Reflection on activity 7

Doing the activity using PowerPoint presentation was very delightful for me as I use PowerPoint presentation in delivering my lessons on a regular basis. However, I find the reading on activity 7 to be quite a lot and most of it was not really needed for the activity presented. What caught my interest though while reading was the part where changes occurred in stages that ACOT has labeled; for example:  Entry, Adoption, Adaptation, Appropriation, and Invention?

In order to really explain the stages we tackled them in sections, with Entry being the first section. It is important to note that in this stage, instructional technology had already existed, which was text-based with common tools and traditional schooling was firmly in place. ACOT teachers began with little, if any experience using technology, yet most were experienced users of traditional methods and materials. As the teachers moved through these stages, traditional methods were first strengthened by technology and then gradually replaced by more active and engaging learning experiences. The second stage was the Adoption stage. In this stage, the teachers tried to accommodate the new technology, encountering challenges, which were thought to have had an effect on the students’ performance within the classroom; however, the adoption stage did not show an increase or a decrease in students’ performances. It also resulted in student attendance rates being up and reports of discipline problems in the ACOT classrooms were zero to few. The use of ICT has basically changed their classroom environments and they spent most of their time establishing order and learning to use the equipment.

I am in agreement that implementing change in education must include changing teachers’ practices beliefs. This does not mean abandoning beliefs but gradually replacing them with more relevant beliefs shaped by experiences in an altered context. And it is this altered context that may make the difference. When teachers work with colleagues and administrators who actively support fundamental change, there are far greater opportunities for successful growth of new beliefs and practices. Teachers deeply hold traditional beliefs about schooling and the underlying of the institution’s resistance to change. In order to successfully change a teacher’s practice belief, I must start within the classroom, using the ACOT development stages. This method introduces teachers to the ACOT program and gradually makes the teachers, as well as the students more comfortable with the understanding of technology.