"From Advisees" Reflection

The advisees listed several things that would be beneficial for a teacher to know how to utilize. The first of these was the ability to work an LMS. The doctorate students believe that each aspiring teacher should know how to create a class from one of these in order to benefit their students in the future. Secondly, they recommended extended knowledge of how to work a SmartBoard or other kind of electronic whiteboard. Aspiring teachers also need to consider how to handle the concept of BYOD in the classroom, seeing as it is an extremely new concept to teaching. Finally, they recommended being very familiar with the SAMR model. Most of the concepts and tools listed I was already very familiar with. However, the SAMR model interested me because I knew so little about it. Upon researching it, I found that it is simply a model to illustrate the progression of technological learning. It offers a framework for teachers to follow as they integrate technology in the classroom and line up with the guidelines. The four aspects of the model are substitution, augmentation, modification, and redefinition. One aspect of the advisees I particularly liked was how they distinguished between teachers being given tools and the actual use of the tools. Teachers are taught to manipulate all kinds of technological tools, yet few of them are relevant or useful to teaching. I agree with the advisees in that teachers should learn to use tools that align with their classroom age and learning content.