Technology and Pedagogy

Including technology in lesson plans is something that is definitely important for the learning process. Many of the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards are based around them. It is important to remember that technology not only makes a lesson fun for the students but often times relatable which is useful. I chose a lesson plan that centralized around the technology "Blogger" because I felt it used new technology in an innovative and exciting way. Most students use blogging as a social aspect of life and being able to put it into a lesson plan makes the lesson interesting for the students. While the idea of having each student create a character blog in the point of view of a character of their choice is a great idea, the lesson lacked a very important part of learning: discussion. Although the students get to vote for their favorite blog at the end of the unit, the voting is anonymous and does not allow for students to receive constructive feedback on their work. It also does not force students to be responsible for their thoughts and ideas. As you can see in this spread sheet I have added a component that I believe fits well with the standard involving discussion. Discussing ideas and being able to defend them is an essential part of the learning process. Without it students do not fully engage and take responsibility for their own work. Using technology to facilitate this type of discussion not only makes the discussion easier for the students but also aligns with the content standards as well.