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: Evaluating an Emerging Technology
Reflection:
During the summer of 2019, I created a presentation on an emerging technology for the ITEC 7445 Multimedia Web Design course. The task required me to research various emerging technologies and collaborate with others to select a technology that would support our school system’s vision for technology. I then created a presentation to highlight the benefits of using Prowriting Aid for use in the classroom promoting literacy and as a self-assessment tool for students.
Standard 3.6, Selecting and Evaluating Digital Tools and Resources, establishes the expectations for collaborating with teachers and administrators to select and evaluate digital tools and resources for accuracy, suitability, and compatibility with the school technology infrastructure. Working with our Instructional Technology Specialist, Media Specialist, and 3 peer teachers, we collaborated and explored apps for assisting students with writing that would support our district’s literacy initiative. We selected and evaluated several digital tools that could promote reading and writing, and after extensive research, we chose to explore the emerging technology ProWriting Aid as a free resource for students while writing essays. It allows students the ability to copy & paste their document into it’s editor and then suggests revisions while providing explanations for grammar, spelling, and punctuation. We tested it’s accuracy and found it to be excellent as a student aid, but we also found no technical issues while using it. Because our district has a literacy initiative written into our Strategic Plan, and since we have already selected adaptable reading resources to promote on-level reading and comprehension, we wanted to identify a tool for writing. ProWriting Aid is a suitable app that will highlight and explain student errors in writing- thus promoting literacy. It is available as an extension on Chrome and could easily be pushed to every Chromebook on campus by our Technology Team. Its compatibility is further evident by our district utilizing Google Suites for Education, and the app’s useability by users of all grade levels.
In creating this artifact, I learned to select and evaluate technology that will support school and district goal. I was also able to strengthen my collaboration skills with peers and administrators. As one of the first artifacts created for the Instructional Technology program, I found myself diving into the depths of strategic plans, school initiatives, and technology infrastructure. Through this experience, I also learned the importance of identifying useful and relevant emerging technologies that would support the school’s vision and student learning, and to identify funding opportunities, implementation protocols, and to gather information to present ideas to school faculty and administrators. If I could do something differently in creating this artifact, I would request the school pilot the program with at least one class, so I could add the resulting data and feedback from our own students/teachers to the presentation.
This artifact would impact school improvement and student learning. School improvement would be impacted by the promotion of student literacy through writing, which aligns with our school and district strategic plan to improve student literacy by creating a literacy focus in every academic class. The tool selected would improve student learning by providing students with a writing editor that would assist with grammar, spelling, and punctuation. This impact could be assessed by comparing writing samples from students throughout the semester to evaluate writing improvement.
During the summer of 2019, I created a presentation on an emerging technology for the ITEC 7445 Multimedia Web Design course. The task required me to research various emerging technologies and collaborate with others to select a technology that would support our school system’s vision for technology. I then created a presentation to highlight the benefits of using Prowriting Aid for use in the classroom promoting literacy and as a self-assessment tool for students.
Standard 3.6, Selecting and Evaluating Digital Tools and Resources, establishes the expectations for collaborating with teachers and administrators to select and evaluate digital tools and resources for accuracy, suitability, and compatibility with the school technology infrastructure. Working with our Instructional Technology Specialist, Media Specialist, and 3 peer teachers, we collaborated and explored apps for assisting students with writing that would support our district’s literacy initiative. We selected and evaluated several digital tools that could promote reading and writing, and after extensive research, we chose to explore the emerging technology ProWriting Aid as a free resource for students while writing essays. It allows students the ability to copy & paste their document into it’s editor and then suggests revisions while providing explanations for grammar, spelling, and punctuation. We tested it’s accuracy and found it to be excellent as a student aid, but we also found no technical issues while using it. Because our district has a literacy initiative written into our Strategic Plan, and since we have already selected adaptable reading resources to promote on-level reading and comprehension, we wanted to identify a tool for writing. ProWriting Aid is a suitable app that will highlight and explain student errors in writing- thus promoting literacy. It is available as an extension on Chrome and could easily be pushed to every Chromebook on campus by our Technology Team. Its compatibility is further evident by our district utilizing Google Suites for Education, and the app’s useability by users of all grade levels.
In creating this artifact, I learned to select and evaluate technology that will support school and district goal. I was also able to strengthen my collaboration skills with peers and administrators. As one of the first artifacts created for the Instructional Technology program, I found myself diving into the depths of strategic plans, school initiatives, and technology infrastructure. Through this experience, I also learned the importance of identifying useful and relevant emerging technologies that would support the school’s vision and student learning, and to identify funding opportunities, implementation protocols, and to gather information to present ideas to school faculty and administrators. If I could do something differently in creating this artifact, I would request the school pilot the program with at least one class, so I could add the resulting data and feedback from our own students/teachers to the presentation.
This artifact would impact school improvement and student learning. School improvement would be impacted by the promotion of student literacy through writing, which aligns with our school and district strategic plan to improve student literacy by creating a literacy focus in every academic class. The tool selected would improve student learning by providing students with a writing editor that would assist with grammar, spelling, and punctuation. This impact could be assessed by comparing writing samples from students throughout the semester to evaluate writing improvement.