Module 4 Reflection

How can technology be used most effectively to support and assess student learning?

The work I have started for Module 4 has assisted me a great deal in understanding the best ways to use technology to support and assess student learning in the classroom. My plan was always to have my students create some sort of publication online as part of the unit project, but creating a student sample myself has really helped me in narrowing down on exactly what I want to expect from my students as they work on the project themselves. The module has also gotten me thinking about ways that my students can enhance their publications through sounds, images, etc. 

The section about helping students in project-based classrooms was also particularly helpful for me. I realized that in order for me to ensure that my students have made the progress that would satisfy me during and at the end of the unit, I would need to have manageable goals, a clear timeline, a place where the students could generate questions about their work, a way or them to work productively with others, and a way for them to reflect on their work. I will be incorporating all of these things into the project for my unit. 


Planning the student sample itself has really helped me in thinking about how to most effectively use technology as well. I've been able to see where my students may run into trouble, as well as how easy it is for me to find the types of information I would expect them to incorporate into their publications. I've also been able to see how much time I should expect my students to need on each aspect of the unit based on how long it took me to do the project. It also has helped me in reevaluating the prerequisite skills that my students would need to have before starting this project and the skills that I would want to make sure they have at the end of the instructional unit. The student sample has also helped me in making sure that my curriculum framing questions are questions that my unit can address, as well as if I need to add new questions to that list. 

All in all, this module has really helped me in the planning process for my instructional unit, especially where the use of technology is concerned.