Curriculum

I think it has been interesting how we have taken a word such as curriculum, integration, etc., and have gone into such depth to understand what it really means. To be able to reflect on the meaning of curriculum for as long as we did is fascinating. I think it really made sense to look at the how as the management of the classroom/instruction and the what as more of the content area. We all had our views and opinions on what the word really means, but could all come to a decision as to what made the most sense. My favorite part of class is being able to openly discuss views and what is happening with education nationally as well as internationally. I learn a lot during these discussions. For example, the importance of curriculum based on the schools location and the Illinois standards. It definitely plays a part, and it is important to understand where our students "come from". As teachers, we are going to have transfer students from different areas of Illinois, different states, and even different countries.
Also, I think it was right to say that curriculum really does have a major bearing on educator's biases. Our views and opinions really do make a difference on what/how we teach. I think curriculum is just a part of education and sometimes all the other things that are taught, have a much larger impact.

I think last class was interesting. We took technology integration, what I thought I could define, and broke it up in extensive detail to have a new and improved definition. I took for granted many of the components of what goes in to technology integration. As we discussed technology apart from integration and tried to combine the two, it was much more clear. I think in my field of study, what I may have considered to be technology integration, may just be considered assistive tech. Assistive tech, in my field seems to be much more prevalent than the integration of technology across a curriculum area. Many of the technology that other classroom teachers include in their lessons may not be compatible for some of the needs/ assistive technologies my students are already using. Coming up with a “unit” for technology integration is still something that poses a little confusion when it comes to directing it toward my population of students. I think technology integration has become such a big part of educating our youth, and when it works, it is great! However, sometimes when trying to integrate a piece of technology, I feel that it can make the lives of teachers more difficult, then easier. Learning a new piece of technology and then trying to teach a lesson and/or unit with it may be more time consuming and cumbersome, than using some of the simple technologies we take for place (i.e. Microsoft office, overhead).