Philosophy of Education and Instructional Technology Statement

            Teaching and learning in today’s world has completely transformed over the last few decades. We are living in a digital world where everything around us is an interactive multimedia environment that is continually changing. This is the world that our students are growing up in. As an educator it is our responsibility to prepare our students for the twenty-first century. It is our obligation to teach our students the skills they need in order to succeed and become college and career ready for this fast paced digital world. Although, technology is changing very rapidly, it is important that educators adapt to the changes and take the time to incorporate these technologies into the classroom. With the use of technology in the classroom, students have an abundant amount of resources and information with just the click of a button. Incorporating technology into the classroom helps to motivate our students, improves student learning, and allows our students to become better critical thinkers. The driving forces behind my philosophy of education are the effectiveness of Multiple Intelligences and Differentiated Instruction. As an educator, I believe that technology is a great tool that benefits my students because it helps to address my philosophy of education and ensures that my students are receiving a quality education.

            The theories and theorists that drive my philosophy in education is Howard Gardner who is the theorist behind the Theory of Multiple Intelligences; and Carol Tomlinson the theorist behind Differentiated Instruction. Both believed that people learn new ideas and concepts in different ways. Using technology in the classroom helps to address all of the Multiple Intelligences (linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, impersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist) and diverse learners. My goal is to use technology in a way that helps to give my students various options on how they are able acquire knowledge and learn the content of a subject. The use of technology gives students many different opportunities for them retrieve to and retain information and make sense of concepts and ideas.

            I am an elementary art teacher and I find it very important to incorporate technology into my art room. I believe with the use of technology in my classroom I’ve found my students to become increasingly interested, motivated, and engaged in the subject. I often use computers, the SMART Board, instructional videos and online base programs such as Prezi in my instruction. These diverse types of technologies have helped to tackle all of my students various abilities, needs, and interests. Technology allows students to become more involved in their learning, therefore becoming more independent learners. As I continue to learn about new technologies, I am always thinking of ways to incorporate those new technologies into my classroom. For example, I am planning on incorporating a website called Edmodo into my curriculum. Edmodo is a web-based program that is safe and easy for students to use. It is a program that is very similar blogs, where students and teachers are able to post comments or pictures and share it with one another. I would like to use this web-based program to hold art discussions and art critiques outside of class. Edmodo is a great program because students will be able to collaborate with their peers and will be able to get instant feedback from their classmates or teachers. “As educators, it is our responsibility to stay abreast of technology by discovering new and innovative ways to develop and present curriculum” (Brammer, Gaudet, Jackson, & McDaniel, 2009).

            Without the proper supervision and guidance from educators and/or parents, technology can cause more problems than it solves. For example, the Internet can sometimes become a distraction for students allowing them to veer off task, although with the advancements of technology most schools are able to provide security for computers as well as proper supervision from teachers and parents. Technology has become a very powerful tool and not using it in classrooms is a disadvantage to our students. It can be applied to students of different learning styles such as: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. “Technology serves as a bridge to more engaging, relevant, meaningful, and personalized learning, all of which can lead to higher academic achievement” (Chapter 1: Overview and Principles of Differentiated Instruction, 2007). It gives students a better understanding of modern technologies and allows them to function and compete in this global economy.

            Technology improved the effectiveness of teaching and learning in the classroom. It allows both teachers and students to teach and learn together. Technology gives our students the opportunity for collaborative learning not just with students from their own school, but with students from all over the world. They are able to learn from each other and about the world around them. Our students will thrive and succeed in this digital age, in and outside of the classroom and be better prepared for the twenty-first century. The benefits from technology are endless.


http://dl.dropbox.com/u/44186744/PhilosophyOfEducation.pdf

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