Ashford 2 - Week 1 - Discussion 1Your initial discussion .docx

Ashford 2: - Week 1 - Discussion 1
Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and
you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates.
Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and
the depth of your responses. Reference the
Discussion Forum Grading Rubric
for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.
Diversity Through 21st-Century Teaching and Learning
There is a broad range of experiences brought to the school
every day by cultural, linguistic, and ethnically diverse
students. These unique diversities compel the development and
use of different teaching strategies to target each student as an
individual. In this discussion, you will explore the concept of
supporting diversity through 21st-century teaching and learning.
This discussion is also intended to support your performance on
the Week One Assignment.
Initial Post
- Select three of the five prompts below, and then discuss how
the
Framework for 21st century learning
can be applied to each prompt using specific examples of the
actions you would take to apply the framework. Your response

to each of the three prompts should be one paragraph.
Analyze how you can maintain high standards and demonstrate
high expectations for all ethnically, culturally, and
linguistically diverse students in the classroom.
Reflect on ways in which you will choose culturally relevant
curriculum and instructional materials that recognize,
incorporate, and reflect students’ heritage and the contributions
of various ethnic groups.
Discuss how you would differentiate instruction for the
inclusion of various learning styles.
Reflect on ways in which you would modify instruction for
special education students.
Discuss how you would modify instruction to meet the needs of
students who are designated second language learners.
Guided Response:
Respond to at least two peers. Ask questions of your peers
about their responses to encourage further conversation. In your
responses, consider including a question about the inclusion of
21st-century skills in a diverse classroom. Though two replies is
the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and learning, you
are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or
questions others have given to you, including the instructor.
Responding to the replies given to you will further the
conversation and provide additional opportunities for you to
demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-
world experiences with this topic.
Ashford 2: - Week 1 - Assignment

Supporting Diversity Through 21st-Century Teaching and
Learning
This assignment re-introduces you to the framework of 21st
Century Skills that you will consider each week as you work to
redesign prior coursework for your ePortfolio. Note that a
similar format is followed for each of the assignments in this
course. You will upload this assignment to the course for
evaluation and to your
ePortfolio (Pathbrite)
.
Specifically, after reviewing the
, you will redesign or modify a prior assignment from one of
your courses in the MAED program that represents your mastery
of the MAED program learning outcomes 1, 2, and 3. An
assignment you may want to redesign could be in the form of a
lesson plan or teaching unit you previously created for a course.
Your redesign of the assignment must show a representation of
21st-century learning through incorporation of student outcomes
and support systems, which are defined as follows:
Student Outcomes:
Learning and Innovations Skills (critical thinking,
communication, collaboration, and creativity), Core Subjects
3Rs and 21st Century Themes, Information, Media, and
Technology Skills, Life and Career Skills.
Support Systems:
Standards and assessments, curriculum and instruction,
professional development, learning environments.
When selecting an assignment to redesign, think about how the
assignment should consider the diverse strengths, differences,

cultures, and communities of students while offering a safe,
collaborative, engaging, and inclusive learning environment.
If you do not have previous work to use for this assignment,
please contact your instructor for guidelines on how to proceed.
As needed, refer to the
MAED program learning outcomes (PLOs) list
. Create your assignment to meet the content and written
communication expectations noted below.
Content Expectations
The Redesign expectations explain what you are required to do
with the prior coursework you choose to redesign. The Summary
expectations are for the separate written portion of this
assignment.
Redesign – Outcomes (2 Points): Redesign of the lesson plan or
teaching unit includes at least one component of the following
21st Century Student Outcomes: Core Subjects and 21st Century
Themes, Learning and Innovation Skills, Information, Media,
and Technology Skills, and Life and Career Skills.
Redesign – Support Systems (1 Point): Redesign of the lesson
plan or teaching unit includes at least one component of the
following 21st Century Support Systems: 21st Century
Standards, Assessment for 21st Century Skills, 21st Century
Curriculum and Instruction, and 21st Century Learning
Environments.
Summary – Introduction/Conclusion (1 Point): A one paragraph
introduction to the summary that concisely presents the scope

and organization of the summary writing, as well as a one
paragraph conclusion that recaps your summary’s key points.
Summary – Modification (1 Point): For each revision,
summarize in a paragraph how you revised the activity to
address the components of 21st Century Student Outcomes and
21st Century Support systems. Explicitly state how your
redesign assignment provides evidence of mastery of PLO’s 1,
2, and 3.
Summary – Reflection (1 Point): In one page, reflect on your
experience with the redesign in terms of challenges you
encountered and how you overcame those challenges, including
any difficulties experienced in revising to address the
components of 21st Century Student Outcomes and 21st Century
Support systems.
Written Communication Expectations
Page Requirement (.5 points): Two to four pages, not including
title and references pages.
APA Formatting (.5 points): Use APA formatting consistently
throughout the assignment.
Syntax and Mechanics (.5 points): Display meticulous
comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics such
as spelling and grammar.
Source Requirement (.5 points): Reference three scholarly
sources in addition to the course textbook. All sources on the
references page need to be used and cited correctly within the
body of the assignment.
For information related to APA style, including samples and
tutorials, please visit the

Ashford Writing Center.
Next Steps: Review and Submit the Assignment
Review your assignment with the
Grading Rubric
to be sure you have achieved the distinguished levels of
performance for each criterion. Next, submit the assignment for
evaluation no later than Day 7.
Common Core State Standards

Common Core State Standards (CCSS) establish clear
expectations for student learning and are the standards for a set
of learning for all students in the United States regardless of
geographic location. This discussion is focused on
CCSS
and the role these standards take in the school setting.
There are two parts to this discussion as explained below.
Part One:
First, in one paragraph, summarize your understanding of the
foundation of the CCSS for Math and English Arts. Next,
adopting the perspective of a teacher leader, in at least two
paragraphs, evaluate how CCSS (Math and English Language
Arts) can be used to influence the use of technology-enhanced
differentiated instructional strategies to support the needs of all
learners. Finally, in one paragraph, justify why it is important
to have purposeful planning of differentiated instructional
strategies to promote student learning and provide at least one
specific example to support your justification.
Part Two:
Include a link to your
in your initial post along with a one-paragraph reflection about
your experience with the redesign for the Week One Assignment
in terms of challenges you encountered and how you overcame
those challenges. Be sure to include any difficulties you
experienced in revising to meet the components of 21st century
student outcomes and 21st century support systems.

Guided Response:
Respond to at least two peers. In your responses, include a
question about your peer’s technology-enhanced instructional
strategies and offer an additional resource that supports an
alternative viewpoint. Additionally, discuss your peer’s point of
view and whether it is in direct correlation or contrast to yours
about the CCSS. Finally, address your peer’s discussion of the
challenges he or she faced in the redesign for the Week One
Assignment offering supportive ideas for how your peer could
overcome these challenges for future redesigns in this course.
Common Core Presentation
In the Common Core State Standards discussion for Week Two,
you describe the foundation of
CCSS
and discuss how CCSS can be used to influence the use of

technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the
needs of all learners. Here, you continue the discussion on
CCSS, but from the perspective of linking report cards to the
CCSS. It is common to think about how creating report cards
that are linked to CCSS will define expectations for student
learning, communicate student progress to parents, provides a
consistent approach to assessment evaluations, and focuses on
academic achievement. As needed, review the
Hunt Institute video
below
(click this link to view the
video transcript
)
, which covers the history and development of the CCSS.
For this discussion, you will adopt the role of a school leader
and create a digital presentation using the software of your
choice (e.g.,
PowerPoint
,
Present.me
,
YouTube
,
Prezi
,
Jing
,
SlideRocket
, or another program). Your audience for this presentation can

be either a school board or a stakeholder directly in the school
setting, such as teachers, other staff, or students. If you use
software other than PowerPoint, submit notes for each slide as
part of your post. If you use PowerPoint, be sure to include
notes for each talking point on slides in the notes section for
each slide. The presentation needs to be six to eight slides,
excluding the title and references slides, and cite at least one
scholarly source in addition to the required resources for this
week.
Ensure that your presentation:
Explains the purpose of CCSS.
Explains how the CCSS are used within a school for teaching
and learning.
Justifies why creating report cards based on the CCSS is
important in the school or district (depending on the role you
chose to take as noted in the initial post directions above).
Summarizes your understanding of how embedding evidence-
based assessment in the curriculum can help guide teachers and
learners in decision making.
Guided Response:
Respond to at least two peers. Ask questions of your peers
about their responses to encourage further conversation about
their presentation in relation to yours. Critically discuss the
variations in your presentation content and what may account
for those differences aside from intended audience. Though two
replies is the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and
learning, you are encouraged to provide responses to any
comments or questions others have given to you, including the
instructor. Responding to the replies given to you will further
the conversation and provide additional opportunities for you to

21st-Century Skills and Standards
In this assignment, you need to think about 21st century
support systems, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS),
and
International Society for Technology in Education Student
(ISTE-S) standards and their relationship with quality
instructional planning, delivery, and learner achievement. Using
the
as a resource, you will redesign or modify a prior activity, such
as a lesson plan or curriculum project, that you created in a
prior course. The redesigned coursework need to be a
representation of your mastery of the MAED program learning
outcomes 5 and 7. This assignment will be uploaded to the
course for evaluation and to your
.
If you do not have previous projects to use in this assignment,
please contact your instructor for guidelines on how to proceed.
As needed, refer to the
.
Create your assignment to meet the content and written

communication expectations below.
assignment.
Redesign – ISTE-S Standard (1 Point): Redesign a lesson plan
or curriculum project that reflects a minimum of one
ISTE-S standard
labeled with number, title, and objective(s). For example:
Creativity and Innovation
o
Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products and
processes.
Redesign – Grade Level / CCSS Alignment (1 Point): Redesign
a lesson plan or curriculum project that clearly labels a grade
level and content specific
CCSS
(Math or English Language Arts) which is aligned with a
minimum of one
Core Subject and 21st Century Themes
and a minimum of one
Learning and Innovation Skill
, one
Information, Media, & Technology Skill
, and evidence of at least one
Life and Career Skill

.
Summary – Introduction/Conclusion (1 Point): In one
paragraph, provide an introductory summary that concisely
presents the scope and organization of the summary writing and
a one-paragraph conclusion that summarizes the key points of
your summary.
Summary – Modification (1 Point): In one paragraph,
summarize the changes you made to address ISTE-S, CCSS, and
21st Century Skills and how your activity addresses each.
Explicitly state how your redesign assignment provides
evidence of master of PLO’s 5 and 7.
Summary – Evaluation (1 Point): In one paragraph, evaluate the
appropriate 21st century support system components that align
with your redesigned activity and, using examples, evaluate how
each influences learner-centered instruction and the creation of
a technology-enriched learning environment promoting learner
achievement and innovations. 21st century support systems
include: 21st century standards, assessment for 21st century
skills, 21st century curriculum and instruction, and 21st century
learning environments.
Summary – Reflection (1 Point): In one paragraph, summarize
your experience with the redesign in terms of challenges you
encountered and how you overcame those challenges.

Grading Rubric

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
In Week Two, you created a presentation on why linking
assessments with report cards that reflect CCSS is imperative.
In this discussion, you expand on your knowledge about CCSS
and debate the idea of whether creating high-quality
assessments is necessary. Note that some educators argue that it
is not enough to just create a link between assessments and
report cards, but that assessments need to be high level and
should require students to synthesize their learning instead of
only demonstrating mastery by rote memory. Alternatively,
some educators argue that high-quality assessments cost more
than lower quality assessments (Eisner, 2001; Matthews, 2006;
Pulfrey, Buch, & Butera, 2011). One possible reason for this
viewpoint is that higher-level assessments often include
performance tasks and/or essays that require teacher scoring,
and thus a great deal of time is spent on evaluating students’
work. Conversely, lower-level assessments measuring basic
knowledge through multiple-choice and true/false responses;
they can be measured using technology and take considerably
less time and resources to measure.
First, choose a side from the two opposing viewpoints described
above and discuss one of these two points:
Can the American education system afford assessments for
deeper learning?
Can the American education system afford not to have such
high-quality assessments?
Next, discuss if it is necessary to share assessment items,
rubrics and 21st-century practices with fellow colleagues.

Guided Response
: Respond to at least two peers. Find one peer who has the same
argument you chose and one peer who chose the viewpoint you
did not. Debate how your viewpoint is different. If your
viewpoint is similar to that of your peers discuss the
similarities. Evaluate your peers’ responses to the use of
multimedia resources with regard to critical thinking and
problem solving. Though two replies is the basic expectation,
for deeper engagement and learning, you are encouraged to
provide responses to any comments or questions others have
given to you, including the instructor. Responding to the replies
given to you will further the conversation and provide
additional opportunities for you to demonstrate your content
expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this
topic.
Creativity and Innovation

Educators strive to create a classroom that instills creativity and
innovation. In this discussion, you will think about the creative
and innovative instructional approach known as the
the flipped classroom
while making direct connections to the Common Core State
Standards and teacher decision making based on student
assessments. Reflecting on your previous discussion on
CCSS
in Week Two as well as your previous discussions from
EDU671: Fundamentals of Educational Research about
the flipped classroom
, you will complete the three parts of this discussion’s initial
post.
There are three parts to this discussion, which are described
below.
Part 1
Discuss how the flipped classroom idea can be used in
conjunction with CCSS (Math or English Language Arts)
Describe ways you could incorporate technology used in the
flipped classroom idea to support the
in the classroom as it relates to decision making based on
student assessments.
Part 2
Now, think about assessments you have created or used in the
past to address the following:

Discuss if a school or teacher should use a multimedia resource
that is absolutely amazing in delivering both content and
assessment, but is not accessible.
Evaluate whether the resource must be excluded from a course
if there are no reasonably equivalent accessible alternatives.
Part 3
Attach a link to your
electronic portfolio
.
In one paragraph, reflect on your experience with the redesign
in terms of challenges you encountered during the Week Two
Assignment and how you overcame those challenges including
any difficulties experienced in revising to meet the components
of one
ISTE-S standard
and the
CCSS
(Math or English Language Arts) which are aligned with a
minimum of one
Core Subject and 21st Century Themes
and a minimum of one
Learning and Innovation Skill
, one
Information, Media, & Technology Skill
, and evidence of at least one
Life and Career Skill
.

Guided Response:
Respond to at least two peers. Your replies should include a
question about the incorporation of CCSS and the Framework
for 21st Century learning in your peers’ posts and should offer
an additional resource for consideration that supports an
alternative viewpoint. Though two replies is the basic
expectation, for deeper engagement and learning, you are
encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions
others have given to you, including the instructor. Responding
to the replies given to you will further the conversation and
provide additional opportunities for you to demonstrate your
content expertise, critical thinking, and real world experiences
with this topic.
Learning and Innovation Skills and Student Assessment
This assignment requires you to make connections between
high-quality assessment and learning and innovation skills.
Additionally, using the
as a resource, you will redesign or modify a prior activity from
one of your courses in the MAED program representing program
learning outcome 3, 4, 5, and 7. There are several approaches
you could take with this assignment. For example, you may
redesign an instructional plan with assessment plans embedded
throughout or a full assessment plan including a summative
assessment you may have constructed. These are just two ideas
out of numerous possibilities.
If you do not have previous assignments to use in this
assignment, please contact your instructor for guidelines on how
to proceed.

Refer to the
as needed. Upload your assignment to the course for evaluation
and to your
.
assignment.
Redesign - Alignment and Mastery (1 Point): Redesign an
instructional plan with assessment plans embedded throughout,
or a full assessment plan as noted above including a summative
assessment that could be selected to include alignment between
specific skills, CCSS, and objectives and includes criteria for
mastery.
Redesign - Learning and Innovation Skills (1 Point): Redesign
an instructional plan with assessment plans embedded
throughout, or a full assessment plan as noted above including a
summative assessment that could be selected to include specific
learning and innovation skills
from either/each of;
creativity and innovation
,

critical thinking and problem solving
, and/or
communication and collaboration.
introduction to a summary that concisely presents the scope and
organization of the summary writing, as well as a one paragraph
conclusion that recaps your summary’s key points.
Summary – Modification (1 Point): In one paragraph summarize
the changes you made to your activity to meet the redesign
expectations for this assignment. Explicitly state how your
redesign assignment provides evidence of mastery of PLO’s 3,
5, and 7.
Summary – Evaluation (1 Point): In one paragraph, evaluate
how your assessment promotes Learning & Innovation Skills,
assess how it could be used as a tool for ongoing evaluation of
student progress, and evaluate how it could be used as a guide
for teacher and student decision making.
Summary – Reflection (1 Point): Summarize, in one paragraph,

Source Requirement (.5 points): References three scholarly
Grading Rubric

Share Your Action Research Study
Action research is a form of inquiry in which a problem is
identified and a series of actions are planned as a way of
gaining deeper understanding of the range of possible solutions.
The purpose of this discussion is to promote reciprocal sharing
of your final action research report with others in your
community of practice (your peers in this course) who would
value the knowledge you have gained through the action
research process. In this discussion, you will create a
presentation using the software of your choice (e.g.,
PowerPoint, Google Docs, Present.me, YouTube, Prezi, Jing,
SlideRocket, or another program) to present your findings to
your school at an after school staff meeting. Include speaker
notes if using PowerPoint. If using a program other than
PowerPoint, submit a document with speaker notes included for
each slide.
There are two parts to this discussion.
Part 1:
Share the process and results of the action research planned in
EDU671 and conducted in EDU675. At a minimum:
Describe the purpose of your study by writing a statement that
completes the following sentence, “The purpose of this study is
to…” (two to three sentences).
Post your research question(s) - Include definitions of key
technical terms, if necessary. (one to three sentences)
Outcomes/Results The “so what?” of your study—Answers to
your research questions. (three to four sentences)
Assuming you would conduct another cycle of this study, what

specific modifications or adjustments would you make, and
why? (three to four sentences)
Explain why this study is important to the school and the
students. ( two to three sentences)
Explain why this study is important it is important for teachers
and other educational practitioners to become researchers of
their own practice. (two to three sentences)
Part 2:
Attach a link to your
.
In one paragraph, reflect on your experience with the redesign
of the Week Three Assignment in terms of challenges you
encountered and how you overcame those challenges. Also
include how your assessment promotes learning and innovation
skills and how it could be used as a tool for ongoing evaluation
of student progress.
Use the
PowerPoint Template
as a guide to help create a high quality presentation.
Alternate:
If you do not have your own completed action research to
utilize, you will take a slightly different approach to complete
this discussion: Using the Ashford University Library, locate
and analyze a peer-reviewed educational action research study.
You will follow the same guidelines in Part 1 of the discussion
to create a presentation to share in the discussion forum. An

added part to your presentation is reference to the article.
Guided Response:
Respond to at least two peers. In your replies, take on the role
of a teacher listening to the presentation. Ask questions about
your peer’s action research study and offer an additional
resource for consideration that supports an alternative
viewpoint. Though two replies is the basic expectation, for
deeper engagement and learning, you are encouraged to provide
responses to any comments or questions others have given to
you, including the instructor. Responding to the replies given to
you will further the conversation and provide additional
opportunities for you to demonstrate your content expertise,
critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic.
Research and Educational Change
One aspect of professional development that educators can
participate in is that of educational conferences. While you may
at some point have participated in an educational conference as
an attendee, you have the opportunity in this assignment to
think as a presenter! This assignment will also provide you the
opportunity to create a Curriculum Vitae (CV) and cover letter.
In this assignment, you will take your discussion presentation
you prepared for the staff meeting and convert it into a poster
that you could use at an academic conference. As well, often

when submitting a poster proposal you include a CV and cover
letter that highlight your experience and research interests.
Historically, a conference poster session involves use of a large
poster-board style document as a reference when speaking with
conference attendees about your research or practical
experiences with a topic. Increasingly, the poster session
involves handouts in digital format transferred through QR
codes or another medium and may involve a television or other
screen display to communicate your research at an academic
conference. Always, your poster presentation contains a title,
introduction to your question, overview of your approach,
results from your study or experience, and your planned next
steps in applying or expanding the study or experience.
Additionally, the poster provides information about literature
related to the poster topic, usually a selected listing of
previously published articles that are important to your
research, and a brief acknowledgement to those who helped you
with the study.
Your poster, in whatever format it is presented at the
conference, is effective if it can be scanned and comprehended
at a high level in around five minutes. Usually you will be
present with your poster to explain points and answer questions
in an authentic conference experience.
Using the
Poster Presentation Template
, create your assignment to meet the content and written
communication expectations below. Upload your assignment to
the course for evaluation and to your
.

Note:
Including your CV or Cover Letter in your ePortfolio is
optional.
Content Expectations - Two Parts
Part One:
Introduction (1 point): In 100-200 words, use this section to
interest your audience in the issue or question of your study
while using minimal background information and definitions.
Materials and Methods (1 point): In 50-100 words, describe the
procedure you used to collect data.
Study Results (1 point): In 50-100 words, state your research
questions, describe how they were supported by your research,
and then include visuals (e.g., graphic/charts/diagrams) to
illustrate the parts or results of your study.
Conclusion (1 point): In no more than 200 words, provide the
concluding remarks about your study while explaining your
major result in such a way as to convince your audience why the
outcome is interesting. Describe the relevance of your findings
to the field of education and/or beyond, describe other
directions this study could lead to, and summarize the changes
you would make to the study in retrospect.
Relevant Literature Cited (.5 points): Use full citations in APA
for all primary works you consulted from the literature to

inform and support the purpose of your study.
Acknowledgement (.5 points): In 30-50 words, provide an
acknowledgement to individuals or groups who supported or
contributed to your study.
Part Two:
Create – Curriculum Vitae (.5 points): In three to four pages
your CV should include your name, an overview of your
education, your academic and related employment (especially
teaching, editorial, or administrative experience), your research
projects and/or research interests (including conference papers
and publications), and your departmental and community
service.
Create – Cover Letter (1.5 points): In no more than one page
your cover letter should include; heading, introduction,
argument and closing.
comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such
Page Requirement (.25 points): Includes a CV and Cover Letter
that are no more than 4 to 5 pages in length.

Grading Rubric
to be sure you have achieved the
Working Together to Achieve a Common Goal
In this discussion, your instructor will assign and post your
mock professional learning community (PLC) group of
approximately two to three peers. Once your group has been

identified, begin collaborating with the group in this discussion
and in the Professional Learning Communities discussion for
this week. In this discussion, your first step is to get to know
your partners in your mock PLC.
Post a brief introduction of your professional and/or
educational background and current grade you teach or would
like to teach.
Guided Response.
As a group, identify a leader. The leader will then:
Complete and attach the
Group Agreement document
.
Post your group name.
List each member of your group and which of the bulleted
points listed in discussion two each member of the group will be
working on.
Identify what mode of communication you will use to work
together to complete and disseminate the discussion points. Use
the
Group Agreement document
as your guide for your collaboration. Individually, you will
attach and post your section in the Professional Learning
Communities discussion for this week.

Professional Learning Communities
One component of the
21st Century Professional Development
framework encourages sharing knowledge with fellow faculty,
using face-to-face, virtual and blended communications. When
we think of sharing knowledge, we often think of using
professional learning communities. In several of your courses,
the concept of a professional learning community (PLC) is
presented and elaborated on. A professional learning community
consists of individuals with an interest in eduction. The focus of
a professional learning community can be taking measures to
ensure students learn, creating a culture of collaboration in the
school, for school improvement and more (DuFour, 2004). In
this discussion, you will deliberate about the use of professional
learning communities as they relate to the 21st Century
Professional Development
framework with an emphasis on technology
.

Initial Post:
Think about the 21st Century Professional Development
framework and technology when working in your mock
professional learning community. Next, imagine your state
legislatures have asked the non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s
Office to advise them regarding the creation of a blended
professional learning community across the districts within the
state. As an educator who is well versed in employing critical
thinking, problem solving and 21st-century skills in the
classroom, you have been selected to participate with a group of
other teachers to inform and persuade the Analyst’s Office of
why the incorporation of technology to work collaboratively
with other teachers in the state is important.
Work with your mock PLC group to come up with a supported
argument based on personal experiences and scholarly literature
in which you:
Discuss how you could incorporate and implement the use of
technology to create a blended professional learning community
across districts within your state to share knowledge with fellow
faculty on how a deeper understanding of subject matter can
actually enhance problem solving, critical thinking, and other
21st-century skills
.
Discuss how creating a professional learning community can
increase the ways teachers seize opportunities for integrating
21st-century skills, tools and teaching strategies into their
classroom practice — and help them identify what activities
they can replace or de-emphasize.
Guided Response:
Respond to at least two peers. In your responses, ask a question
about the 21st Century Professional Development framework

with regard to professional learning communities and offer an
additional resource for consideration that supports an
alternative viewpoint. Though two replies is the basic
expectation, for deeper engagement and learning, you are
encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions
others have given to you, including the instructor. Responding
to the replies given to you will further the conversation and
provide additional opportunities for you to demonstrate your
content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences
with this topic.
Link Your ePortfolio
In this discussion, you will attach a link to your ePortfolio and
reflect on your redesign activity from the Week Four
Assignment. Your instructor will not post individual replies to
all learners. Instead, the instructor will post a synthesis of the
redesign activity on Day 7 (Monday). The instructor will find
common themes and challenges associated with the assignment
from Week Four to provide feedback to the class as a whole.
Although your instructor will not provide individual feedback,
you will be graded on whether or not you attached the link to
your

, your reflection of the assignment, and your responses to peers.
Initial Post:
Attach a link to your electronic portfolio. Next, in one
page,reflect on the major result of your study and why the
outcome is interesting, describe the relevance of your findings
to the field of education and/or beyond, describe other
directions this study could lead to, and summarize the changes
you would make to the study in retrospect.
Guided Response:
Respond to at least one peer. In your reply, ask questions about
their responses to encourage further conversation. Though one
reply is the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and
learning, you are encouraged to provide responses to any
comments or questions others have given to you, including the
instructor. Responding to the replies given to you will further
the conversation and provide additional opportunities for you to
Leadership in the 21st-Century Support Systems
This assignment requires you to make connections between
21st-century support systems, specifically
components. As the emphasis is on professional development,
consider prior coursework that included collaboration, self-
reflection, and other components pertaining to your growth as a

practitioner and how that may contribute to student outcomes.
There are several approaches you could take with this
assignment. However, it is recommended the assignment you
select to redesign includes at least one of the components found
on the
link and listed here:
Highlights ways teachers can seize opportunities for integrating
21st century skills, tools, and teaching strategies into their
classroom practice — and help them identify what activities
they can replace/de-emphasize.
Balances direct instruction with project-oriented teaching
methods.
Illustrates how a deeper understanding of subject matter can
actually enhance problem-solving, critical thinking, and other
21st century skills.
Enables 21st century professional learning communities for
teachers that model the kinds of classroom learning that best
promotes 21st century skills for students.
Cultivates teachers’ ability to identify students’ particular
learning styles, intelligences, strengths, and weaknesses.
Helps teachers develop their abilities to use various strategies
(such as formative assessments) to reach diverse students and
create environments that support differentiated teaching and
learning.
Supports the continuous evaluation of students’ 21st century
skills development.

Encourages knowledge sharing among communities of
practitioners, using face-to-face, virtual, and blended
communications.
Uses a scalable and sustainable model of professional
development.
For example, you may redesign an instructional plan with
assessment plans embedded throughout, or a full assessment
plan including a summative assessment that demonstrates either
points f or g, both focusing on student assessment. On the other
hand, you might select a previous assignment that focused on
professional collaboration and/or PLCs and modify it to support
points d, h, or i.
If you do not have previous assignments to use in this
assignment, please contact your instructor for guidelines on how
to proceed
. As needed, refer to the
as needed. Upload your assignment to the course for evaluation
and to your
.
assignment.
Redesign – 21st Century Professional Development (3 Points):

Redesign of an instructional plan with assessment plans
embedded throughout, or a full assessment plan with a
summative assessment that includes integration of 21st Century
Skills, teaching strategies, project-oriented teaching methods,
problem-solving, and critical thinking.
introduction to the summary that concisely presents the scope
and organization of the summary writing, as well as a one
paragraph conclusion that recaps your summary’s key points.
Summary – Modification (1 Point): In one paragraph,
summarize the changes you made to your activity to meet the
redesign expectations for this assignment. Explicitly state how
your redesign assignment provides evidence of mastery of PLOs
5 and 7
Summary – Reflection (1 Point): Summarize, in one paragraph,

Grading Rubric
Reflecting on Your Coursework

This discussion is your opportunity to receive feedback on the
Week Six Final Paper and ePortfolio Assignment. Remember,
submitting this information earlier in the week is advised to
allow peers and the instructor ample time to offer feedback to
you that you can use to revise your final assignment before
submission.
Initial Post
– In your initial post, submit a link to your
from the Week Six Assignment and attach your draft document
of the final assignment to the message. In the message of your
initial post:
In at least one paragraph, discuss your takeaways from this
course. What new learning transpired for you in this course?
What will you carry with you to your current or future
classroom?
In at least one paragraph, discuss how action research can
influence educational change within the classroom, district, and
nationwide.
Guided Response:
Respond to at least two peers. Consider reviewing the Grading
Rubric for the Week Six Assignment and using language from
the rubric in your feedback to peers about their projects. For
optimal engagement with your learning peers, you are
encouraged to re-engage in the discussion by replying to posts
made in response to you by the instructor and peers. Timely
feedback to peers will be most helpful to them in the
finalization of their Week Six Assignment!
Ashford 7: - Week 6 - Final Paper

Final Paper and ePortfolio
You will create an ePortfolio that includes redesigned activities
from prior coursework in the Masters of Arts in Education
(MAED) Program that demonstrate your competency with the
nine Program Learning Outcomes, which are also the Course
Learning Outcomes for EDU 695. Additionally, you will write a
narrative reflection of your experience with the program and the
ePortfolio construction. The overarching goal of this Final
Paper and ePortfolio assignment is to showcase learning from
the MAED Program in a consolidated, web-based format that
can easily be shared with anyone: colleagues, potential or
current employers, friends, family members, and others. For the
ePortfolio, you use a system called Pathbrite. Within this
ePortfolio, you will tell the story of your educational journey
and value of your personal MAED experience as it applies to
the labor market. Remember, the ePortfolio is your chance to
show what you know and are able to do in the practice of
teaching and learning with technology. You will submit a link
to your ePortfolio and attach your paper portion of the
assignment in a Week Six discussion for preliminary feedback
by peers and the instructor before the final submission. The
earlier you submit in the Week Six discussion the more
opportunity you have for input from your peers and instructor to
improve your work before the final submission of this
assignment.
Creating the Final Paper and ePortfolio
Please include a link to the
within the paper portion of this assignment. As needed, refer to
the

. Then, create your final assignment to meet the content and
written communication expectations below.
ePortfolio Components (5 Points): Include at least one artifact
demonstrating mastery for each of the nine MAED Program
Learning Outcomes (PLOs).
ePortfolio Design (3 Points): Design the ePortfolio to be
professional in appearance. Be sure to exemplify effective and
ethical uses of technology so that the ePortfolio logically
organized in a visually appealing way.
Narrative – Ranking (5 Points): Rank and discuss the
importance of each Program Learning Outcome to your
individual work setting, including an explanation of each
ranking and its value to you in your learning environment or
your position. Discuss how you currently use each PLO in your
work setting and, if PLOs are not used, discuss ways you might
begin to use them in your current or future work setting. If you
are unemployed or otherwise do not work in a teaching role, you
can either (a) use a previous work location, or (b) imagine the
perfect work location (e.g., your dream job), and use that
fictional work center to rank and discuss each PLO. The overall
goal of this section of the narrative is to rank each PLO
according to its importance to you as an educator or potential
educator, starting by listing the most important PLO to you
first.
Narrative – Challenges/

Solution
s (5 Points): Discuss the design and development challenges you
experienced while creating this ePortfolio in Pathbrite and
explain how you overcame those challenges. If you feel that you
did not face any challenges during your design/redesign, please
state that there were no challenges and clearly support this
statement with a discussion of the details, or reflect and think
deeply about your design/redesign process and offer a detailed
narrative of how the process excelled. Examples of challenges
include: (a) getting accustomed to specific technology to
communicate and showcase your learning, (b) difficulty ranking
the PLOs, (c) finding creative ways to display your newly
learned skill sets, and (d) tying together concepts and theories
into one cohesive digital collection. When you explain how you
resolved or worked around challenges you need to consider how
you became proficient in using various digital tools, how you
linked PLOs to your job responsibilities, how Internet searches
uncovered new ways to utilize your talents, how peer
collaboration produced ways to effectively consolidate multiple
concepts and theories in one package, and how ePortfolio
examples sparked creative thought.

Page Requirement (.5 points): Include one page per discussion
of each of the nine MAED Program Learning Outcomes and a
tenth page for the narrative response for a total of ten pages
(not including the title and reference pages).
comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such

Grading Rubric

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