Module+5+Reflection

Reflection Prompt: How has technology impacted or changed your classroom assessment and evaluation? Has your data collection methodology changed with technology? If technology has not impacted your assessment and evaluation, what would you like to change? Discuss technology and your own productivity and professional practice.

 Description: I currently do not have a classroom of my own. I do, however, feel that my experience with students in a different format can apply to this prompt. I am one of the directors for the Drama Club at a local high school. Technology has become more and more of a tool that we are able to use with our students in recent years. Last year, a parent of one of our students donated a digital video camera to our club. We immediately began finding uses for it in our rehearsals, including using it to video record sections of rehearsals so that we may play back to footage to our students to show them their progress and to help identify areas that could use improvement.

 Impact: Having the ability to show a group of students what we, as directors, see while they are on stage definitely helps us to identify areas of weakness on stage and to evaluate how best to improve them. In the past, we have had numerous actors who will not take direction because they are convinced they did it right the first time and refuse to believe that they need to change anything. Being able to show actors where they can improve and allowing them to see it for themselves helps the production to move forward. It also gets everyone on the same page and working together. The "instant replay" type of feature that we now have really allows the students to assess and evaluate their own skills and performances and helps them to grow stronger as actors.

 Intent: As we prepare to start work on a new musical, I will continue to look for new ways to utilize the camera and other technology that we have available to us so that the performance will be the best show possible.