Sarah Orme

EDIS 7010
Technology Implementation Strategy
Strategy Statement
High school English classes are sometimes described as boring environments where
students simply read classical literature and write essays at the end of units. This style of learning
may have been commonplace at one point, but it is far from what I do in my classroom. Instead,
my classroom looks more like a hybrid course, which includes meeting students face-to-face and
having a strong online presence through a classroom website and Blackboard.
As a high school English teacher, I believe it is my responsibility to help students learn to
critically analyze the various types of texts they encounter and also communicate with others in a
variety of ways. The skills students need in order to be able to critically analyze texts and
communicate should be highly transferable so that they can use these in whatever environment
they find themselves in. I believe that students will encounter a wide variety of texts throughout
their lives, and engage in diverse communication, and because of this I need to prepare them for
a variety of situations. To do this I need to incorporate up-to-date technology in my classroom.
I hope to be able to find current technologies that can help me improve my teaching, both
online and face-to-face, and to help students be better prepared for the content that they engage
with and produce. I plan to share what I learn with fellow teachers so that we can all elevate our
teaching.

Overview
In an effort to continually improve my classroom through the use of effective technology
implementation, I will follow the cyclical process outlined below:
1. Identify Learning Objectives and Align Them to State Standards
First, I will use Backward Design to craft learning objectives that align to my state standards.
This involves creating a detailed curriculum map that will align the state standards to various
learning objectives. I will modify my current curriculum map template to include a section for
various technologies that I will utilize. I believe this can help to better differentiate instruction
and promote transfer of knowledge.

2. Assess Student Needs

Ideally my curriculum map meets the needs of all my students, however this is not usually the
case. To ensure that my course does meet the needs of my students, I need to have a clear
understanding of where my students are in relation to state standards and learning objectives. I
can assess my students needs by having them do a short textual analysis of a piece of writing I
provide. This allows me to see their depth of reading, analytical interpretation of the text, and
written communication. Further, I will need to assess students technology needs, which can be
done with a simple survey asking them about their access to devices, Internet, and exposure to
various tools.

3. Analyze Available Resources

Technologies are like any tool, they can be highly effective if used correctly, or make very little
difference to student learning if implemented poorly. To ensure that the technologies I
implement elevates student learning I need to be highly selective about each possible technology
I might use. Instead of simply using technologies that I am comfortable with, or are easily
accessed, I will take considerable time researching various technologies to learn how they aid
student learning so that all students can meet the learning objectives. I can do this by working
with my schools Learning Technology Integrator to curate technologies as well as reading
various blogs dedicated to using technology in the classroom.

I will analyze each technology using principles from Technological Pedagogical Content
Knowledge (TPACK). Specifically, I will ask the following questions.

1. How does the technology engage with content and

does it help students to better understand the course
content?

2. How does the technology aid strong pedagogy,

specifically how does it help students become more
critical thinkers and communicators?

3. How would implementation of this technology

impact my classroom and would students find success
when using it?

In addition to using TPACK when analyzing

technologies, I will look at how each technology meets
the demands outlined by the Universal Design for
Learning Guidelines. I will specifically look at how the
technology provides multiple means of engagement, multiple means of representation, and
multiple means of expression for my students.

Below are questions I will ask to better understand my students and their needs.

1. What types of learning disabilities do my students have and what types of technologies
help reduce the effects of these learning challenges?
2. What types of physical and emotional disabilities do my students have and what types of
technologies help reduce the effects of these disabilities?
3. What specific needs do my English Language Learners have and what types of
technologies can help with language and cultural barriers?
4. Where do my students differ in terms of content understanding and what types of
technology will help them access the material at different instructional speeds?

4. Incorporate Technology into Lesson Plans and Learning Performances

After I have analyzed various technologies, I will select the ones that I believe will most
effectively help my students reach the learning objectives of my course and the state standards.
To ensure that I incorporate these technologies into the classroom I will add a section to my
lesson plan template that outlines what technology I plan to use during that lesson plan, or series
of plans, and how it will positively impact learning. Additionally, I want my students to continue
to increase their digital literacy and so I will make sure that the learning performances of each
unit are also aligned with specific technologies so that students are displaying what they have
learned in contemporary ways that will hopefully reach a diverse audience. These learning
performances will often be multimodal.

5. Implement and Test

I will incorporate appropriate technologies in my classroom after my curriculum map, lesson
plans, and learning performances have all been aligned. To support my students I will provide
clear directions and a model anytime I expect students to engage with a new piece of technology
that so that students will feel comfortable engaging with the new technology and have a positive
experience. I recognize that technology implementation within the classroom is often imperfect,
so I will allow for some flexibility with my students as we adjust to using new tools. During this
time I will look for additional support from my schools Learning Technology Integrator and
librarian to make sure that the implementation is successful.

6. Evaluate and Reflect

Finally, I will make sure that after I have implemented a new technology, I will evaluate and
reflect on its effectiveness in the classroom. The evaluation will largely include analyzing how
effective the tool was at assisting me in reaching my learning objectives and state standards.
Beyond evaluating the tools, I will reflect on how I can modify my teaching in the future to
ensure that the challenges I inevitably ran into do not happen again. Both my evaluation and
reflection will be added to my curriculum map, lesson plans, and learning performances, to
ensure that if I teach these same plans again the technology implementation goes more smoothly.
In an effort to help teachers within my professional learning community, I will share my
evaluations and reflections with them for future use.