Byrens- 1 Ana Byrens EDU 360 Prof.

Rubio ID# 284307 December 14, 2011

How has this course addressed the domains of the SOE Conceptual Framework and helped you prepare to be an effective teacher? While attending Spring Arbor University, I have had the privilege to have been apart of the School of Education and therefore had the chance to have taken a few education classes. EDU 360, Integrating Technology into Education, is my 6th education class thus far. This class focused on education through technology and what that looks like in a classroom today. From my recent experience, I would say that this course addressed three of the SOE Conceptual Framework domains: Pedagogy, Assessment, and Technology. Pedagogy, or the art and science of teaching, is a School of Education domain that includes a variety of instructional strategies, equipping teachers with the ability to adapt learning to individual student needs. This class was focused on how to teach with technology and therefore, introduced us as students to a whole new array of strategies and adaptive ideas. Examples of this are our Course shells we were assigned to make, the Web Quests, and our class discussion on Universal Design for Learning. The course shell addressed pedagogy, as we were to make lesson plans that students would be able to complete online. Knowing this, we had to adapt our content and use other online resources to ensure a students success. The Web Quest also addressed this domain as it called for us to create an engaging lesson plan solely based off of technological resources and creativity. Lastly, in our class

Byrens- 2 discussion time we were able to talk about Universal Design for Learning and what that meant as future educators. This relates to pedagogy as it is about how to design lessons or adapt lessons for all learners, making them universal. These three examples have greatly helped me in my understanding of my own instructional abilities as well as provided me with a more well-rounded awareness of teaching strategies. Assessment, according to the School of Education, involves selecting, developing, and using appropriate strategies and instruments to measure achievement of program goals and instructional objectives. This definition also means understanding the effective use of different forms and timing of classroom assessment as part of learning and teaching. In EDU 360 we were asked to create various assessments, one for our actual EDU class, two for our course shell, and one for our Web Quest. The assessment made for our EDU class was one in which we used the clickers provided by our teacher. We were each designated two questions of various levels and asked to present them to the class using the projector and the clicker program. The two assessments made for the course shell were the survey and the test. Both of these were made with minimal effort as the shell itself is equipped to create quick surveys and tests, the teacher only has to input the questions and information. The last form of assessment we were able to explore with was rubrics. For our Web Quest we were to assign a project or assignment for our students and grade their work based on a rubric we made. I was able to use an online source that aided me in creating the rubric. These assessment practices aid any student who is in pursuit of a teaching degree because it allows a new understanding of the resources available to them through online sites. No longer do we live in the day where teachers have to spend hours writing up tests. The last domain that I felt EDU 360 really covered was that of Technology. As the class name and description both mention technology, this domain being addressed through the course

Byrens- 3 is completely expected. Technology is a universal tool that calls for literacy, skill, and intent to appropriately use. As future educators it is important to understand the culture we are in now, but also the culture we will be in soon. The times are calling for a growth in technology dependence and ability. The classrooms we will be teaching in are no exception. This course allowed us as students to see the uses and tools that are available to us as we prepare for our own classrooms. This course was purely a technology course as all of our projects were technology related. As a student who is no longer in pursuit of an education degree, I feel confident in knowing that this class was not time wasted. The things I was able to learn in regards to technology will always be helpful to me as I pursue my dreams in another department. Just as every class should, this course opened my eyes to more than just content, it allowed me to find more perspective on the world I live in today and how it is functioning.