A Long Road Terra Borges EDUC 526 Capstone Experience in Digital Teaching and Learning Professor: Dr.

Joanne Gilbreath APU Murrieta Regional Center Date: October 7, 2013

Terra Borges APU Murrieta

Growth Assessment EDUC 526

Page 1 Fall I 2013

Section One Introduction During the eighteen months that I attend the CAPS undergraduate program at Azusa Pacific University (APU), I felt that completing a Bachelors degree was a long road not to mention the even longer road for obtaining a teaching credential and Masters degree in Digital Learning and Technology. My long road hit its first major victory in 2011, when I graduated with a Bachelors degree from APU. Directly after graduating, I entered the Teaching Credential and Masters in Digital Learning and Technology program, which I was extremely excited about. Since 2002, after the birth of my son, I had decided that my career choice was education and that is when I began taking online classes at a local community college. I had never looked back or was even the least bit skeptical that I would finish my long term goal of obtaining the necessary degrees to become a teacher. Although, I knew that I wanted to become a teacher, I had no idea that obtaining a Masters degree was in my future, especially one that included technology. I feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to attend APU for my Graduate Credential and Masters classes that have included digital learning and technology. I chose APU for my Graduate classes because I felt that the CAPS program for Human Development/Liberal Studies was designed to prepare students for entering a credential program. APU has a great reputation of preparing and providing students with knowledge and resources to become effective and knowledgeable educators. In addition, I heard some really amazing stories about how the Masters in Digital Learning and Technology was a great program and provided tools for the future of education, which was what I wanted to learn. My first technology class was EDUC 512 and I was very excited to learn more about technology and how to integrate it into the classroom. At the same time I took EDUC 511 (online) and EDUC 514, which was great because we did a lot of projects that taught us how to use technology in the classroom. From the first week of the Digital Learning and Technology program, I knew I was in the right program and that obtaining a Masters degree in technology was the right road to be on to get me to my future career as an educator.

Terra Borges APU Murrieta

Growth Assessment EDUC 526

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Personal Growth Technology is not my native tongue, since I am a digital immigrant. I didnt grow up using technology in the classroom and only felt comfortable using the internet for simple tasks such as shopping or sending an email. After taking a few technology classes at APU, I began to feel more comfortable navigating through websites and apps on the iPad. Today, I am teaching my own kids fun things to do on our iPad such as making videos or presentations for school. During the EDUC 522 class was when I really understood my learning style for the first time with regards to the multiple intelligences and now I look at how I learn and those around me learn differently. I discovered that I am a visual and musical learner, which is spot on because I learn the best when there are visuals or examples and I do not like silence. Another discovery is that I equally enjoy working in a group and individually. I believe that earning a degree in digital learning and technology has taught me how to create lessons that connect with all my learning styles by incorporating visuals, music, interpersonal, and intrapersonal activities as well as being aware to incorporate the other learning styles to reach all learners. This long road has been very bitter sweet, not only for me, but for my family as well. I have been in school basically all of my childrens lives and they are now 11 and 7 years old. It is my hope that my children will learn from me how important education is and how much easier it is to go to college right out of high school! In addition to the impact of how my academic accomplishments have been for my children, my parents are extremely excited for me to be the first in our family to have received a BA degree and soon to have a Masters degree. My father is over the moon with my unrelenting ambition to achieve my academic goals. As for my husband, he is extremely proud of me and he feels that I have accomplished so much while also being a full time wife and mother. Spiritually I have grown since beginning my education at APU and have built many special relationships with classmates. I feel that APU has allowed me to express my faith appropriately and effectively as well as taught me how to shine my light in the classroom by modeling my Christian values and beliefs. I believe that the biggest growth and experience that I gained during the program was completing student teaching because of Terra Borges Growth Assessment Page 3 APU Murrieta EDUC 526 Fall I 2013

all the hats I had to wear: student, teacher, wife, and mother. During that period, I felt that I finally understood the amount of energy that needs to be given each day for each role in my life and how finding balance is the key to success. Professional Growth The technology program has given me so many ideas for my future classroom as well as tools to use everyday as a substitute. I feel that I can walk into a classroom with my iPad and iPhone in tow to use incase I need to adapt the day. I have fun academic apps on my iPad that we can play as a class over the ELMO if necessary since I only have one device and do not have access to the teachers computer. This technology program has excited me and taught me how to think outside the box and make school engaging and fun for students of this new generation who embrace technology because its a way of life for them. My vision of education has basically stayed the same, which is to make students excited to learn and have fun in the process. After the technology program, I feel that now I can make this vision a reality on their level, with activities that engage them. I see the future of education with technology incorporated in almost every aspect of the school day, including after school, by using several types of devices, flipped classrooms, web quests, and information provided on the classroom blog. I feel that APU has equipped me with knowledge and resources in technology to provide my future classroom with ways to learn and compete in the 21st Century. In my Action Research study, I am focusing on how to organize toys in my daughters bedroom. My goal is to find the answer to my research question of How will organization by type of toy create a more pleasant playing environment as well as create a more efficient clean up time? I feel that this topic will help me as a primary grade teacher because I will have a strategy of how to arrange playtime toys, math manipulatives, and other hands on resources in the classroom that will create a pleasant environment for playing and learning as well as be strategically placed so that clean up is efficient. Technical Growth At the beginning of the technology program, I wasnt very literate in the latest technology. Of course I knew how to use Microsoft Office programs, basic iPad Terra Borges APU Murrieta Growth Assessment EDUC 526 Page 4 Fall I 2013

applications, and I had an iPhone. I knew there was a lot for me to learn and I was excited to learn how to use my Mac desktop computer, which I basically only used for surfing the net. In the EDUC 514 class I learned how to make videos on the pinnacle studio app on the iPad, which changed how I wanted to teach in the classroom. How fun it would be for students to have a daily anticipatory set by video, which is my plan for my future classroom. I never used iMovie before and through that class, I now know how to navigate different video making programs, which is going to be so amazing to implement into the classroom. In addition to the EDUC 514 class, the EDUC 512 and 522 classes have given me a binder full of apps to reference and use in the classroom for all subjects. The EDUC 515 class had elevated my plan for incorporating technology in the classroom by introducing me to creating a classroom blog. I think that all classrooms should communicate through a class web site or blog so that both students and parents are up to date with what is going on in the classroom. Having a class blog will be a definite requirement for my future classroom. I also learned how to create podcasts in EDUC 515, which I loved especially for reading stories to the class or having students collaborate to read a story to the class to practice reading with prosody. Life Long Learning My long road to achieve my educational goals does not end with obtaining a Masters degree. I plan to continue coming back to APU to take the newest tech classes to keep on top of the latest technology. I also plan to substitute teach for a few more years until my daughter is a little older before actively pursuing a permanent teaching position. Of course, if a permanent teaching position comes available sooner, I think I would take advantage of any opportunity. In addition to taking ongoing classes in the future at APU, I also like to help in my childrens classes as well as other teachers classrooms so that I can learn valuable tools for my future classroom. I really enjoy hands on learning such as being in the actual classroom and putting what Ive learned into motion. This technology program has challenged me to engage in how students today learn best. The knowledge of technology and multiple intelligences really has opened my eyes as to how effective teachers try to connect to all learners by knowing how to find out what type of learners they have. I also observe my children more as to what they are interested in and try to come up with ways to connect their learning with what they enjoy such as Terra Borges APU Murrieta Growth Assessment EDUC 526 Page 5 Fall I 2013

game based learning. Game based learning is a concept I learned in the technology program and it is my goal to continue researching and learning about this type of learning in the classroom. I am very excited about Microsoft engaging in more learning based games for the Xbox and look forward to the newest games available for the classroom. It is my hope that when I do have my own classroom, that I will be approve to have a Xbox console in the classroom with a kinect so that my students can experience game based learning on a device that many of them are so familiar with. After the completion of this program, I will take off the student hat, for a much needed break, but I will not put it away indefinitely. In five years, it is my goal to have my own classroom, preferably in the primary grades of K-2. Although I am hoping for the lower primary grades, I feel that this program has equipped me as well as excited me to use various devices and forms of technology that I would be prepared for any grade K-8 to teach. In ten years, it will be my intention to be more involved with a leadership role in my school and participate in PTA activities after school as well since by then my daughter will be a senior in high school and my son will be in college. I do see in my five and ten year goals additional classes at APU in technology because the newest technology is so rapid being up to date will be a constant necessity.

Section II History of Coursework and Course Evaluation Course EDUC 512 Course Title & Instructor Name Instructional Applications Productivity Software INSTRUCTOR: Jim Sullivan EDUC 522 Learning in the 21st Century INSTRUCTOR: Terra Borges APU Murrieta Term Completed Key Skills Acquired Word Processing, Canvas, Excel, Adobe Acrobat, WebQuest, Apple Devices, Hardware and Software for computers/tablets Comments/Suggestions This class was very informative and really challenged us to learn effective technology skills to use in the classroom. Jim was a very informed and knowledgeable instructor who provided us with many skills and tools to use in the classroom. This class was very instrumental on instructing us future educators on how to create and plan unit plans that integrate technology. In Page 6 Fall I 2013

Spring I 2013

Spring II 2013

Blooms Taxonomy, Multiple Intelligences, and Unit plan creation with technology Growth Assessment EDUC 526

Jennifer Courduff

implementation

EDUC 514

Digital Video in the Classroom INSTRUCTOR: Timothy Holder

Spring I 2013

Pinnacle Studio, iMovie, Youtube, Rule of Thirds, Rules of Composition, Storyboards, Lighting, Sound Effects, Dropbox, Slide Rocket

EDUC 515

Evolving Educational Technologies INSTRUCTOR: Lance Martin

Spring II 2013

Blogs, PodCasts, Flipped Classroom, Jing, iMovie, Weebly, Online Interactive Testing

EDUC 526

Capstone Experience/ Digital Teaching and Learning INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Joanne Gilbreath

Fall I 2013

Growth Assessment Reflection from Technology Program, Action Research Project

addition, learning multiple intelligences is very valuable knowledge to have as educators. Dr. Courduff was a very informative and energetic professor who provided so much valuable, hands on knowledge for the classroom. This class was very informative and innovative because video is not usually something you think about in the classroom, but it can be such an effective tool. Tim was an informative instructor who taught us very important rules to photography and video. This class was very informative on collaboration both with students and parents. There are many ideas that I will personally implement into my future classroom that I learned from this class such as a classroom blog, flipped classroom lessons, and Jing for lessons, just to name a few. Lance was a very informed teacher with regards to collaboration through technology and introduced us several effective tools. This class is reflective of the technology program and all I have learned and plan to put into action.

EDUC 511

Essentials in Education Technology and Learning INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Doyle Potter Terra Borges APU Murrieta

Spring I 2013

Adobe Connect, Livebinders, Wordle, Powerpoint Animation

Growth Assessment EDUC 526

This class was the introduction class to the technology program and was a good indicator on all the exciting technology information we would learn during the program. Dr. Potter provided us with the skills and tools needed as an introduction into the program Page 7 Fall I 2013

EDUC 513

Digital-age Literacies INSTRUCTOR: Linda Muhlhauser

Fall I 2013

Sofia Lessons, iPad Learning Apps, Unit Lesson Plan with Technology, 5 to 1 Device Lessons, 25 to 1 Device Lessons, 1 to 1 Device Lessons, Livebinders

that we could use both during the program and in our future classroom. This class has introduced how to implement technology lessons and determining what device to use and how many devices are accessible in the classroom. Linda has provided our class with tools and the knowledge of how to actually implement the lessons using technology in the classroom by actually planning out what exactly the teacher should do to implement the lesson not just the expectations of the students.

Evaluation of the impact of the Digital Teaching and Learning Program There are multiple instructional tools that involve technology that I learned in the digital learning and technology program that I plan to use in the classroom, but the one that left the biggest impression on me was the use of video in the classroom. After completing the EDUC 514 course and learning how to create instructional videos for the classroom, I feel that this is the way of the future for the education. I plan to prepare videos for different units as anticipatory sets that will be anywhere from 30 seconds to 1 minute long, so that the students have a visual idea of whats to come for that unit. Students today are from a generation where sound bites or clips from youtube are all they need to understand a concept or idea and I want to connect educational content in the same way they connect to content they are interested in on their own. Ideally, I would like to have a weekly video as an overview of what we will learn that week as a class on Monday and a summary video at the end of the week showing all our hard work. I will have a classroom blog and would put these videos on the blog for students and parents to see as reference or just to show what they have learned. By the middle of the school year, I would like the students to help me create the end of the week video, so that they could learn how to create short videos using vimeo, animoto, iMovie, or pinnacle studio programs. I think that this would be a great way for the students to be involved in their Terra Borges APU Murrieta Growth Assessment EDUC 526 Page 8 Fall I 2013

classroom, have a type of ownership of the class blog, and learn how to use technology to help them create digital projects for my class and other classes. Program Evaluation APUs Digital Learning and Technology Masters program has been an amazing experience for me and I feel very blessed to have been able to go through the program. I had attended APU for my undergrad at the Murrieta Regional Campus and had heard wonderful things about the technology program. After completing the educational courses for the credential portion, I did not know what to expect for the masters program in technology but I was excited to learn more about technology. I feel that the strengths of the program are the professors, the required courses content, and how all the projects of the courses tie into each other to be able to be used in an actual classroom. All of the professors were knowledgeable about education and technology and gave use information and assignments that we could use in any classroom. I feel that I will take with me all the knowledge, applications, and programs with me into the classroom when I am a full time teacher and really use all I have learned. The program did not have many weaknesses but I feel that in the EDUC 511 class, there should be more information about the requirements for the Capstone class as well as how during each class the students should be focused on one grade level and subject for all of the projects to make it easier to compile all that was learned into a unit project for the end portfolio of the program. Also, I think that there should be more options for hybrid or online classes available to students since this is a technology program. I did get to take an elective course, EDUC 513, which has been a hybrid class and I feel that it has been very effective and it has been nice to see how programs such as google + or canvas can be used for online classes effectively, which may be the way of the future of education for some courses at the public school level. As graduation is approaching, I feel that I couldnt have made a better choice than the Digital Learning and Technology Masters program at APU because it has exceed my Terra Borges APU Murrieta Growth Assessment EDUC 526 Page 9 Fall I 2013

expectations of a Masters program. I have development many personal and professional relationships throughout my time at APU and feel that there is a wealth of knowledge at this university, especially in the area of education and technology. I look forward to attending classes in technology in the future at APU as I continue my education and keep informed on the latest technology available for the classroom. I am confident that when I am a full time teacher my students will be able to have knowledge of technology to create digital projects and compete in the global world more effectively with the latest technology knowledge that I have gained from Azusa Pacific University. Unit Level Dispositions Azusa Pacific University School of Education has articulated the following as our unit disposition in keeping with our unit conceptual Framework of Ethical, Responsive and Informed Practitioners. Our candidates reflect National Council on the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) definition of dispositions. The instrument below reflects the agreed upon indicators of the dispositions of Ethical, Responsive and Informed Practitioners who operate on the foundational basis of fairness and the belief that all people can learn.
Instrument
Directions: Please complete the Candidate Dispositions Rubric, aligned to ethical, responsive, and informed educator dispositions, as evidenced in your graduate work. Candidate Dispositions 1 2 3 4 N/A NCATE defines dispositions as professional attitudes, values and beliefs demonstrated through Not Sometim Usually Always Cannot both verbal and non-verbal behaviors as educators Displayed es Displayed Displayed Assess interact with students, families, colleagues and / Displayed / / communities. These positive behaviors support Not / Acceptabl Target student learning and development. The two Acceptabl Approach e professional dispositions that NCATE expects e es institutions to assess are fairness and the belief that Acceptabl all students can learn. (NCATE 2008) e Ethical educators who are able to understand and articulate the integration of a Christian worldview in their professional communities of practice display: Personal integrity Collaborative, cooperative and respectful behaviors Fairness in educational settings by meeting the educational needs of all students in a caring, nondiscriminatory and equitable manner Sensitivity to cultural and individual differences Personal and professional maturity Personal integrity X X X X X X

Comments regarding your strengths/areas for improvement (Ethical): I feel that I am a very ethical person who tries to be aware of and respect other beliefs, ideas, and differences. There is always room for improvement on authentic awareness of other cultures and beliefs and this will be an ongoing area of growth for me as I continue to be educated on other cultures, belief systems, and social differences.

Terra Borges APU Murrieta

Growth Assessment EDUC 526

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Responsive educators who practice reflective critical thinking in their engagements with diverse communities of learners display: Responsiveness to the expectations and standards of the professional community Responsiveness to conditions that promote learning, health and personal safety in the P-12 school and community Effective communication within the educational community Commitment to fair academic practices that ensure all students can learn Responsiveness to the impact of discrimination based on race, class, gender, disability/exceptionality, sexual orientation and language on students and their learning Effective time management Appearance and dressing appropriate for ones professional setting x x x x

x x x

Comments regarding your strengths/areas for improvement (Responsive): As a current substitute teacher, I have been very specific in writing notes to the classroom teacher regarding any strengths or weaknesses in the learning community of the classroom with regards to the diverse community of learners. I feel that I am committed to fair academic practices and truly believe that all students can learn if appropriate strategies and differentiated instruction is provided. Time management and professional apparel are a key part of my preparation for the academic day for any grade level and feel that professionalism is a key part of modeling character in the classroom. As my career in education will eventually evolve to a full time teaching position, I will continue with these ideals and build on them to improve the learning environment in my own classroom.

Informed and collaborative scholarly educators who are dedicated to professional growth and lifelong learning display: Commitment to adapting and applying the best research-based ideas to improve clinical practice Understanding of current and emerging trends in their field of practice Knowledge of standards and expectations of their discipline through relevant activities and projects in the program Ability to apply and communicate current research effectively in coursework Ability to synthesize and apply course content, projects, clinical practice and professional work x x x x x

Comments regarding candidate strengths/areas for improvement (Informed): As a graduate student and future teacher, I feel that life long education is part of the professional career as an educator. I understand that flexibility and adapting to new curriculum and educational advances are apart of being an educator and I feel that I posses these attributes to be an effective part of any professional learning community. As a technology graduate, I have been given the unique opportunity to apply course content learned in the diverse classrooms that I have substituted in as well as during my clinical practice along with building an extensive digital portfolio to take with me and apply in my future classroom.

Summative Score for Candidate Dispositions: Additional Comments: After completing the Multiple Subject Credential Program and the majority of the Masters in Digital Teaching and Learning at APU, I feel that I have been provided with the necessary skills and tools needed to be an effective and ethical educator. The courses required in these programs have been innovative and educational in the future of education and how to introduce students to learning in the 21st Century. As a result, I feel very confident that I will be a professional, adaptive, and knowledgeable teacher that will provide a positive, inclusive classroom environment for all the diverse learners by providing support, differentiated instruction, and effective educational strategies.

Terra Borges APU Murrieta

Growth Assessment EDUC 526

Page 11 Fall I 2013

Terra Borges APU Murrieta

Growth Assessment EDUC 526

Page 12 Fall I 2013