B.S. Elementary Education
M.S.Ed. Instructional Technology
Ed.D. Instructional Technology & Leadership
5.d. : Model and facilitate the development of a shared cultural understanding and involvement in global issues through the use of contemporary communication and collaboration tools.
Artifact:
Description:
During summer 2017, I took GDIT 712: Ethics and Social Justice in the
Digital Age taught by Dr. Rose Mary Mautino. This course gave us the
opportunity to research different ethical and social justice issues of
interest using the inquiry model. My first presentation looked at
professional ethics and how those beliefs affect educators. For my
second presentation, I looked at discrepancies in school funding. This
tied into the social justice section of the course and was something that
was intriguing to me being that I am employed in a district that has a lot
of resources. In my research, I spent a lot of time looking at spending
nationwide in addition to taking a closer look at schools in the Pittsburgh area.
In addition, I have included my written notes that I used when I gave both of my presentation. As an educator and presenter, I try to keep the information on my slides to a minimum to prevent unnecessary stress on the working memory. Because of this, I make sure to prepare thorough notes for myself so that I’m able to include everything that I want to even with limited text on the slides.
Reflection:
The combination of my Prezi on the topic and my written notes that I used, demonstrate my use of contemporary tools in order to present information to my peers. I enjoyed having the opportunity to choose my presentation method during this course which gave me the chance to explore Prezi a little bit more. It can be difficult having to present information in a synchronous online course just because it’s challenging to make sure that students are engaged when you’re unable to see them. Because of this, I try to make sure I have adequate notes so that my presentation moves smoothly, and I try to include graphics and media that are both visually appealing and thought-provoking.
This course gave me the opportunity to research topics of personal interest that I otherwise wouldn’t have taken the time about which to learn. Both of the topics, school funding and ethics in education, that I chose to explore for these class facilitation assignments are issues that impact educators around the world. For both presentations, I chose to look at national and local issues to connect with my peers. For example, in the school funding Prezi, I talked about the amount of money that different states provide per pupil, and I then brought the data down to what Pittsburgh area schools receive. In my ethics in education presentation, I looked at and discussed the code of ethics for educators from the Association of American Educators and the National Education Association (NEA).
