Abstract: My Inquiry Process
Creating a compelling question:
First, I analyzed my weaknesses in the classroom as an educator, my school's deficit in resources, and my population of students. All roads led to utilizing technology to support student learning. My professional development plan for Wake County has been focused on increasing my knowledge of integrating technology in the classroom for the past three school years. Over the course of three years, I have graduated from using a over-head projector and paper to using a ben-q. However, based on the other schools in the district I still felt behind and wanted to discover the most efficient ways to support students' literacy skills with technology due to the fact that I am specializing in reading K-12. The school I have taught at for the past four years has been slow to accumulate technology resources and the students I teach are unable to afford computers and other devices in their homes. This led me to develop my compelling question in order to provide opportunities for my students to engage in technology to support literacy skills; regardless of the amount of technology available. My exact compelling question changed throughout my courses, however the focused stayed the same. My compelling question is: How can integrating technology in the classroom support students' literacy skills?
Gather Data Throughout Courses:
I analyzed all of the projects, articles and assignments I was given throughout the ten courses I took to receive my degree. I listed all of the web 2.0 tools that my professors had used to deliver lectures by going through my old syllabuses and Moodle forums. I then added all of the web 2.0 tools that I utilized in order to present different projects throughout the courses. Lastly, I compiled a list of the articles I had read that related to literacy, technology, and preparing students for the 21st century. I then analyzed all of these sources in order to discover findings to answer my compelling question.
Creatively Synthesize Information:
Since I had already explored creating a wiki page for my classroom, I decided I wanted to learn how to use another source to display my creative synthesis project. Therefore, I chose to create a Weebly website in order to synthesize my experiences throughout my graduate courses that led me to answering my compelling question.
Critically Evaluate & Revise:
I used the NLGL showcase rubric to evaluate the content I included on my website. I had peers review my Weebly to ensure I had delivered my findings in an organized way that makes sense to those who are not familiar with the inquiry process or NLGL program.
Publish & Share:
Last, I published my Weebly to share with my co-hort and professors to communicate my journey through this program and the immense amount of professional growth it has given me!