This final standard is perhaps one of the most crucial for technology leaders and facilitators as it is woven into everything we do. I found in my reading that this standard works hand in hand with Standard VII in an administrative focus, but the difference comes in how the two are carried out. Standard VIII focuses on the leadership and vision needed to bring technology education into potential. "Research suggests that current instructional models are more teacher-centered than student-centered" (Williamson and Redish, 2009, p. 179). Keeping instruction teacher-centered goes against the research and training of new teachers that instruction should be student-centered. Having a strong vision for the effective use of technology will help with this by utilizing the very tools that so many of our students thrive in outside of their school day.
I began working with this standard as a parent in my daughters' school district. Just last spring, they were reviewing the vision for the district and I volunteered to work on the technology component. Working with a variety of teachers, other parents, and educational stakeholders made it very easy to see the benefits of technology that were desired for the students in the district. We met several times throughout a one month time frame to come up with goals and strategies to further this vision. The focus of the district's vision was always on student learning, and I was able to bring in information from the different courses I had taken through that time to offer as additional research and some best practices. One of the most valuable pieces of information shared in these meetings was "students like their classes more and develop more positive attitudes when their classes include computer-based instruction" (Schacter, 1999, p.4). I kept several of the ideas brought from these meetings in mind as I worked in my own classroom this year. Just a few short weeks ago, my own principal has asked for my assistance in completing a needs assessment of technology use at my campus. I have started to build my team to help me through the process and have created a short survey to get a feel of the staff's attitude toward technology use on our campus. This will help my committee to set some goals and develop our own unique strategies for increasing technology implementation at the campus level. Teachers, like our students, "like having goals they want to reach, doing rather than listening, getting involved with the real world, ...[being asked] about their ideas and opinions, creating products that are important to them, and thinking seriously about their futures" (Prensky, 2008, p. 45). This new task will likely take me beyond my internship timeline, but the task is such a worthy one to complete for a campus where I have grown as an educator to a facilitator and hopefully leader.
I am going to continue to take the ideas and learning that I have gained through my research and participating on this committee to help me to grow into more of a leader in technology. I have stayed pretty in line with the roles of the technology facilitator at my campus, but I now wish to further challenge myself, with the help of my administrators and district technology leaders, to grow as more of a leader to be of continued service to the students and teachers. "If we don't stop and listen to the kids we serve, value their opinions, and make major changes on the basis of the valid suggestions they offer, we will be left in the 21st century with school buildings to administer - but with students who are physically or mentally somewhere else" (Prensky, 2005, p. 13).
Resources:
Prensky, M. (2005/2006, December/January). Listen to the Natives. Educational Leadership, 8-13.
Prensky, M. (2008, March). Turning on the Lights. Educational Leadership, 40-45.
Schacter, J. (1999). The Impact of Education Technology on Student Achievement: What the Most Current Research Has to Say. Santa Monica, CA: Milken Exchange on Education Technology.
Williamson, J. and Redish, T. (2009). ISTE's Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards. Washington, D.C.: ISTE.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Technology Facilitator Standard VII
Being in the classroom, this is an area of technology that is not seen by many, but you know it is there. I knew that a lot of time and money was allocated to bringing technology into the schools, but was not aware of the additional time and energy spent in deciding precisely which ones were best suited to the needs of the students in our district. "Without adequate infrastructure support, teachers are easily frustrated and prone to abandon technology, dismissing it as unreliable" (Sandholtz and Reilly, 2004). I have seen this happen early on in my teaching career, however not as much in recent years. Great strides have been taken by district and campus technology leaders to ensure the successful use of the technology brought into the campuses.
Due to a variety of events this year, I was able to participate in the implementation of this standard in a small way. We have had new technology come onto our campus, however much of it has been sitting in boxes due to lack of knowledge on how to use it. I have ventured out to different trainings offered by the district and played with some of this new material so that I could come back and train my staff on the products. This has been very minor compared to the work done by the district level facilitators and leaders, but I have been glad to have the opportunity to work on such a task. I have also helped my campus obtain some new technology tools that I have seen and used in other trainings, and will be working with the staff on these products also. The implementation stage of this standard is where I feel most comfortable. I love working with the teachers to troubleshoot and learn ways to bring new ideas into the classroom that can go beyond something they have complete control of. I have kept in constant communication with the district facilitators and my administrators for help in making sure I am presenting all of the material in a manner that is effective and beneficial. "Working with educators, faciliators ensure that the use of technology is aligned with the plans and policies developed at the district level" (Williamson and Redish, 2009, p. 162).
Just a couple of weeks ago, I learned that our district has made it possible for us to start working with more open source programs inside of the district. This has the potential to be great for us as it is "freely available to use and to modify, upgrade, and customize" (Solomon and Schrum, 2007, p. 134). Given the current financial worries of many school districts right now, I see this as a smart move to keep classrooms moving forward without the district pocketbooks being opened further than needed. I will be curious to see how quickly these tools catch on in the district. As of right now, there are very few in the district who know about these open source tools, and even fewer who know how to use them. I have gone ahead and started training a few others on my campus in these because I started using them in my classes through Lamar over a year ago.
Resources:
Sandholtz, J. and Reilly, B. (2004). Teachers, not technicians: rethinking technical expectations for teachers. Teachers College Record, 106, 487-512.
Solomon, G. and Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools. Washington, D.C.: ISTE.
Williamson, J. and Redish, T. (2009). ISTE's Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards. Washington, D.C.: ISTE.
Due to a variety of events this year, I was able to participate in the implementation of this standard in a small way. We have had new technology come onto our campus, however much of it has been sitting in boxes due to lack of knowledge on how to use it. I have ventured out to different trainings offered by the district and played with some of this new material so that I could come back and train my staff on the products. This has been very minor compared to the work done by the district level facilitators and leaders, but I have been glad to have the opportunity to work on such a task. I have also helped my campus obtain some new technology tools that I have seen and used in other trainings, and will be working with the staff on these products also. The implementation stage of this standard is where I feel most comfortable. I love working with the teachers to troubleshoot and learn ways to bring new ideas into the classroom that can go beyond something they have complete control of. I have kept in constant communication with the district facilitators and my administrators for help in making sure I am presenting all of the material in a manner that is effective and beneficial. "Working with educators, faciliators ensure that the use of technology is aligned with the plans and policies developed at the district level" (Williamson and Redish, 2009, p. 162).
Just a couple of weeks ago, I learned that our district has made it possible for us to start working with more open source programs inside of the district. This has the potential to be great for us as it is "freely available to use and to modify, upgrade, and customize" (Solomon and Schrum, 2007, p. 134). Given the current financial worries of many school districts right now, I see this as a smart move to keep classrooms moving forward without the district pocketbooks being opened further than needed. I will be curious to see how quickly these tools catch on in the district. As of right now, there are very few in the district who know about these open source tools, and even fewer who know how to use them. I have gone ahead and started training a few others on my campus in these because I started using them in my classes through Lamar over a year ago.
Resources:
Sandholtz, J. and Reilly, B. (2004). Teachers, not technicians: rethinking technical expectations for teachers. Teachers College Record, 106, 487-512.
Solomon, G. and Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools. Washington, D.C.: ISTE.
Williamson, J. and Redish, T. (2009). ISTE's Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards. Washington, D.C.: ISTE.
Web Design
This course was a plethora of new information for me and I spent a great deal of time very overwhelmed! Knowing as little as I did about creating websites and coding really made me nervous going into this. I essentially came into this course a "blank slate" and everything was new to me. I had a very brief experience in creating a web page for my college sorority that went disastrously bad, and since then I have not tried again. Throughout the course, I was surprised by how much went into creating and maintaining a website, and the policies needed in the district to keep the site running efficiently. "Web 2.0 signals a transition from isolation to interconnectedness - not just for programmers but, more important, for end users" (Solomon and Schrum, 2007, p. 13). After completing the course, I have not desires to go out and create the next great website, but I do have an appreciation for all those that do create the websites we use in our schools and the time and energy they invest in keeping them current.
I came into this class with a fairly open mind to the experience. Each of the assignments exposed me to a new way of thinking about the work that goes on in a district "behind the scenes" before a site may be launched for public viewing. In an educational setting, privacy is extremely important, so looking at a site's "privacy policy needs to explain clearly how the web site handles sensitive data, cookies, and related information" (Kaiser, S., 2006, p. 36) is a priority. I relied on the assistance of my campus Webmaster and my district technology facilitator to help with my understanding of policies related to how my district uses its websites for the district and each individual campus. The power a website has as an educational and informational tool for parents, students and district stakeholders is a driving force behind all of the research and hard work that goes into creating and maintaining a site.
With the information I gained from this course, I went into a new school year with an understanding of the need to help maintain our website's integrity and have spent this year as a liaison to the Webmaster, providing informational updates to keep the campus site current. As of this time, I really still have no desire to learn any further components of web design, but I want to continue to support and serve as best as I can to make sure that our website stays an informative site for all and meets the criteria set to make it a first class web site.
Resources:
Kaiser, S. (2006). Deliver First Class Web Sites. VIC Australia: Sitepoint.
Solomon, J. and Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools. Washington, D.C.: ISTE.
I came into this class with a fairly open mind to the experience. Each of the assignments exposed me to a new way of thinking about the work that goes on in a district "behind the scenes" before a site may be launched for public viewing. In an educational setting, privacy is extremely important, so looking at a site's "privacy policy needs to explain clearly how the web site handles sensitive data, cookies, and related information" (Kaiser, S., 2006, p. 36) is a priority. I relied on the assistance of my campus Webmaster and my district technology facilitator to help with my understanding of policies related to how my district uses its websites for the district and each individual campus. The power a website has as an educational and informational tool for parents, students and district stakeholders is a driving force behind all of the research and hard work that goes into creating and maintaining a site.
With the information I gained from this course, I went into a new school year with an understanding of the need to help maintain our website's integrity and have spent this year as a liaison to the Webmaster, providing informational updates to keep the campus site current. As of this time, I really still have no desire to learn any further components of web design, but I want to continue to support and serve as best as I can to make sure that our website stays an informative site for all and meets the criteria set to make it a first class web site.
Resources:
Kaiser, S. (2006). Deliver First Class Web Sites. VIC Australia: Sitepoint.
Solomon, J. and Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools. Washington, D.C.: ISTE.
Video Technology and Multimedia
This course was extrememly valuable to me as an eduactor, wife and mom in encouraging new ways of sharing and presenting stories and information to a broader audience. Prior to this class, pretty much relied on the Web as a source for getting information. I learned here that I can now be the author of some of the information that others search for as "Web 2.0 tools change the nature of teh WEb from distributed to participatory" (Solomon and Schrum, 2007, p.46). I was fairly familiar with using Windows MovieMaker and had dabbled with Audacity in a couple of previous assignments in my Master's journey. Learning about and experiementing with Photo Story 3, Podcasting, ad eventually getting to work in iMovie. My work in MovieMaker has always seemed pretty straight forward, however after working in Photo Story 3 I think I was doing way more work than was needed. Photo Story 3 is extemely straight forward and great for new users to creating videos. As far as creating the podcasts, that was a pretty painless task also. Getting it online, that was another story altogether.
I remember for the most part that creating the products for each assignment was not too difficult a task. When it came time to publish each one on the Web, that is where some problems started to creep in. I approached each assignment in the manner of any teacher in America, trying to be as cost effective and least time consuming as possible. I had to search through several of the different sites offered for publishing a podcast before finding one that was easy to use and would be simple enough to show others how to use. The ultimate goal of creating a PSA to publish on the Web was a great test in team building and collaboration. My team for this project kept in close contact via e-mail and our Google doc to share ideas and compare notes for each phase of the project. This course tested our knowledge and use of the new Bloom's Taxonomy that incorporates the digital world that our students are learning in. As the students in this project, we were constantly working in the Evaluating level with "collaborating and networking, and testing" (Churches, 2008) and Creating level with " filming, animating, videocasting, podcasting, mixing and remixing, directing and producing, and publishing" (Chruches, 2008). While working with others is challenging from time to time, it is definitely more valuable to have the support of others than to go it alone. Having tried both, I defiinitely prefer to have someone to bounce ideas off of and get feedback from that knows what they are talking about.
Continuing beyond where I am currently, I have had to consider how video and multimedia tools can play a part in teaching for me and for other teachers I know. "Because technology permeates how students think, communicate, and process information, accomodating the positive attributes of their media-rich learning styles can help educators update teaching, learning, and the curriculum" (Williamson and Redish, 2009, p. 58). I think integrating ideas like these can be tremendous assets to teaching, my questions lie in how to get it in the hands of the students. I visualize helping teachers learn to use these tools first, and then carry it on into the classroom where teachers can show students how to create their own products and publish them to share. Finding the time to fit in a process like this though is very difficult to do with so much emphasis on administration making sure that the campus meets AYP each year. I worry that an endeavor such as this may seem unnecessary when so many other areas need improvement.
Resources:
Churches, A. (2008). Bloom's Taxonomy Blooms Digitally. Tech & Learning. Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/article/8670
Solomon, G. and Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools. Washington, D.C.: ISTE.
Williamson, J. and Redish, T. (2009). ISTE's Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards. Washington, D.C.: ISTE.
I remember for the most part that creating the products for each assignment was not too difficult a task. When it came time to publish each one on the Web, that is where some problems started to creep in. I approached each assignment in the manner of any teacher in America, trying to be as cost effective and least time consuming as possible. I had to search through several of the different sites offered for publishing a podcast before finding one that was easy to use and would be simple enough to show others how to use. The ultimate goal of creating a PSA to publish on the Web was a great test in team building and collaboration. My team for this project kept in close contact via e-mail and our Google doc to share ideas and compare notes for each phase of the project. This course tested our knowledge and use of the new Bloom's Taxonomy that incorporates the digital world that our students are learning in. As the students in this project, we were constantly working in the Evaluating level with "collaborating and networking, and testing" (Churches, 2008) and Creating level with " filming, animating, videocasting, podcasting, mixing and remixing, directing and producing, and publishing" (Chruches, 2008). While working with others is challenging from time to time, it is definitely more valuable to have the support of others than to go it alone. Having tried both, I defiinitely prefer to have someone to bounce ideas off of and get feedback from that knows what they are talking about.
Continuing beyond where I am currently, I have had to consider how video and multimedia tools can play a part in teaching for me and for other teachers I know. "Because technology permeates how students think, communicate, and process information, accomodating the positive attributes of their media-rich learning styles can help educators update teaching, learning, and the curriculum" (Williamson and Redish, 2009, p. 58). I think integrating ideas like these can be tremendous assets to teaching, my questions lie in how to get it in the hands of the students. I visualize helping teachers learn to use these tools first, and then carry it on into the classroom where teachers can show students how to create their own products and publish them to share. Finding the time to fit in a process like this though is very difficult to do with so much emphasis on administration making sure that the campus meets AYP each year. I worry that an endeavor such as this may seem unnecessary when so many other areas need improvement.
Resources:
Churches, A. (2008). Bloom's Taxonomy Blooms Digitally. Tech & Learning. Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/article/8670
Solomon, G. and Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools. Washington, D.C.: ISTE.
Williamson, J. and Redish, T. (2009). ISTE's Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards. Washington, D.C.: ISTE.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Digital Graphics, Animation and Desktop Publishing
This course brought into review skills that I regularly use as a classroom teacher - creating newsletters. However in this course, I got to experience creating digital newsletters as opposed to computer-generated ones that are then printed and copied for distribution. Learning about the "CRAP" principles of basic design, that is Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity, has been very useful in creating presentations and products for my class that are engaging and appealing to my students and others. Since taking this class, I was able to get my students involved in making their own digital newsletter that we e-mail out to parents once a month. This has been a great tool that "helps students to think for themselves, to do the organizing or whatever they need to do to make sense out of the information" (Fraenkel, 1992, p. 172). I have shared this activity with other teachers and shown the benefits of this on student productivity. Not only are students creating a product to share with their peers and families, they are sharing their knowledge with me since many of the articles included in the newsletter are summaries and reflections on topics we have covered in class. Students take the template that we set up as a class and save it to their flash drives. They know which sections they are responsible for and then we cut and paste the document together. This is not as simple as creating in Google docs, but the students are working successfully with the established set-up. "Technology allows students to collaborate on projects without the constraints of time or geography" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski, 2007, p. 153).
Since there were many new concepts for me to learn in completing this course, I spent time watching and reading the tutorials offered for tools like Stykz and creating a logo. I also enlisted the help of my husband and 14 year old daughter in the critique of my work before submitting it. Building a strong support team that I could rely on for feedback has been a much needed resource for myself. "Interaction and the resulting relationships are the most important catalysts in forming community" (Solomon and Schrum, 2007, p. 105).
As I continue to move forward in technology education, I plan on taking the advice of others into account. I also want to continue in practicing the skills I have gained in digital graphics and animation, while fine tuning my skills in desktop publishing. These are skills and tools that other teachers would most definitely benefit from learning and integrating into their own teaching. Ideally, I think creating a small learning community on campus to learn, practice, and then integrate these tools would be beneficial to all. "To chart a new course, administrators must agree that the use of technology is a fundamental goal, and faculty members must participate in identifying it as a shared goal" (Solomon and Schrum, 2007, p. 111).
References:
Freankel, J. (1992, March). Hilda Taba's Contributions to Social Studies Education. Social Education. p. 172-178.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., and Malenoski, K. (2007). Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. Denver: McREL.
Solomon, J. and Schrum, T. (2007). Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools. Washington, D.C.: ISTE.
Since there were many new concepts for me to learn in completing this course, I spent time watching and reading the tutorials offered for tools like Stykz and creating a logo. I also enlisted the help of my husband and 14 year old daughter in the critique of my work before submitting it. Building a strong support team that I could rely on for feedback has been a much needed resource for myself. "Interaction and the resulting relationships are the most important catalysts in forming community" (Solomon and Schrum, 2007, p. 105).
As I continue to move forward in technology education, I plan on taking the advice of others into account. I also want to continue in practicing the skills I have gained in digital graphics and animation, while fine tuning my skills in desktop publishing. These are skills and tools that other teachers would most definitely benefit from learning and integrating into their own teaching. Ideally, I think creating a small learning community on campus to learn, practice, and then integrate these tools would be beneficial to all. "To chart a new course, administrators must agree that the use of technology is a fundamental goal, and faculty members must participate in identifying it as a shared goal" (Solomon and Schrum, 2007, p. 111).
References:
Freankel, J. (1992, March). Hilda Taba's Contributions to Social Studies Education. Social Education. p. 172-178.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., and Malenoski, K. (2007). Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. Denver: McREL.
Solomon, J. and Schrum, T. (2007). Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools. Washington, D.C.: ISTE.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Instructional Design
The benefits for educators who create and implement online learning reach beyond what can be accomplished in a traditional classroom. Online learning helps to close the idea that "there is too much content and not enough time, especially if the identified knowledge and skills contained in the standards are viewed as discrete and disconnected" (Wiggins and McTighe, 2005, p. 61). After taking the time to learn how to design and implement online curriculum, I better understand the expectations of learning and do not have to rely as heavily on outside sources to set the guidelines for learning. The course I made last spring was tailored to meet the needs of fourth graders preparing for the TAKS Math test, but a variety of other options are available if the time is taken to put a plan like this in action. In going back and reviewing my work for this online course, I have found many areas that could be improved, but I have also found many areas that are still applicable to the students I am currently working with.
Online learning has definite potential and I would like to integrate it into my own teaching. Current tools, like BrainPop, offer short learning experiences that are very engaging to the students at all ability levels. An area that I worked to improve on in incorporating online learning in the classroom is extending the attention span and focus of the student. "When teachers introduce multimedia into their classrooms, they must ensure that students stay focused on distinguishing trivial content from essential content...and personalizing their notes based on their learning styles" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski, 2007, p. 130). Sharing the ideas of backward design as well as this introduction to creating personalized online learning with colleagues at work helped motivate and direct what I wanted to focus on in my course assignments. I was also provided ideas that I have carried on into later course work.
Throughout this course, the most valuable tool that I still consider in my own teaching is backward design. In planning an online course, this strategy was challenging for me as I often fall into the "trap" of many educators of wanting to plan the activities first, rather than focusing on the curriculum needs of an objective. Online learning and computers "appear to be especially productive with children designated as nontraditional" (Page, 2002, p. 392). Challenges to successfully implementing online learning are as always time and resources. Time to train students and educators in such tools is always a struggle when time is always in demand, and making sure that the resources to create online learning opportunities remains available needs to be addressed so that these tools do not become blocked by the filtering system.
References:
Page, M. (2002). Technology-Enriched Classrooms: Effects on Students of Low Socioeconomic Status. Journal of Research on Technology in Education. p. 389-409.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., and Malenoski, K. (2007). Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. Denver: McREL.
Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design. Alexandria: ASCD.
Online learning has definite potential and I would like to integrate it into my own teaching. Current tools, like BrainPop, offer short learning experiences that are very engaging to the students at all ability levels. An area that I worked to improve on in incorporating online learning in the classroom is extending the attention span and focus of the student. "When teachers introduce multimedia into their classrooms, they must ensure that students stay focused on distinguishing trivial content from essential content...and personalizing their notes based on their learning styles" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski, 2007, p. 130). Sharing the ideas of backward design as well as this introduction to creating personalized online learning with colleagues at work helped motivate and direct what I wanted to focus on in my course assignments. I was also provided ideas that I have carried on into later course work.
Throughout this course, the most valuable tool that I still consider in my own teaching is backward design. In planning an online course, this strategy was challenging for me as I often fall into the "trap" of many educators of wanting to plan the activities first, rather than focusing on the curriculum needs of an objective. Online learning and computers "appear to be especially productive with children designated as nontraditional" (Page, 2002, p. 392). Challenges to successfully implementing online learning are as always time and resources. Time to train students and educators in such tools is always a struggle when time is always in demand, and making sure that the resources to create online learning opportunities remains available needs to be addressed so that these tools do not become blocked by the filtering system.
References:
Page, M. (2002). Technology-Enriched Classrooms: Effects on Students of Low Socioeconomic Status. Journal of Research on Technology in Education. p. 389-409.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., and Malenoski, K. (2007). Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. Denver: McREL.
Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design. Alexandria: ASCD.
Technology Facilitator Standard VI
"Education, unlike other industries of our world, has often failed to find a role for computer technology" (Page, 2002, p. 389). This quote at first may seem very harsh, however schools have for years been playing "catch up" with the rest of society in its use. I have learned that the "digital divide" we speak of doesn't always refer to those with and without access outside of the schools, but the accessibilty of technology inside of the schools can create just as much of a divide. Through studying campus and district STAR Charts, I have learned that great strides have been made in my district to make technology accessible to all students in most areas. We have gotten new and additional computers in the classrooms, and provided opportunities for teachers to learn and implement technology in many other ways with different software programs as well as web 2.0 tools, like blogs. However, with an ever changing population, "it is difficult to predict how educators and students will use new technologies and what the consequences of those uses will be" (Williamson and Redish, 2009, p. 123).
This year, and increased awareness was brought to the front in protecting our students privacy and keeping students safe online. With the rise of social networking sites, there is a clear and present need to teach students how to avoid situations that "lead to misuse of the Internet through bulk e-mail distribution and negatively toned communications" (Adelman, 2004, p. 17). As part of my internship assignment, my principal and site mentor had me address this issue with the grade levels and provide them with information to present to their students about being safe online. The teachers were very receptive and the students thoroughly enjoyed the information. Another area that we are working on with the fourth and fifth graders is the basics in copyright and citing work from other sources. Learning about the copyright laws is exhausting, but a very worthwhile endeavor if we expect our students to reference other sources in their work as they grow and learn. Our district has provided a Moodle for information related to cyber safety and copyright that all of the teachers have access to, so they are not creating multiple activities to teach the same goal. My role at the campus level has been to pass this information on and monitor its use by others, to answer questions that arise and make sure that the information is used correctly.
I have learned quite a bit about the ethical nature of what we should be teaching with technology and want to have better ideas as to how to teach students to be ethical and honest in what they do both at school and home on the computer. With my class blog, I have trained my students to use a special screen name and I closely monitor their comments before posting them for everyone to see. I want them to transfer this to other areas beyond the classroom, but often find myself wondering how possible this is.
References:
Adelman, H. (2004, March). Teaching Online Safety. Voices from the Middle. p. 17-22.
Page, M. (2002). Technology-Enriched Classrooms: Effects on Students of Low Socioeconomic Status. Journal of Research on Technology in Education. p. 389-409.
Williamson, J. and Redish, T. (2009). ISTE's Technology Facilitator and Leadership Standards. Washington, D.C.: ISTE.
This year, and increased awareness was brought to the front in protecting our students privacy and keeping students safe online. With the rise of social networking sites, there is a clear and present need to teach students how to avoid situations that "lead to misuse of the Internet through bulk e-mail distribution and negatively toned communications" (Adelman, 2004, p. 17). As part of my internship assignment, my principal and site mentor had me address this issue with the grade levels and provide them with information to present to their students about being safe online. The teachers were very receptive and the students thoroughly enjoyed the information. Another area that we are working on with the fourth and fifth graders is the basics in copyright and citing work from other sources. Learning about the copyright laws is exhausting, but a very worthwhile endeavor if we expect our students to reference other sources in their work as they grow and learn. Our district has provided a Moodle for information related to cyber safety and copyright that all of the teachers have access to, so they are not creating multiple activities to teach the same goal. My role at the campus level has been to pass this information on and monitor its use by others, to answer questions that arise and make sure that the information is used correctly.
I have learned quite a bit about the ethical nature of what we should be teaching with technology and want to have better ideas as to how to teach students to be ethical and honest in what they do both at school and home on the computer. With my class blog, I have trained my students to use a special screen name and I closely monitor their comments before posting them for everyone to see. I want them to transfer this to other areas beyond the classroom, but often find myself wondering how possible this is.
References:
Adelman, H. (2004, March). Teaching Online Safety. Voices from the Middle. p. 17-22.
Page, M. (2002). Technology-Enriched Classrooms: Effects on Students of Low Socioeconomic Status. Journal of Research on Technology in Education. p. 389-409.
Williamson, J. and Redish, T. (2009). ISTE's Technology Facilitator and Leadership Standards. Washington, D.C.: ISTE.
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