth, and fifth grades, we felt this tool would greatly benefit both our students and teachers. During my evaluation of the digital tool, I determined that Google Classroom definitely aligned with the vision and beliefs of the school system; therefore, the tool was compatible with our school and system. Because every student in the county had recently been issued Google accounts, including email, the tool was also determined suitable with our current technologies and free to use. Meshing the Google accounts along with the Chromebooks and Google Classroom increased the accuracy of using the digital tool, since those systems all work well together.
After evaluating the tool closely, it was determined that Google Classroom was an accurate, suitable, and compatible tool that supported with the school technology infrastructure. Along with the backing of the administrators and teachers, I gave direct instruction on the use of Google Classroom throughout the school. The digital tool is one of the current favorites used within the school.
Not only did I learn about a new tool to use in the classroom, I learned the importance of collaborating in order to get others on board with the use of new digital tools as well. Having the support of the administration and key teachers in the school building helped when executing the implementation plan as well as offered support to teachers who were expected to use it. If I could do anything differently for this project, I would have created a place for questions that teachers asked during the process of teaching about the tool. This could have added to the project so others could see possible questions that arose when implementing the tool in another school building within the county.
When sharing the Emerging Technologies Project with the other teachers in my building, their spirit for technology was influenced in a positive way. They were excited about trying this new tool to make their instruction improve through the use of a new digital tool; they loved how the tool could be used in every classroom from one student account. Faculty development and school improvement took place after implementing this tool in classrooms, and student learning was increased tremendously. Parents were able to view student assignments and comments as well as see the digital, collaborative learning environment that their children were using. There were positive results for everyone involved with the implementation of the new digital tool known as Google Classroom. The impact can be assessed by the number of teachers and students who are now using the tool, as opposed to before the technology project was executed.
The artifact used to demonstrate my abilities in selecting and evaluating digital tools and resources is the Emerging Technologies Project, which was completed as an individual assignment. For this assignment, I had to use choose and evaluate an innovative and current digital tool to introduce to the administrators and teachers within my school building. The assignment outlined the purpose and functionality of Google Classroom, how it correlates with the vision and beliefs of the county in which I was working, the accessibility according to the current technologies, limitations and possible issues that may arise, how to use the tool, the relevance of using the tool, and an implementation plan of use throughout the school.
After discussing different ideas with the administration and select teachers at my school, Google Classroom was decided as the best digital tool to select and evaluate prior to execution. Because our school had recently purchased one-to-one Chromebooks in third, fourth, and fifth grades, we felt this tool would greatly benefit both our students and teachers. During my evaluation of the digital tool, I determined that Google Classroom definitely aligned with the vision and beliefs of the school system; therefore, the tool was compatible with our school and system. Because every student in the county had recently been issued Google accounts, including email, the tool was also determined suitable with our current technologies and free to use. Meshing the Google accounts along with the Chromebooks and Google Classroom increased the accuracy of using the digital tool, since those systems all work well together.
After evaluating the tool closely, it was determined that Google Classroom was an accurate, suitable, and compatible tool that supported with the school technology infrastructure. Along with the backing of the administrators and teachers, I gave direct instruction on the use of Google Classroom throughout the school. The digital tool is one of the current favorites used within the school.
Not only did I learn about a new tool to use in the classroom, I learned the importance of collaborating in order to get others on board with the use of new digital tools as well. Having the support of the administration and key teachers in the school building helped when executing the implementation plan as well as offered support to teachers who were expected to use it. If I could do anything differently for this project, I would have created a place for questions that teachers asked during the process of teaching about the tool. This could have added to the project so others could see possible questions that arose when implementing the tool in another school building within the county.
When sharing the Emerging Technologies Project with the other teachers in my building, their spirit for technology was influenced in a positive way. They were excited about trying this new tool to make their instruction improve through the use of a new digital tool; they loved how the tool could be used in every classroom from one student account. Faculty development and school improvement took place after implementing this tool in classrooms, and student learning was increased tremendously. Parents were able to view student assignments and comments as well as see the digital, collaborative learning environment that their children were using. There were positive results for everyone involved with the implementation of the new digital tool known as Google Classroom. The impact can be assessed by the number of teachers and students who are now using the tool, as opposed to before the technology project was executed.