TCDSB AICT “Tech” In-service

The in-service that I attended for this component of the course was on the topic of differentiated instruction through the use of technology. I found it to be a great wrap up and review of many of the topics (i.e. Smart Board, Premier, digital storytelling, etc) we have studied throughout our course. Many of the tools discussed are fairly simple to use and already available to us through the TCDSB. The only things missing involve supportive administration as well as a teacher who is open-minded and willing to learn how to incorporate new technology into his/her teaching. All of the tools and teaching strategies discussed are relevant to the needs of students in today's classrooms. The aspect of the presentation that I enjoyed the most was the discussion of various differentiated instruction tools. These included virtual field trip websites; project based learning, simulations, online pen pals and web quests. Having discussed most of these in our course, we had the chance to interact with them within a classroom setting, and the value of each tool became all the more evident. I was particularly interested in the online pen pal program and had the opportunity to research it and get more feedback from colleagues that had used something similar in the past. I would highly recommend this in-service to other teachers interested in learning more about integrating technology into their classrooms. Although the amount of information presented throughout the day is a lot, it is just the tip of the iceberg. That being said those topics that are of interest can be further researched and later hopefully implemented into one's classroom teaching.

Melissa