Over the past two years I have come to see the benefits of research, of taking time to read peer reviewed articles on education and technology. When I started the Learning and Teaching with Technology (LTT) program I grudgingly read the articles assigned to us, and balked at having to find articles to inform my field study. What a shift - as I was preparing my final Field Study Proposal I was spending a lot of time researching and reading articles to help me decide where I wanted to go this term. As I looked into student collaboration, differentiated instruction, peer-feedback and now teacher collaboration I find that my philosophy around education has shifted and is still shifting.
Before LTT Collaboration equaled partner work or group work
After Collaboration means working together to come up with an answer to a problem, exploring a topic and constructing the new knowledge together
Before LTT Differentiate Instruction equaled adapting to different levels - may be giving the students different numbers of questions to do.
After Differentiated Instruction became giving students different opportunities in exploring a topic, from the basic knowledge questions to the open-ended questions; also giving students more ways to represent their learning.
Before LTT Peer-feedback was editing for grammar, spelling, capitals, etc.
After Peer-feedback means asking the students to answer specific questions when reading their classmates writing.
