Journal #9
Portable Data Empowers Leaders
By: Mary L. McNabb
This article talks about a training program for administrators called LTF that encourage a leadership infrastructure for school improvement through handheld technology. School administrators face many challenges like the pressure to increase all students’ achievement scores and to create a safe environment for students that promotes learning.
How was the LTF created?
Administrators in Michigan have pulled together in a statewide effort to meet these challenges with the help of technology. Their connecting point is a collaborative leadership development program called LEADing the Future (LTF), funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2002, the LTF grant team set out to train at least 80% of the administrators in the state (approximately 4,000) to use a variety of technologies with specific emphasis on four goals aligned with ISTE’s National Educational Technology Standards for Administrators (NETS•A).
Why do we need the LTF?
The LTF team models sophisticated integration of technologies during its face-to-face trainings. Administrators are exposed to a wireless technology infrastructure, handheld computers syncing to laptops, external keyboards, flash drives, secure digital cards, digital cameras, projectors, an audience response system, real-time online surveying with immediate feedback, and specific administrative applications such as the GoLead research channel online, GoLead Newsstand, and an Internet-based administrator learning community. The LTF team also models data collection and analysis processes. For example, as part of the initial training, project facilitators use an online survey service and an audience response system integrated within PowerPoint to demonstrate how to gather realtime data from participants at a meeting and how to access graphed results instantly for data-driven decision making purposes.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Virtual Schooling
Journal # 8
Virtual Schooling
By: Niki Davis and Dale S. Niederhauser
Virtual schooling is where classes in K-12 are offered mostly through digital communication and is being used throughout the United States. It is becoming highly popular at the high school level.
Why do students choose virtual schooling?
Some students choose it because they have the freedom to individually personalize their schooling. Others because they can have access to advance placement options and a flexible time schedule. Virtual schooling requires substantial shifts in teachers’ roles and necessitates distributing responsibilities for providing an educational experience among host school participants and VS providers.
How is virtual schooling used in schools?
The virtual classroom includes a teacher and groups of students who are distributed among two or more distant schools. Rather than meeting in classroom students communicate using the Internet and video conferencing. I have participated in a few online courses and sites like Webct or Blackboard we used as a meeting place where all of our course information was located. WebCT learning management software provided access to a comprehensive set of curriculum materials, including professionally produced content, student-produced resources such as individual Web pages, a course calendar, and a syllabus. Communication tools included asynchronous discussion boards, e-mail, and a drop box for completed assignments.
Virtual Schooling
By: Niki Davis and Dale S. Niederhauser
Virtual schooling is where classes in K-12 are offered mostly through digital communication and is being used throughout the United States. It is becoming highly popular at the high school level.
Why do students choose virtual schooling?
Some students choose it because they have the freedom to individually personalize their schooling. Others because they can have access to advance placement options and a flexible time schedule. Virtual schooling requires substantial shifts in teachers’ roles and necessitates distributing responsibilities for providing an educational experience among host school participants and VS providers.
How is virtual schooling used in schools?
The virtual classroom includes a teacher and groups of students who are distributed among two or more distant schools. Rather than meeting in classroom students communicate using the Internet and video conferencing. I have participated in a few online courses and sites like Webct or Blackboard we used as a meeting place where all of our course information was located. WebCT learning management software provided access to a comprehensive set of curriculum materials, including professionally produced content, student-produced resources such as individual Web pages, a course calendar, and a syllabus. Communication tools included asynchronous discussion boards, e-mail, and a drop box for completed assignments.
Technology and Teacher Retention
Journal # 7
Technology and Teacher Retention
By: Robert Kadel
This article asks what effect does technology have on teacher retention? He answers his question with two questions: “Consider, first, that school districts rich in technology resources and professional development may be quite enticing to teachers, especially those who have recently graduated from technologically driven preservice programs. Teachers want to work in these districts, and once there, they want to stay. On the other hand, consider districts that have technological resources, but no support for teachers to use them. Or consider districts that have only limited or inadequate resources. Would teachers be more likely to leave such places?”
What can be done to use technology professionally in schools?
There is one program that has been successful in intergrading technology approximately into schools. It takes about 2.5 years and has multiple phases:
Planning Phase (spring of school year prior to implementation) this phase will determine site readiness. Administer a teacher technology survey to gauge technology skills, use, knowledge, and attitudes toward its use. Develop an implementation. Select initial mentees Implementation Phase (first school year) One-on-one mentoring of teachers who will then become technology integration mentors themselves. Whole staff workshops, twice per year, to address, among other things, issues raised in the teacher technology survey that needs to be addressed. Online administrative meetings, quarterly, to discuss the administrators’ role in supporting the program. Re-administering the teacher technology survey to determine how much teachers’ knowledge, skills, and so on have changed over the course of one year. Transfer Phase (second school year) Development of a year-two implementation plan, using data collected from the teacher technology survey at the end of year one. Select year-two mentees, to be mentored by those who were mentees in year one. One-on-one mentoring from year one mentees (now the mentors) to year two mentees. And a final administration of the teacher technology survey to gauge growth over the course of the program.
Will this long program do what it needs to to address many of the issues discussed above?
I think that teachers would be turned off by the sound of all of that work, especially ones who had a strong technology background. Some of it seems tedious and I’m not sure how excited teachers would be about having to have a mentor, attend online support meetings and workshops.
Technology and Teacher Retention
By: Robert Kadel
This article asks what effect does technology have on teacher retention? He answers his question with two questions: “Consider, first, that school districts rich in technology resources and professional development may be quite enticing to teachers, especially those who have recently graduated from technologically driven preservice programs. Teachers want to work in these districts, and once there, they want to stay. On the other hand, consider districts that have technological resources, but no support for teachers to use them. Or consider districts that have only limited or inadequate resources. Would teachers be more likely to leave such places?”
What can be done to use technology professionally in schools?
There is one program that has been successful in intergrading technology approximately into schools. It takes about 2.5 years and has multiple phases:
Planning Phase (spring of school year prior to implementation) this phase will determine site readiness. Administer a teacher technology survey to gauge technology skills, use, knowledge, and attitudes toward its use. Develop an implementation. Select initial mentees Implementation Phase (first school year) One-on-one mentoring of teachers who will then become technology integration mentors themselves. Whole staff workshops, twice per year, to address, among other things, issues raised in the teacher technology survey that needs to be addressed. Online administrative meetings, quarterly, to discuss the administrators’ role in supporting the program. Re-administering the teacher technology survey to determine how much teachers’ knowledge, skills, and so on have changed over the course of one year. Transfer Phase (second school year) Development of a year-two implementation plan, using data collected from the teacher technology survey at the end of year one. Select year-two mentees, to be mentored by those who were mentees in year one. One-on-one mentoring from year one mentees (now the mentors) to year two mentees. And a final administration of the teacher technology survey to gauge growth over the course of the program.
Will this long program do what it needs to to address many of the issues discussed above?
I think that teachers would be turned off by the sound of all of that work, especially ones who had a strong technology background. Some of it seems tedious and I’m not sure how excited teachers would be about having to have a mentor, attend online support meetings and workshops.
Social Justice: Choice or Necessity?
Journal #6
Social Justice: Choice or Necessity?
By Colleen Swain and David Edyburn.
This article investigates what social implications are associated with teachers’ decisions to use, or not use, technology to enhance teaching and learning. Little attention is focused on the critical issue associated with the use of instructional technology as a social justice tool.
How is social justice related to technology? David Miller states “Very crudely, I think, we are discussing how the good and bad things in life should be distributed among the members of a human society.” Students today must be technologically fluent and able to use technology to solve problems with various sources of information. Students who are lacking the skills to do these things are at a disadvantage for the rest of their lives. Future education and employment opportunities will be difficult because we live in a technological and information-based society. “In 1992, the U.S. Department of Labor’s SCANS report noted that at least 80% of all jobs in the next two decades would require workers to be technologically fluent. This means if workers are not well prepared in using technology to succeed in the workplace, they will be forced to take low-paying jobs with limited potential for advancement.
What can schools do with limited technology to prepare their students?
There is a resource called the Digital Toolkit Equity Portal and toolkit that has more than 150 strategies and resources for addressing key aspects of the digital divide. Problems like access to hardware, software, digital content and even internet access can be addressed and even solved with this resource. There are computer refurbishment Web sites where schools can obtain computers and also ways to get deeply discounted computers.
There is also a growing collection of free or open source software available.
Educators must search for ways to make instructional technologies accessible in the class and a normal part of the learning process.
Social Justice: Choice or Necessity?
By Colleen Swain and David Edyburn.
This article investigates what social implications are associated with teachers’ decisions to use, or not use, technology to enhance teaching and learning. Little attention is focused on the critical issue associated with the use of instructional technology as a social justice tool.
How is social justice related to technology? David Miller states “Very crudely, I think, we are discussing how the good and bad things in life should be distributed among the members of a human society.” Students today must be technologically fluent and able to use technology to solve problems with various sources of information. Students who are lacking the skills to do these things are at a disadvantage for the rest of their lives. Future education and employment opportunities will be difficult because we live in a technological and information-based society. “In 1992, the U.S. Department of Labor’s SCANS report noted that at least 80% of all jobs in the next two decades would require workers to be technologically fluent. This means if workers are not well prepared in using technology to succeed in the workplace, they will be forced to take low-paying jobs with limited potential for advancement.
What can schools do with limited technology to prepare their students?
There is a resource called the Digital Toolkit Equity Portal and toolkit that has more than 150 strategies and resources for addressing key aspects of the digital divide. Problems like access to hardware, software, digital content and even internet access can be addressed and even solved with this resource. There are computer refurbishment Web sites where schools can obtain computers and also ways to get deeply discounted computers.
There is also a growing collection of free or open source software available.
Educators must search for ways to make instructional technologies accessible in the class and a normal part of the learning process.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Journal #3 Internet killed the Video star
Video in the Age of Participation
By: Glenn Bull
Video in the age of participation is a very informative article about how video on the internet is thriving and how we as educators can use it in our classrooms to make class fun and exciting while being educational in subject matter and internet safety.
Question: Is you tube safe for classroom use along with other educational web sites?
YouTube is most definitely the next big thing in videos on the internet but I don’t think that it is a place that teachers should be sending their students for assignments. There is a vast amount of inappropriate videos posted by the minuet on YouTube, web sites like Discovery Education are a must safer and more education friendly for the class room.
Question: Is it possible that with combined efforts, we may shrink the gap between the explosion in use of video on the Internet at large and effective use in schools?
I think so, with sites like The Discovery Educator’s Network (DEN) and other classroom friendly video sites students will be able to learn how to effectively use video and be able to judge which sites are acceptable for school use and which are better for home viewing.
A new generation of Web 2.0 sites also provide online digital video editing, enabling teachers and students to create montages of video clips on the Web. MotionBox, JumpCut, and VideoEgg offer free sites that let people upload, store, and edit videos. These services are bringing us closer to constructing an index of attributes relevant to specific instructional objectives. If this capability is combined with a video rating system, digital video may quickly become significantly more useful in schools.
By: Glenn Bull
Video in the age of participation is a very informative article about how video on the internet is thriving and how we as educators can use it in our classrooms to make class fun and exciting while being educational in subject matter and internet safety.
Question: Is you tube safe for classroom use along with other educational web sites?
YouTube is most definitely the next big thing in videos on the internet but I don’t think that it is a place that teachers should be sending their students for assignments. There is a vast amount of inappropriate videos posted by the minuet on YouTube, web sites like Discovery Education are a must safer and more education friendly for the class room.
Question: Is it possible that with combined efforts, we may shrink the gap between the explosion in use of video on the Internet at large and effective use in schools?
I think so, with sites like The Discovery Educator’s Network (DEN) and other classroom friendly video sites students will be able to learn how to effectively use video and be able to judge which sites are acceptable for school use and which are better for home viewing.
A new generation of Web 2.0 sites also provide online digital video editing, enabling teachers and students to create montages of video clips on the Web. MotionBox, JumpCut, and VideoEgg offer free sites that let people upload, store, and edit videos. These services are bringing us closer to constructing an index of attributes relevant to specific instructional objectives. If this capability is combined with a video rating system, digital video may quickly become significantly more useful in schools.
Monday, March 5, 2007
Journal Post #5 Cyberbullying
Journal #5
Kids are using technology to hurt and humiliate each other.
How To Fight the New Bullies
By Rosalind Wiseman
Published: February 25, 2007
What is the attraction of cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying can often be done anonymously and is so simple that more and more students are falling victims to it. “What makes cyberbullying so easy—and tempting—is the mask of anonymity the Web provides, along with a potentially huge audience. As Parry Aftab, executive director of wiredsafety.org, explains: “ There’s a lack of social norms when children use technology to communicate. Because you can be anonymous, there’s no fear of detection. Even if you identify yourself, you don’t see people’s reactions and realize you have gone too far.”
Question: Should schools become involved in cyberbullying? Or is it not their place?
I think so, there is no real law that can be enforced by the police to say that you can’t be mean to people over the Internet. With old-fashioned bullies you could call the cops if it got physical or a threat seemed scary enough to break the law. “From Florida to Oregon, educators and state legislators are incorporating cyberbullying into their bullying policies or drafting new laws.” They justify this by saying that if the language affects the learning environment then the school must intervene even if it occurred away from school. However, Supreme Court will hear a case concerning whether public school officials can suppress student speech off-campus. The decision could determine whether students can be disciplined for off-campus communications that include online threats. This is obviously a very controversial issue and it is hard to place guidelines on what the school should enforce if it occurred after school hours or off of school campus. I think the most important thing we can do is teach students how to use technology responsibly and be kind to one another, and if cyberbullying is occurring then technology use should be limited and monitored.
Kids are using technology to hurt and humiliate each other.
How To Fight the New Bullies
By Rosalind Wiseman
Published: February 25, 2007
What is the attraction of cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying can often be done anonymously and is so simple that more and more students are falling victims to it. “What makes cyberbullying so easy—and tempting—is the mask of anonymity the Web provides, along with a potentially huge audience. As Parry Aftab, executive director of wiredsafety.org, explains: “ There’s a lack of social norms when children use technology to communicate. Because you can be anonymous, there’s no fear of detection. Even if you identify yourself, you don’t see people’s reactions and realize you have gone too far.”
Question: Should schools become involved in cyberbullying? Or is it not their place?
I think so, there is no real law that can be enforced by the police to say that you can’t be mean to people over the Internet. With old-fashioned bullies you could call the cops if it got physical or a threat seemed scary enough to break the law. “From Florida to Oregon, educators and state legislators are incorporating cyberbullying into their bullying policies or drafting new laws.” They justify this by saying that if the language affects the learning environment then the school must intervene even if it occurred away from school. However, Supreme Court will hear a case concerning whether public school officials can suppress student speech off-campus. The decision could determine whether students can be disciplined for off-campus communications that include online threats. This is obviously a very controversial issue and it is hard to place guidelines on what the school should enforce if it occurred after school hours or off of school campus. I think the most important thing we can do is teach students how to use technology responsibly and be kind to one another, and if cyberbullying is occurring then technology use should be limited and monitored.
Journal #2 myDragon Net
Journal #2
Breathing Fire into Web 2.0
By: Justin Hardman and David Carpenter
Technology is growing so rapidly and is an unavoidable aspect of many students day to day lives that it is very important for teachers and schools to stay up to date with the latest necessities for the classroom.
Question: Is myDragon Net something that is necessary in out classrooms?
I think it is. Having the classroom management system and the curriculum totally integrated increases the efficiency of planning and organizing within and between teams, especially with the difficulty of finding common meeting times. The teacher is only a click away from communicating to the child’s parents, administrator, and student services point person. My brother is in high school and my parents are constantly on learningpoint.com checking his grades and making sure he has been keeping up with all of his homework. If they have a question or need help with something then they can email the counselor, teacher or even the principal to get the information they need. A program like myDragon Net would make the teachers lives and the facility as a whole much more organized and less stressful.
Question: Is myDragon Net taking away from the closeness of the classroom?
I don’t think that it is. In college we use WebCt to have online discussions and tests and announcements and for students who are comfortable with the computer, like myself, it is a dream come true because now I can never lose any of my assignments or fear that one of my professors could do the same. Everything is documented online and if there are any discrepancies than they can be retrieved online and worked out.
Imputing a similar system into elementary and middle school classrooms would be a wonderful way to show students hoe technology can be fun and helpful, and get then prepared for later in life when the internet and digital documentation are a must.
Breathing Fire into Web 2.0
By: Justin Hardman and David Carpenter
Technology is growing so rapidly and is an unavoidable aspect of many students day to day lives that it is very important for teachers and schools to stay up to date with the latest necessities for the classroom.
Question: Is myDragon Net something that is necessary in out classrooms?
I think it is. Having the classroom management system and the curriculum totally integrated increases the efficiency of planning and organizing within and between teams, especially with the difficulty of finding common meeting times. The teacher is only a click away from communicating to the child’s parents, administrator, and student services point person. My brother is in high school and my parents are constantly on learningpoint.com checking his grades and making sure he has been keeping up with all of his homework. If they have a question or need help with something then they can email the counselor, teacher or even the principal to get the information they need. A program like myDragon Net would make the teachers lives and the facility as a whole much more organized and less stressful.
Question: Is myDragon Net taking away from the closeness of the classroom?
I don’t think that it is. In college we use WebCt to have online discussions and tests and announcements and for students who are comfortable with the computer, like myself, it is a dream come true because now I can never lose any of my assignments or fear that one of my professors could do the same. Everything is documented online and if there are any discrepancies than they can be retrieved online and worked out.
Imputing a similar system into elementary and middle school classrooms would be a wonderful way to show students hoe technology can be fun and helpful, and get then prepared for later in life when the internet and digital documentation are a must.
Journal Post #4 Phones can be phun!
Journal # 4
From Toy to Tool By: Liz Kolb
Cell phones as educational tools? Crazy right? Not so when it comes to audioblogging and gabcast.com
Question: Why do cell phones have such a negative attachment for teachers?
I can understand where this educator was coming from, especially after reading the first journal article about the college students constantly multitasking in class some focusing more on their cell phones than their notes. Students can cheat with them but if we can refocus their thinking about how cell phones can be used in the classroom maybe we can change how the students use them. I became inspired by this article, saying “no “ to many children makes them want to do it more and I think cell phones are a necessary aspect to most peoples lives and they should be embraced instead of discouraged.
Question: The idea of audioblogging sounds really fun. How can we teach out students about NETS for students?
With audioblogging we can teach the children about fair use and copyright issues when it comes to posting on the internet. It will cover some of the NETS for students by having them conduct interviews and record them on their phones inside and outside of school. I would have never thought of such a great idea. Cell phones are a huge part of technology today and teaching children how to use them appropriately is necessary. I was so focused on the NETS-S and using cameras, and other more educationally focused technology that I never even thought of audioblogging and cell phones as an option.
From Toy to Tool By: Liz Kolb
Cell phones as educational tools? Crazy right? Not so when it comes to audioblogging and gabcast.com
Question: Why do cell phones have such a negative attachment for teachers?
I can understand where this educator was coming from, especially after reading the first journal article about the college students constantly multitasking in class some focusing more on their cell phones than their notes. Students can cheat with them but if we can refocus their thinking about how cell phones can be used in the classroom maybe we can change how the students use them. I became inspired by this article, saying “no “ to many children makes them want to do it more and I think cell phones are a necessary aspect to most peoples lives and they should be embraced instead of discouraged.
Question: The idea of audioblogging sounds really fun. How can we teach out students about NETS for students?
With audioblogging we can teach the children about fair use and copyright issues when it comes to posting on the internet. It will cover some of the NETS for students by having them conduct interviews and record them on their phones inside and outside of school. I would have never thought of such a great idea. Cell phones are a huge part of technology today and teaching children how to use them appropriately is necessary. I was so focused on the NETS-S and using cameras, and other more educationally focused technology that I never even thought of audioblogging and cell phones as an option.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Journal post #1 Technology-savvy generation
Professors adjust their methods to reach technology-savvy generation
By Eleanor Yang Su
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
The introduction of this article feels like the writer was standing behind me in a few of my classes. I want to pay attention and learn as much as I can in the classroom but some of my classes are so unbelievably boring that I need my computer to make it through class.
Question: Why are these distracting devices allowed in the classroom?
I along with most people I know are at the point where it is easier to type notes rather than write then so to my strictly lecture only classes I bring it because I would fall behind if I was trying to hand write my notes in class. However when the lecture takes a turn that is not relevant to the class then my instant messenger comes on and I start a conversation with the student sitting next to me in class without passing notes or saying a word. This definitely puts a lot of pressure on the professors to step up the class and work a little harder; after all they do get paid the big bucks to teach me.
Question: Is multitasking really as dangerous as they say it is?
As for the multitasking constantly, it is a lifestyle I have become used to and when I don’t have my cell phone or my computer is broken I feel lost. My generation is one that needs constant stimulation and maybe that is a downfall but it is what it is and if professors are not willing to embrace it than they will have a classroom full of students working on various other projects while in class. The clickers are a great way to get students involved in class and get their minds working, and thinking about the topic. I have a class that has required the clickers but unfortunately my professor has spent 6 weeks saying we were going to use them and never doing so.
By Eleanor Yang Su
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
The introduction of this article feels like the writer was standing behind me in a few of my classes. I want to pay attention and learn as much as I can in the classroom but some of my classes are so unbelievably boring that I need my computer to make it through class.
Question: Why are these distracting devices allowed in the classroom?
I along with most people I know are at the point where it is easier to type notes rather than write then so to my strictly lecture only classes I bring it because I would fall behind if I was trying to hand write my notes in class. However when the lecture takes a turn that is not relevant to the class then my instant messenger comes on and I start a conversation with the student sitting next to me in class without passing notes or saying a word. This definitely puts a lot of pressure on the professors to step up the class and work a little harder; after all they do get paid the big bucks to teach me.
Question: Is multitasking really as dangerous as they say it is?
As for the multitasking constantly, it is a lifestyle I have become used to and when I don’t have my cell phone or my computer is broken I feel lost. My generation is one that needs constant stimulation and maybe that is a downfall but it is what it is and if professors are not willing to embrace it than they will have a classroom full of students working on various other projects while in class. The clickers are a great way to get students involved in class and get their minds working, and thinking about the topic. I have a class that has required the clickers but unfortunately my professor has spent 6 weeks saying we were going to use them and never doing so.
Monday, January 29, 2007
intro
Jeneva Horn Intro Letter
I was born July 2, 1985 to John and Kerry Horn. I was an only child for the first five years of my life until April 21, 1990 when my brother Dylan was born. I attended public school from Kindergarten through high school in San Diego, more specifically, La Jolla and choose Cal State San Marcos over the other schools I was accepted to because of their teaching program and the smaller size of the student body. I moved out of my parent’s house and into an apartment with two of my friends after my first year of college. The picture is of me and my dog Bruiser, I love this picture because he has the funniest look in his eyes!
I can still remember the day when my dad and went out and bought out first computer. Technology plays a huge role in my life, even though I’m 21 I can’t remember my life without computers, or cell phones. I got my first computer when I was 7 and my first cell phone when I was 13 and have had them at my side ever since. My dad works in the computer business so even though there are only four people in my family we have 5 Macs, so I am definitely a Mac person.
The most powerful part of the mission statement to me is not a phrase but the word diversity. It was used twice in the mission statement, and I think that no matter what, when you want to be an educator you must embrace diversity and welcome it in your classroom. No two people are exactly the same and being able to allow children to open their minds and learn about the differences in the would will help shape our future so that, hopefully one day people will not discriminate by what they see on the outside, but by what really matters.
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