Relevant Standards

North Carolina Professional Technology Facilitator Standards

Standard 1.1: Instructional Technology Facilitators demonstrate 21st century leadership in the school.

Standard 1.2: Instructional Technology Facilitators lead an instructional technology program that supports 21st century teaching and learning.

Standard 2.1: Instructional Technology Facilitators use effective pedagogy to infuse the curriculum with 21st century content and tools.

Standard 2.2: Instructional Technology Facilitators know the content appropriate to their teaching specialty.

Standard 3.1: Instructional Technology Facilitators serve as a specialist, fostering the effective use of digital tools and resources for constructing and sharing knowledge using inquiry-based instruction.

Standard 4.1: Instructional Technology Facilitators establish a participatory learning environment that facilitates collaboration among all members of the learning community and honors diversity.

Standard 4.2: Instructional Technology Facilitators seamlessly integrate content-area curricula with 21st century content, effective pedagogical practices, universal design principles, and appropriate technology applications for all learners.

Standard 5.3: Instructional Technology Facilitators function effectively in a complex, dynamic environment.

(NC Board of Education, 2012)

Requirements of the Artifact

    The artifact for EDTC 6139 was centered upon the selection and critiquing of technology-based resources for the educator.  Components of review included the age (grade) application, core content area, relation to curriculum standards, browser functionality, cost, and suitability for diverse learners (Bullock, 2018).  This was a timely project, as we see more and more educators making use of tech-based applications to relieve some of the stress that high student to teacher rations have created (Dede, 2011).

Connecting the Artifact and Standards

    This artifact required me to consider the needs of a wide variety of educators; I reviewed tutorials for elementary, middle, and high school students, of all content areas.  In addition, I also considered whether or not accommodations were integrated for learners with various needs.  Of course, one primary concern was how actively engaging the educational resource seemed to be.  A common theme that emerged is the inclusion of many interactive quizzes to test the learners’ progress.  Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel point out that “…frequent, low-stakes quizzes in class help the instructor verify that students are in fact learning…and reveal the areas where extra attention is needed” (2014, p. 125).  The use of these interactive quizzes within the tutorials aligned well with the inclusion of sound pedagogical instructional strategies, an important consideration for an instructional technology facilitator (ITF) (NC Board of Education, 2012).

Potential Improvements to the Artifact

    The most glaring concern for me is that there were simply not enough tutorials included that were rated “high” as suitable for diverse learners.  Only two of the ten were, and those required a subscription for access (Bullock, 2018).  Given more time, I would prefer to find at least two or three resources that would meet this need and be a low-cost or free option.  This is especially true considering that the Johnston County Public Schools system opted to not renew the license to iReady.  Budgets are always a concern, but as more educators rely on technological applications for learning, this will remain a viable area of need.

Career Goals and the Artifact

    As a future ITF or instructional designer, I place a high value on having an arsenal of resources on hand.  Almost every one that is shared with me or that I discover, I save somewhere for future reference.  Even if the tool is not one I would use at the time, it may be a great resource for someone else.  Having the opportunity to collect some of these resources, and learning more about a logical process for reviewing tools is of paramount importance to me in one of these future roles.

References

Brown, P., Roediger, H. L., & McDaniel, M. A. (2014). Make It Stick. Retrieved from Amazon Kindle store.

Bullock, D. W. (2018). Educational Tutorials.  Retrieved from http://myweb.ecu.edu/student/bullockd15/tutorials.html

Dede, C. (2011). Reconceptualizing technology integration to meet the necessity of

transformation. Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 5(1), 4-16. Retrieved from www.joci.ecu.edu/index.php/JoCI/article/download/121/127

NC Board of Education. (2012). North Carolina Professional Technology Facilitator Standards. Retrieved from http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/effectiveness-model/ncees/standards/prof-tech-facilitate-standards.pdf