10 Promoting Success for
All Students through Technology
*MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION IN 21ST CENTURY SCHOOLS*
“Multicultural
educators organize teaching and learning to achieve multiple outcomes at the
same time—providing majority students information about individuals and groups
who are different from them, while offering diverse opportunities to locate
themselves and their histories and cultures within the school curriculum” (Maloy,
Verock-O’Loughlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2013, p. 244).
Because
America has such a diverse population, teachers are expected to meet the needs
of all students by integrating multicultural education into the curriculum. Due to the fact that we are living in
the 21st century, technology enables educators to provide
multicultural education to all their students. Teachers should be able to pull from sources on the web and
teach multiple perspectives to reveal hidden histories, instruct students with
information that their students can connect with, and create a classroom
community where cultures and collaboration are celebrated. In the history textbooks, not every
side of an event is revealed; therefore, it is the teacher’s job to provide
students with texts in which multiple perspectives of an event is
revealed. Moreover, by connecting
classroom learning to students’ lives and to things they value, teachers are
able to making learning relevant to their students.
*UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING*
“By emphasizing
highly flexible instructional goals, strategies, and materials, UDL reduces
potential barriers to learning while increasing learning opportunities for all
students” (Maloy et al., 2013, p. 250).
Although
it is frowned upon to teach in a uniform manner for all students, universal
design for learning (UDL) is beneficial and is much more than teaching in a
uniform manner. UDL enables
teaching in a universal way that can meet all
students’ needs without taking away from any one student. Furthermore, I have already practiced
UDL unknowingly. By using the
SMART Board to display any writing to my students during my student teaching, I
did not only cater to students who had poor vision, but also to students who
learn better with visual aids. I
always enlarged the text on the SMART Board in order to ensure that everybody
could easily read the learning material.
However, even though many teachers use technology in the class, they may
not use it in a way to promote UDL.
For instance, in the classroom I observed in, using the SMART Board to
project the answer key for the math homework would be considered UDL; however,
the teacher did not zoom into the page, and left many students seated in the
back row squinting and unable to check their homework. Teachers need to be careful in
guaranteeing the UDL they integrate into their classrooms truly reduce
potential barriers to learning while enhancing all students’ learning
opportunities.
11 Engaging Students in
Performance Assessment and Reflective Learning
*TEACHING PRACTICES*
“Teachers foster
student engagement by establishing a balance between teacher-chosen and
student-chosen activities…students contribute to the learning process in ways
such as those described by Steven Zemelman, Harvey Daniels, and Arthur Hyde…
·
Students
select themes for study, reading materials, discussion topics, and formats for
publishing their own writing.
·
Students
set personal goals and document their progress.
·
Students’
own questions and interests are the focus of classroom discussion and study.
·
Students
take responsibility for making decisions about classroom rules and procedures” (Maloy
et al., 2013, p. 284).
After
reading through the different teaching practices to foster student engagement,
I found myself relating to them during this course as well as when I taught
over the summer. These practices
revolve around a student-centered way of teaching, and really give students a
voice in completing their schoolwork.
Within the EDU 7266 course, I found myself selecting themes and formats
for publishing my writing, setting personal goals and checking out my progress,
and adding personal questions to the classroom discussion while listening to others
talk about a topic of interest.
Over the summer, I always teach my students by starting out with
creating the rules with my students and selecting materials of their
interest. However, if I were to
incorporate all of the teaching practices listed above to engage my students
in, I feel my teaching would connect better to my students and make learning
more meaningful to them.
**REASONS FOR TEACHING WITH CLICKERS*
“Student
participation systems with clickers have numerous instructional advantages…Active learning…Student involvement…Real-time
feedback…Question-centered instruction” (Maloy et al., 2013, p. 288).
I
believe I have only used clickers only once throughout all my years in
school. Furthermore, I only used
it during one class session in high school for a brief period of time. However, I can still recall using the
clicker and seeing myself as one of the highest scorers, even though nobody
else knew those scorers were, due to the anonymity provided by the numbers that
represented us. Although I rarely
have any experience with using clickers, I believe using clickers are
beneficial and would really love to use them in my future classroom. By teaching with clickers, everybody is
engaged and alert, not falling asleep at their desks. Clickers provide a competitive environment that promotes
learning, as students compete to score as high as they can. Furthermore, not only do clickers
provide the teacher feedback as to what students know, but clickers also
provide students with immediate corrective feedback after each question, when
the answer is revealed before proceeding to the following question. In addition, teaching with clickers
promotes question-centered instruction, as students critically think to answer
challenging questions and hold discussions with the class or with their groups. I wish I had more experience with using
clickers, for I would have absorbed much more information through this method
than just a simple lecture.
***FOOD
FOR THOUGHT...***
1)
How
do you promote multicultural education in your own classroom/How has
multicultural education looked like in the classrooms you observed?
2)
What
is one method of UDL you use in your classroom/have seen in a classroom?
3)
How
would you provide more student engagement by following the teaching practices
listed by Zemelman, Daniels, and Hyde?
4)
If
you use clickers/or would like to use clickers, how would a lesson with them
look like in your classroom?
Work Cited
Maloy, R.,
Verock-O’Loughlin, R., A. Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (n.d.). Transforming
learning with
new technologies (2nd ed.). Pearson