Spotlight on Emerging Technology: Online Learning in K-12 Schools

Online Learning

Reaching and Engaging All Learners Through Technology Reflection

In this course, Reaching and Engaging All Learners through Technology, what I have learned will contribute to my effectiveness at developing instruction that integrates technology to support student learning. I, now, understand that it is my responsibility to provide technology-supported learning opportunities for my students (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2008).

The differentiation station was the most useful part of this course for me. It gave me many ideas, strategies and tools to use in the classroom. I will use the technology that I learned about and shared in our differentiation station to provide my students with instruction that meets diverse learning needs. Dr. David Rose states, “There isn’t one regular student. They all have different ways they recognize information, organize their own expression of the information and ways in which they are engaged.” Adding technology would be one more way to help implement the principles of Universal Design for Learning and Differentiated Instruction.

I have learned several ways to look at differentiating instruction for students with and without technology. Unfortunately, I will not make any immediate adjustments to my instructional practice regarding the use of technology integration. I have explored strategies for using technology to get to know students’ readiness levels, interests, and learning profiles. I have also examined ways to use technology to provide students’ with a range of options for learning, engaging with, and applying your content. However, I do not have the resources in my classroom to apply my new knowledge. I will store my ideas and hope to use them in the future!


Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. B. (2008). Teaching and learning with technology (3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Reaching and engaging
all learners through technology. Baltimore: Author.

EDUC-6713I-2 Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas

This course has taught me how to effectively and appropriately integrate technology in the content (grade) area that I teach. As I have stated numerous times before, technology is not available in our school district. Therefore, I haven’t had much experience teaching with technology. The GAME plan and lesson plans that I created in this course helped me gain the knowledge and experience that I need to integrate different types of technology into units and lessons. According to Dr. Hartman (2009), “Our past was rooted in book culture. The future will be rooted in online and digital media”. Even though our school district doesn’t keep up, it is important that I do continue to learn!

I developed and followed a GAME plan throughout this course. The process was very helpful and a unique way for me to meet the goals that I established for learning about technology and technology resources. However, I don’t think that I will be using the GAME plan process with my Kindergarten students. It is not age appropriate and would not be helpful for them. I will help and teach my students how to develop proficiency in the technology standards and indicators outlined in the NETS-S. I think creating their own GAME plan is a wonderful idea for older students and one that I will be sharing with the teachers in my elementary!

Even though our school is not set up with a lot of technology, I will be able to make some immediate adjustments to my instructional practices regarding technology integration. I do have two working computers. I enjoyed learning about digital story telling during this course. I plan to immediately incorporate digital story telling to my units! Digital story telling is sharing stories through words, pictures, music, narration, and/or video (Abrams, 2009). Although, it may take a little more effort than just writing a story out on paper, the end product would be amazing! I can’t begin to imagine how proud students must feel after creating their digital story. Abrams (2009) discusses the importance of using technology to complete your goals.

The insights that I have gained in this course will contribute to my effectiveness at integrating technology to support and facilitate students’ learning in the content (grade) area. I am excited to use some of these strategies that I have explored and I will store the other ways that I can enrich student learning.

Laureate Education, Inc. (2009). Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom. Baltimore, MD.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.

EDUC-6712I-2 Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom

Before taking this course, I thought that I knew how to research information. However, the most striking revelation I had about teaching new literacy skills to my students is I realized that I knew very little about researching a topic and absolutely nothing about validating Websites. When researching, I would type in a key word and then look at all the links that “popped up”. It was time consuming and exhausting. I knew that not everything on the Internet was fact, but if it looked and sounded valid, I believed it to be true. The knowledge and skills I have acquired from this course will enable me, as well as my students, to validate sites and gather much more reliable information.

I have gained knowledge and experience from this course that will influence my teaching practices going forward. I have learned that web literacy skills are necessary and I must teach them to my students. Eagleton and Dobler (2007) state that “at a minimum, students need to be able to identify an information need, figure out which resources to use to address that need, evaluate the information they find, read and synthesize information from multiple sources, and transform all those stray pieces of information into something original.”

I have also learned how easy it is to incorporate different types of technology into my classroom. I stated numerous times, in my posts, that the technology is not available at my school. However, I now know how to incorporate it, when it becomes available. According to Dr. Hartman (2009), “Our past was rooted in book culture. The future will be rooted in online and digital media”. Creating my Farm Inquiry Unit Plan helped me gain knowledge and experience with integrating different forms of technology to units and lessons.

My professional development goal that I would like to pursue that builds upon my learning in this course and develops my own information literacy or technology skills is to teach my students 21st century technology skills so they can be successful the rest of their school career and in life after school. I will do this by using the technology that I have as much as possible so they can become proficient in research processes and presentation modes.


Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the web: Strategies for internet inquiry. New York: The Guilford Press.

Laureate Education, Inc. (2009). Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom. Baltimore, MD.

Using the GAME Plan Process with Students

I created a GAME plan to help myself create and meet goals for the NETS-T standards. I would love to be creating these goals for now – but they are for the future. It is discouraging to know that I have worked so hard developing and evaluating my person GAME plan and I can’t implement or monitor it. However, it is exciting to know that I will be ahead of the game, when we finally have the technology resources in our school.

The GAME plan process was very helpful and a unique way for me to create and meet the goals that I established for learning about technology and technology resources. However, I don’t think that I will be using the GAME plan process with my Kindergarten students. It is not age appropriate and would not be helpful for them. I will help and teach my students how to develop proficiency in the technology standards and indicators outlined in the NETS-S. I think creating their own GAME plan is a wonderful idea for older students and one that I will be sharing with the teachers in my elementary!

Revising Your GAME Plan

I, personally, feel like I have not made significant gains in my GAME plan. I think knowing that even though I have a GAME plan – also knowing that it will be a long time before I can fully implement it – is very discouraging. However, I will do my best.

I have already began to Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership. I have joined different technology blogs that are giving me great ideas. I will be observing a teacher at a surrounding school in September, to see how she incorporates technology into her classroom. I am now a member of our technology team! That means I will be involved in searching for ways to incorporate technology. I will also help search for the funding to get technology into our school.

I began working on my PBL lessons last week. I feel that they are helping me learn how to Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments. However, I do worry that the lessons I have created can not be pulled off in a Kindergarten classroom. They could never be pulled off in my classroom. Unfortunately, two computers is not enough technology to incorporate my PBL lessons!

Again, I am doing my best to stay optimistic about my GAME plan! I continue to strengthen my strategies for integrating technology into my classroom! Wish me luck!!

Moving Forward with My Game Plan

It is difficult for me to currently move forward with my game plan. I am not able to implement or evaluate my game plan, because school has not started yet. However, I have learned a few things that I can apply in my instructional practice.

Just a reminder of the goals that I established for learning about technology and technology resources:
- Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
Customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources
- Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
Exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others.

I am now subscribed to different technology blogs. I have found many ideas that I hope to implement in my classroom. These blogs have really helped me to understand that using digital tools in kindergarten needs to be simple. Simply having a student take a picture is incorporating these tools. I think that I was making it much to hard, trying to figure out how my students were going to create a power point presentation!

I have also begun creating my PBL lesson plan!