Valuable Lessons

I’m glad to have learned so much during the Teaching and Technology Fellowship. Here are some of my take-aways:

• ·      Teaching through Technology is very well suited to managing multiple groups of students that are working through the same curriculum, as happens in my program. 
• ·      The richness of the online environment opens up many opportunities for me to share the richness of Jewish life and literature.
• ·      Students can always maintain access to lessons, media, and projects for later review or to share with others.
• ·      Technology is the students’ language – not using it may even be difficult for them.
• ·      Technology can help in modifying lessons according to students’ individual needs (for example, using more visual, auditory cues, etc.).
• ·      Technology provides the learners with greater opportunities to collaborate and problem-solve -- even with students that they may never meet. 

As I implement more technology into my teaching, I will try to keep in mind the SAMR model, which defines four ways in which technology affects learning, and try to use them all with my students. Using technology to substitute or augment an existing format are more limited uses of technology, but modifying and redefining lessons through technology are thought to actually improve student learning.

More importantly, I will keep in mind the reflections I had about my own learning during the weeks of the TTF. I had no prior experience with the ipad, and no facility (never mind fluency!) with the language. The new information came very quickly, and I was at a loss to even describe what I didn’t understand. I had no muscle memory in this game. In the weeks of the Fellowship, I’ve thought about several of my students with renewed understanding and empathy. I also came to appreciate the format for the Fellowship -- the transparency of the curriculum, the vast scaffolding of information and examples, the flipped lessons, and the opportunities to help each other experiment with the technology. I am looking forward to a deeper and richer way of guiding my students in their learning next year.