Welcome to Week 3!

Welcome to Week 3 of Technology Methods! 

Last week, we considered who our students are, and that is a question I want you to keep in mind as we move forward. As you get to know the students at your field placement, you should also keep in mind how your knowledge of them influences the choices you will be making when designing lessons and activities for your class. (This is as true for designing lessons that involve technology as ones that don't.) 

This week in Technology Methods

This week, we'll be diving a bit deeper into the question "What do we teach?" by looking at the new Massachusetts digital literacy standards and refreshing our knowledge of Bloom's Taxonomy. Sometimes, teaching with technology is reduced to teacher using Powerpoint slides in class. As the standards suggest, however, digital literacy really means engaging students in the use of technology to support course and lesson objectives. Therefore, we'll be looking Bloom's Taxonomy to consider where in the taxonomy of learning this student engagement fits. We will also be connecting this knowledge to who our students are by thinking about the relationship between educational technology and equity for students. A note on the digital literacy standards: they were released in June 2016 and have been adopted in some schools but not others. However, it's important to look at the vision that Massachusetts has for digital literacy and to consider how it relates to the work you will be doing as a teacher in your content area. 

Your tasks for this week are: 

1) Look over the Massachusetts digital literacy standards

2) Refresh your knowledge of Bloom's Taxonomy, considering which *kinds* of action verbs are facilitated by educational technology. In which kinds of activities might you engage your students in your content area that connect to both the Massachusetts digital literacy standards and to particular parts of Bloom's Taxonomy?

3) Observe the available technologies in your field site. What's there? How is it being used? Is it being used? 

4) Post your initial post to the discussion board by Thursday at 11:59pm and your three follow-up comments by Sunday at 11:59pm.