My Blog

Initially I was skeptical about technology in the classroom because I had done my student teaching at a school that had a 1 to 1 laptop initiative and while I saw possibilities I also saw many problems. I certainly wish I would have taken this class before my student teaching experience. I think the most important thing I learned is that it is completely possible to bring the world to my classroom. The three projects or assignments that taught me the most were podcasting, internet grammar, and blogging.

I am so excited to use podcasting and blogging in my classroom. I think this interests me so much because as a Social Studies teacher, I love studying cultures and people groups. Now with these tools we can reach out and interact with the world. I really want my students to realize that the people and places we discuss are real. Blogging and interacting with a school in Europe or Africa would be so amazing. Listening to Podcasts and making Podcasts to share with the world over different historical topics or current issues would be such a great application tool in my classroom.

I also learned the importance of Internet Grammar! Well, more than anything I learned how illiterate I was concerning the lingo and tools of the world wide web. I hope to use the assignment we did in this class with my students. They will be better equipped to use the Internet in a more scholarly way and hopefully they will be safer.

This class was an invaluable experience. I will take much of what I have learned here to make myself a better teacher and better prepare my students for “the real world.” A special thanks to Cyndi Danner-Kuhn for all the work you have done to make this class relevant and current!! Thanks for all the freebies and technology information.

Harrison Central High School

The amount of technology integrated into classrooms at this school is amazing. Interviews of teachers across different disciplines showed that technology has a place in any classroom. The students were enthusiastic and engaged. The most interesting part was that students were just sitting quietly and working independently with their technology, but they were working cooperatively and often outside the classroom or moving around within it.

Mary Scroggs Elementary

As this video demonstrated, technology can improve parent involvement and communication among educators, administrators, and parents. Using simple things such as email in schools can give parents a greater knowledge of what their students are doing. Not only has communication been improved by technology, but it has also changed the way Mary Scroggs Elementary operates on a daily basis. The school has changed its physical setting and schedule. This was to enhance teacher and student productivity. Teachers are also treated more like professionals, which is often a complaint of educators. They are given office space outside of their classroom and it has fostered a more collaborative environment.

A Product of Learning

This Maine middle school has a diverse student population across racial, lingual, and socio-economic lines. The technology in this school has helped level the playing field for all students. Using technology to create projects, students have been able to do such things as create videos of their work in the classroom. This has fostered a collaborative environment.

Leading with Laptops

In Main Middle Schools, each student receives a laptop computer. This video discusses how it has changed the atmosphere in the classroom. The most important observation that an educator made was that the laptops have to be more than $2,000 pencils. It is so interesting because often times that is how technology is used—as an add-on to watch teachers have already been doing. It is important that teachers change what they are doing with technology. To support this idea these teachers have undergone extensive training to utilize properly and effectively the computers in their classroom.

From Brain-based Research to Powerful Learning

A school in Key Largo has used brain-based research and technology to enhance the classroom and learning environment for students. With technology the basic learning needs of students are addressed through learn by doing, receiving feedback, and continually refine their under understanding. Students are able to work at their own pace and take a greater degree of ownership in their learning process. It appears that technology can serve as an important instructional tool aiding the teacher in the recognition of student difficulties and it can be continually available for practice.

The Digital Promise Project

The Federal government with the help of NBC News and PBS is working to set up a Federal Trust Fund to improve the use of technology in the classroom. It will aim to support teaching training, digitalize records at educational institutions, digitalize historical archival information, develop educational programs to measure the individual progress of students, etc. K-12 schools need more Federal support to meet the mandates of the No Child Left Behind program, which does put an emphasis on instructional technology. This article is from 2002 and it interesting to see the progress or lack there of some schools have made since.

Simulation Nation

This video talked about the important role that simulations can play in K-12 classrooms. What is important about this article is that it does not give ideas of how to use simulation, but rather it talks about why simulations are not used more. The most important factors I found beyond cost and access was that our Standardized Test driven curriculum does not lend itself for such activities. With a vast amount of material to cover, it is challenging for teachers to include much more than the required Standards and objectives. However, this is not to say that simulation still cannot be used, but it is important that its makers begin to focus and align the simulation with accepted state and national standards.

This site has several helpful resources for the classroom. My favorite resource was Rubistar. I had ran across this in an Education class a few years ago, but lost track of it. It makes creating grading rubrics so easy. As a Social Studies teacher who uses short answer and essay questions frequently, it is so helpful in grading and also helping students understand what is expected. I also loved the Note Star feature. Here students can organize their notes for research papers! This is probably the most difficult part of research. An internet utility where students could go online, save their work, and not worry about losing it is great. The Teacher Tacklebox will also be helpful in my classroom because you can find lesson plans by content area and theme that are technology integrated. I shared this again with Matt Brooks and he thought all of the different resources would be extremely helpful to me as I begin my first year teaching. He wished they would have had these resources when he first began teaching. Technology certainly makes life easier!

The Apple Learning Interchange website is great from the standpoint that it has several resources to help teachers integrate technology into their classroom. I found a few great videos and articles over podcasting, which is becoming a popular and effective activity in k-12 classrooms. The site also offers lesson plans created by Apple, NASA, and other educators. Because teachers can add lesson plans, it is a place where ideas are shared, as well as, peer reviewed! I shared this site with my mentor teacher, Matt Brooks, at Hays High school. Hays High was part of the Apple 1 to 1 initiative and so he was no stranger to this site. I found that to be the case with a few other Hays High teachers I ran across.

U.S. schools lag behind in use of technology

            Students desire more technology in the classroom and recognize they know more than their teachers.  The U.S. Department of Education reported that schools that money should not be a determining factor in whether or not schools have technology because it is a matter of reallocating funds.  This is particularly interesting because so often that is the reasoning behind avoiding using technology.  I think there is just a complete lack of understanding on the part of teachers, administrators, and board members as to how technology can improve student learning.  I think this lack of knowledge concerning how technology can be utilized in the classroom will diminish has companies like Apple and Google are focusing marketing efforts toward educators. 

National Education Technology Plan

            The National Education Technology Plan aims at increasing the usage of technology in America’s classrooms.  The idea is to get the education system to reflect the world we live in, which is a digital age.  Yet we as educators are trained to teach using traditional methods.  However, the National Education Technology Plan does speak of rethinking they way educators are trained.  The most important element is making sure teachers are properly trained to effectively teach students in a digital age. 

National Education Technology Standards

            The National Education Technology Standards are important in shaping students into responsible and productive members of a digitally driven society.  Unfortunately after reviewing the standards is increasingly clear that these standards are not regularly adhered to and focused on in some classrooms.  States should take greater a greater initiative in mandating these and in individual teachers should incorporate them to generate a learning environment where students are preparing themselves for their futures.

Adopt and Adapt

            Marc Prensky’s article tells the tale of the state of technology in our schools.  There is a stark contrast between where schools are and where they need to be to reflect our digital society.  I think in so many ways he is completely on point.  We as future educators and current educators are not rethinking curricula and instructional methods, but rather trying to cram technology into our current methods. 

Highschool.com

            I did not realize how many high school students were taking virtual classes.  In some instances this is a great way for some students to take classes that are not available to them at their schools or allow them to work at their own pace.  However, I do not think virtual education is the best way to educate students.  I myself have taken numerous online classes and I can say while I enjoyed working at my own pace the inability to speak to a professor in real time when I had difficulty or questions was frustrating.  I think virtual classes marginalize teacher and student interactions in real time.  Of course there is instant messaging, text messaging, and telephones, but a teacher cannot be available at all hours of the day. 

ALTEC

            The ALTEC website presents a whole host of technology resources to help teachers implement technology and gain proficiency in using technology.  This website will be very useful in changing the way I will think about and use technology in my classroom.