Chapter 2 Reflection

TPCK Chapt. 2
Reflection 2
Kim Fuller
1/20/09

In the last 4 years, I have been teaching in a district that is very
committed to technology. Prior to this teaching assignment, I
worked in a district that was less committed and the digital divide
as very obvious. Where I am currently teaching, my fourth graders
have access to laptops several times a week and have email accounts.
The laptops are used for a variety of purposes; research, skill practice,
shared media experiences, communication and presentations. All
grading is done on Powergrade and parents can access student grades
via the internet. It is difficult for all parents to have access to the internet.
It is also difficult for all students to have equal access due to lack of
internet at home, problems with computers at school, blocks placed on
certain sites and each teacher’s level of competence with technology.
Personally, I have had to play “catch-up” with my current staff because
I had not had the professional development like others in my school. I am
still learning and trying to become more comfortable with the integration
of technology into all the content areas. My district does provide professional
development each year by hosting a week long institute where teachers can
attend workshops on various topics. This past year, I worked with my fourth
grade team on integrating technology into a social studies unit on Immigration
and we developed a Web Quest. We also created digital field guides for an
ecosystem unit and each student used a digital camera to take photos of an
ecosystem and each student was able to create a field guide. This was a very
successful endeavor. But I still can see where I am not doing as much as other
educators so I continue to work on my skills particularly in the area of Wikis
and Blogs.
Technology is developing at such a rapid pace and it is very difficult to keep up to
speed. I also find technology to be a personal taste. Some people are very drawn
to it and others choose to do other things in their spare time. So interest and
motivation can be part of the divide as well. Personally, I have been slower to
embrace technology but do see its potential and how it can provide many engaging
and divergent experiences for my students.