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Tracey Anderson
The University of West Georgia
Reflection on Learning: Application to Professional Practice

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Introduction
I may be identified as an English teacher, but I am also a lifelong learner. I studied
English at The University of Georgia, but learned I love teaching in Greece. Only after
teaching English literature and composition for fifteen years did I attend graduate school
to study applied linguistics when a summer teaching English as a Second Language in
China reminded me how much I like analyzing language and learning new ways to think
and to help students think. This current study of instructional technology was incited by a
year-long State Department global teaching program that forced me to recognize how
much my school and I were still operating in a 20th century teaching model.
Review of Learning
As a digital immigrant (Adams, 2008), Im still navigating the technology terrain in
and for the classroom. Although I cant say Ive had any epiphanies, I have been able to
translate my frustration with my school districts misapplication of technology and
absolute disregard for professional development to actions I could take: learning to use
google docs, maintain class blogs regularly, designing interactive lessons, encouraging
students to conduct purposeful on-line investigations as well as determine when
googling something can serve useful.
The google doc has become todays chalk-talk (Roberts, 2013) as well as the
researchers mailed journal article with corrections (Dekeyser & Watson, 2006). Google
docs helped my Advanced Placement students have meaningful discussions of languageeven in a class of 30 students-and practice the collaborative writing they might encounter
in college. And I didnt have to photocopy or collect heaps of paper. I could have been
more consistent in using the google doc to extend classroom discussions that might result

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in the insights students have when they dont feel as if they are doing something for class
(Adams, 2008), and I could have used google docs for my accelerated students
vocabulary studies to encourage a macro-level of learning (Liu, Lan & Ho, 2014). A
student suggested we use google docs for our newspaper three years ago; I cant believe
its taken me this long to start doing so.
For the eighteen years Ive been teaching in Dekalb County, Ive had numerous
experiences with administrative and student disruptions, but The Disrupting Class
readings helped me appreciate the need for meaningful disruption in my classroom, at
school, and in education. Although many of the Making a Change projects my students
are working on dont necessarily use the technology that makes headlines, students are
beginning to see how they can arrange to have another Advanced Placement class offered
at school or how they can help the school district promote healthful walking commutes
that result in a physical education exemption while also solving some of the parking
issues at schools. These projects, incited by a students observation that so many of our
readings and discussions focus on the problems of society, capture what any learning
experience-with or without technology-should do: force students to think about what
were doing and why; allow them to apply what theyve discovered; invite them to work
with and learn from others; revise their conclusions and methods as necessary; use
technology only as they need it; write for a real audience; present a proposal to real
people involved.
Because students had to identify a school or community issue that needs changing,
students have been forced to move from the computer. One phase of research allowed for
web investigations, so students could learn how other schools or policymakers have dealt

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with similar issues, but another phase required students to survey and interview affected
students or community members as well as the decision-makers. In this way, I hope that
students have come to appreciate not only how googling something isnt the only way
to find out information but also how much we still need face-to-face interactions.
Although I cant say these projects would make it into Christiansen, Johnson, and Horns
text, I hope these projects are a step in the right disruptive direction.
Implications
I will begin next school year with a class blog and students in every class will start
using google docs in the first week of school. But I also plan on using more short video
lectures created by me or accessed through TED Talks. In the same way that I can see
when my school district needs innovative disruptions, I can see when my classroom does.
TED Talks can help students connect with material or spark interest (Romanellli &
McNamara, 2014), as Ive observed in the few times Ive used them in or for class. As
important, though, is how I can use TED Talks to inform my own mini-lectures
(Romanelli & McNamara, 2014). Readings of technology integration have reinforced this
same point: technology in and for the classroom works only when used purposefully,
appropriately, and well.
Conclusion
Id like to think the high number of absent students this year is an anomaly, but I
believe Id be wrong. Even if my school district and the state havent accepted this fact,
the hybrid face-to-face and on-line classroom appears to have arrived as more students
have health accommodations allowing them to miss class and more students and parents
decide that students can benefit from a few more hours of sleep, working from home, a

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college visit, or a job shadow day. Blogs, google docs, and video lectures allow me and
my students to function in this new world that they are creating.
References
Adams, D. C. (2008). Gaga for Google in the twenty-first century advanced placement
language classroom. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues
and Ideas, 82(2), 96-100.
Dekeyser, S., & Watson, R. (2006). Extending google docs to collaborate on research
papers. Toowoomba, Queensland, AU: The University of Southern Queensland,
Australia, 23, 2008.
Liu, S. H. J., Lan, Y. J., & Ho, C. Y. Y. (2014). Exploring the Relationship between SelfRegulated Vocabulary Learning and Web-Based Collaboration. Journal of
Educational Technology & Society, 17(4).
Roberts, S. L. (2013). The Chalk Talk 2.0: using Google Docs to improve the silent
discussion in social studies. The Social Studies, 104(3), 130-136.
Romanelli, F., Cain, J., & McNamara, P. J. (2014). Should TED Talks Be Teaching Us
Something?. American journal of pharmaceutical education, 78(6).
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