Vision Leadership

Higher Colleagues of Technology Mission Statement

Each educational setting has different vision and mission and they are related to the context as
well. Furthermore, instructional technology has a crucial role in promoting excellence and the
transformational change in a professional environment.

The educational setting that I will discuss is the Higher Colleges of Technology where I work. The
mission statement for it is to provide applied higher education to equip generations with
knowledge, skills and competencies that meet international standards and the future needs of the
UAE industry and society. In addition, the shared vision is the leading applied higher education
institution in empowering generations to contribute to the shaping of the future of the UAE.

There are different nationalities who teach students which is a valuable way as I believe. Having
various backgrounds exposes learners to different experiences and pedagogies. Students are
encouraged to be independent and life-long learners through a technologically e-learning
environment. At this stage, I am considered as a student teacher and I am having training to be
qualified for teaching full time and to assist learners by integrating technology. In my own words,
teaching and learning should occur based on the needs of learners and their own choices. This can
happen through offering the suitable professional development and training. In fact, the training
that I got raised my awareness towards a wide-range uses of technology and applications.

Challenges of Teaching and Learning

Challenges can happen especially if it is a new project to apply. The challenges that happened to
us as learners were divided into two types: the content of the professional development and the
application of the new technology with different age level. For instance, most of the sessions were
a repetition for me as I have studied education English and they mostly were based on that. Besides,
we were not all in the same age level and learners who were old faced problems in learning new
technologies and applications. As a result, they took longer time than us.

Based on the previous, after exposing to different training sessions about technology, I used some
of them with my students. For example, I used poll everywhere site to brain storm ideas, socrative
to create quizzes and I used blackboard to apply material and for open discussions. I have noticed

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that utilizing the wide-ranging uses for technology were beneficial in the different stages of the
lessons. To clarify, shy students who did not feel comfortable to talk in front of others were able
to share their ideas freely through poll everywhere. Also, students were having fun answering the
quizzes as I set them as a race.

To sum up, there were some challenges I faced while using applications mentioned previously.
Sometimes the internet was not working, and I prepared a Socrative quiz for students and it could
not work offline. It would be better to prepare hard copies so I could print them as a plan B. What’s
more, when I asked students to apply their assessments on Blackboard, some of them were having
unaccepted excuses, such as they forgot their laptops, or they submitted the wrong document and
they wanted to resubmit. What I have learnt from this experience is that how can I apply technology
in the classroom to enhance teaching and learning experiences.

Standards: ISTEC 1a, 6c; MSIT 1, 2; NYESD EST 0006.

The instructional technologies that are a part of our world today

Technology plays a crucial part in the world these days, especially in the educational field. Most
institutions include utilizing technology in their mission and vision. Students come to classes with
various skills and their life is based on technology. There are different examples of instructional
technologies used to enhance the learning and teaching processes. For example, we used
WhatsApp for EDIT 603 course as interactive and collaborative tools. Students shared articles and
raised questions through a group in WhatsApp. Another tool that was used and it is a must in our
world today is the email. Email is used to ask questions, send drafts for feedback and share ideas.
In fact, I use the email as an instructional tool with my students because it helps me tell them the
updates and remind them of due dates of assessments. As well as, students use it to ask for
clarifications about their assignments.

The importance of education in the world

Can we imagine a country without educated people? It is impossible. Education is “the backbone
of everyone life’s” as mentioned by (Education Ideas, 2013). In other words, if you want to live in
a better life, you should be educated. Education helps people construct the knowledge in their
minds which refers to the personal growth and this is a must in our life nowadays. For instance,

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searching the internet, reading books or listening to the radio are great resources of a huge amount
of knowledge anything. With good education, you will be able to get good positions in important
organizations, companies, and institutions. Based on that, educated people feel more dependent
citizens and workers. Education helps citizens to be aware of their rights because they will be able
to know what rights they can use and benefit from. Technology plays an important role in
continuing education. Be up to date with technology if you are educated. New innovations, online
learning, and the digitalization of newspapers and magazines will be understood well by educated
people.

Technology is a great part of education and instruction

Technology is not using computer in classrooms, but it is more about integrating it across the
curriculum to enhance the learning process. According to Edutopia (2008), technology integration
needs to support four fundamental modules of learning, active engagement, participation in groups,
interaction and feedback, and connection to real world experts. Additionally, technology opens the
door for teachers to reach different types of learners and offer various learning styles. In particular,
if technology is integrated in an effective way, teachers will have roles as advisers and coaches.
Blackboard is an example of an instructional tool that enhances the learning process. It allows
instructors to organize all materials students need for the course. It also provides spaces for
discussions and sharing documents. I have been using Blackboard for two years and I have found
it amazing as it organizes everything, and it saves time as well.

Personal experience which links education to technology

The context where I work requires integrating technology across the curriculum. While planning
for lessons, I always think of ways to use the up to date technology and the technology that leaners
will be interested in. One of my experiences that links education to technology was when I used
Poll Everywhere app. I have noticed that not all learners were interested to participate in class
discussions and they sometimes feel shy to share their thoughts. As a solution, I decided to try Poll
Everywhere to ask questions. To clarify, I used it as a brainstorming activity to put learners in the
context of the lesson which was about “Life Transitions”. “What is meant by life transitions?” was
the questions created by the app and learners answered it privately and the answers were displayed
on the board in an anonymous way. I was amazed because all the class participated and were

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motivated to answer. I think it is a successful app and my supervisor attended the lesson and she
liked the app too. Students were able to share many ideas, and this helped me start the new lesson
with a brief idea about it. In a nutshell, instructors should use technology, but they should use it
when they need it.

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References

Edutopia. (2008). Retrieved from Edutopia: https://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-

introduction

Services, E. (2011). Retrieved from myeducationservices: Edutopia. (2008). Retrieved from

Edutopia: https://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-introduction

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