First Technology Memory
My first memory of educational technology was playing “The Oregon Trail” on the new Apple computer in grade school. Notice I said computer, as in one for the entire school.
There was no sound, unless a beep counts. The only color used in the game was green. I remember earning the chance to spend recess in the library to play this game. I have no recollection if it saved our game or if we had to begin new every time. I also do not remember having any teacher input, or supervision.
Living in Oregon teachers felt this was a great tool to learn geography and basic social studies. I also remember having to use basic math to plan food and travel. I don’t remember learning much with this game, but I do remember it was fun. I am not sure if teachers felt they had to justify using computers for instructional purposes (59) or if they truly felt it was a useful program at that time.
I had actually forgotten all about this game until my own children brought home a cool ‘retro’ game. Sure enough, it was “The Oregon Trail.”
RSS Feeds
RSS has a lot to offer students in education. For current event research RSS provides news up to the minute, worldwide, for students to use. Having students blog provides students reading, research, video, audio, writing, and digital media. RSS, I have found, is cross-curricular and provides many authorship opportunities for students. It teaches students how to properly cite and link, and to write digitally. RSS also gives students abilities to navigate libraries anywhere and gives them control over web content they wish to view, reducing navigation time. Teachers can use RSS to teach students to explore their interests, skim appropriately – which in turn makes them better readers. Finally, teachers can use RSS to monitor student blogs, syndicate student material so that all students to read, comment, and follow-up to help students realize that RSS and blogs are a was to continuously and effectively communicate rather than just write it down for a teacher to read.
Digital Inequality
I was amazed at the amount of digital inequality depending on location and poverty level. Living and working in a rural area I could not believe the statistics versus suburban places.
I always knew digital divide meant the binary term of have and have not. I always figured this was U.S. versus third world countries. I did not realize the effects of inequality within the U.S.
I also was amazed watching the slideshow that America is not rated number one in technology and internet use. I just assumed since we use it so much and we are the home of Microsoft, that we would be at the top.
This digital inequality letter was directed at the school district in which I student taught at last year. I was dumbfounded at their lack of technology use in classrooms and how outdated their software was. Teachers use document cameras only as overhead projectors. None of them were hooked to computers. I often brought my laptop to connect, however, they do not have wireless access so it created other issues. Their Microsoft office was 2000 version. Anyways, I could go on and on. This is a public school with adequate resources and none of them were being used.
I also did not realize how technology can positively influence students to such a great deal, and have such an impact on their future.
Technology Trends
In doing research I was immediately drawn to electronic books. I think this tech tool has the ability to make the largest impact in all of society today, not just schools. The options available with electronic books will be astounding.
Although I have only seen one electronic book device in real life, it is all that is being discussed online and in general conversation. Just last year I stated to my colleagues that I felt school libraries would soon not exist as they do today. In the future, libraries will not take the amount of space they do now. Books might still exist in rarity, but many will be archived to electronic books. In addition, magazines, texts, periodicals, and newspapers would be available this way. I envision these devices hooking up to a computer via a USB port and downloading desired material for the student to check out. The choices are endless. Students could check out audio and visual materials this way. Classrooms would not house shelves of textbooks, but rather small carts or a shelf for electronic readers, containing all subjects of textbooks. Teachers would be able to turn on additional aid functions if desired such as test material, teacher notes, or author notes. With space, time, resources, and economic crises, many schools are not wanting to order textbooks, that are often outdated. Subscribing to a company for downloads would ensure up to date information and lower costs.
Electronic books are convenient. “The touchscreen device… can be used to read newspapers, magazines, and books. You can also use it to view and annotate Microsoft Office documents and PDFs, and check your Outlook e-mail and calendar.” (Inc, 2010, para. 1) With electronic books students could easily make notes, mark pages, and highlight crucial sentences without ruining the book. They can easily jump from one spot to another, find a specific topic, or do a search in seconds. Books could translate with the touch of a button, there are no ripped pages, no waiting for the book to be checked back in, and no limit to number of copies printed.
I know some people worry that reading a book will not feel or smell the same as it does today. In fact it won’t. Books won’t smell moldy, pages won’t yellow, and the new generation will wonder why it would ever have been any different. Much like we miss using slide-rules to calculators.
Professional Development Models
I did not realize there were different types of models for professional development. I agree that professional development is necessary and benefits all teachers, but I did not realize how different these PD’s can be. I was glad to research one that I did not like and did not feel benefited teachers because now I am able to tell the difference between effective and ineffective models. Ones that are well planned, have measurable goals, have been tried and revised, and strive for continued growth result in effective development.
Technology Use Plan Techniques
Technology has become a central entity of schools. Therefore, Technology departments must have policies and procedures in place just as any other department. Creating Technology Use Plans is a thorough, daunting task. These plans need to be created by a Technology team, have detailed budget information, clearly stated goals, and continual evaluation and review.
Schools must look at budgets with realism, especially during this current economy. Technology needs easily falls to the wayside. However, evaluating and ranking district needs, acquiring feedback from staff regarding use and subscriptions, and determining the overall vision schools the technology department can accurately assess the situation and future.
TUP plans should be implemented if not currently used and should be re-evaluated every three years.
This project was a collaboration with myself, Matt Gross, and Stephanie Walden using Google docs. This was an exciting new adventure using collaborative techniques. We were able to create, edit, and review in the same document at the same time. It allows us to see who is working and collaborate. I will definitely choose to use this method again.
Seminar Reflection
From podcasting under the gun I learned all of the different ways it can be used in the classroom. Podcasting is not just for teachers, but can use them for students to record information. Podcasting allows students and teachers to be very creative with learning. I loved the music aspect of it, so that the presenter can stay on track. Incorporating the music would take more experience and research, but I like how the music incorporates into the podcast.
Podcasting would be good for those students who are not great writers, but good speakers. My son fits this category and I would love to use it with him. Podcasting would also be a great tool for students to create scripts. This would help students organize their thoughts and topics. The video aspect would be great for students to view themselves. Kids love to watch themselves and this would add a great element. Having an introduction that outlines the script helps students with their writing abilities also. I am so impressed with all the ways podcasting could be used in education. Our school does student led conferences using Powerpoint presentations. Instead, students could create a podcast for their conference presentation. This would also be great for a journalism class. Many public schools do not have student led stations or announcements anymore and this would be a great alternative to daily announcements. Teachers could edit it first so the content was acceptable. Podcasting lessons would allow students who are absent to see it from home or at a later time at school.
My first memory of educational technology was playing “The Oregon Trail” on the new Apple computer in grade school. Notice I said computer, as in one for the entire school.
There was no sound, unless a beep counts. The only color used in the game was green. I remember earning the chance to spend recess in the library to play this game. I have no recollection if it saved our game or if we had to begin new every time. I also do not remember having any teacher input, or supervision.
Living in Oregon teachers felt this was a great tool to learn geography and basic social studies. I also remember having to use basic math to plan food and travel. I don’t remember learning much with this game, but I do remember it was fun. I am not sure if teachers felt they had to justify using computers for instructional purposes (59) or if they truly felt it was a useful program at that time.
I had actually forgotten all about this game until my own children brought home a cool ‘retro’ game. Sure enough, it was “The Oregon Trail.”
RSS Feeds
RSS has a lot to offer students in education. For current event research RSS provides news up to the minute, worldwide, for students to use. Having students blog provides students reading, research, video, audio, writing, and digital media. RSS, I have found, is cross-curricular and provides many authorship opportunities for students. It teaches students how to properly cite and link, and to write digitally. RSS also gives students abilities to navigate libraries anywhere and gives them control over web content they wish to view, reducing navigation time. Teachers can use RSS to teach students to explore their interests, skim appropriately – which in turn makes them better readers. Finally, teachers can use RSS to monitor student blogs, syndicate student material so that all students to read, comment, and follow-up to help students realize that RSS and blogs are a was to continuously and effectively communicate rather than just write it down for a teacher to read.
Digital Inequality
I was amazed at the amount of digital inequality depending on location and poverty level. Living and working in a rural area I could not believe the statistics versus suburban places.
I always knew digital divide meant the binary term of have and have not. I always figured this was U.S. versus third world countries. I did not realize the effects of inequality within the U.S.
I also was amazed watching the slideshow that America is not rated number one in technology and internet use. I just assumed since we use it so much and we are the home of Microsoft, that we would be at the top.
This digital inequality letter was directed at the school district in which I student taught at last year. I was dumbfounded at their lack of technology use in classrooms and how outdated their software was. Teachers use document cameras only as overhead projectors. None of them were hooked to computers. I often brought my laptop to connect, however, they do not have wireless access so it created other issues. Their Microsoft office was 2000 version. Anyways, I could go on and on. This is a public school with adequate resources and none of them were being used.
I also did not realize how technology can positively influence students to such a great deal, and have such an impact on their future.
Technology Trends
In doing research I was immediately drawn to electronic books. I think this tech tool has the ability to make the largest impact in all of society today, not just schools. The options available with electronic books will be astounding.
Although I have only seen one electronic book device in real life, it is all that is being discussed online and in general conversation. Just last year I stated to my colleagues that I felt school libraries would soon not exist as they do today. In the future, libraries will not take the amount of space they do now. Books might still exist in rarity, but many will be archived to electronic books. In addition, magazines, texts, periodicals, and newspapers would be available this way. I envision these devices hooking up to a computer via a USB port and downloading desired material for the student to check out. The choices are endless. Students could check out audio and visual materials this way. Classrooms would not house shelves of textbooks, but rather small carts or a shelf for electronic readers, containing all subjects of textbooks. Teachers would be able to turn on additional aid functions if desired such as test material, teacher notes, or author notes. With space, time, resources, and economic crises, many schools are not wanting to order textbooks, that are often outdated. Subscribing to a company for downloads would ensure up to date information and lower costs.
Electronic books are convenient. “The touchscreen device… can be used to read newspapers, magazines, and books. You can also use it to view and annotate Microsoft Office documents and PDFs, and check your Outlook e-mail and calendar.” (Inc, 2010, para. 1) With electronic books students could easily make notes, mark pages, and highlight crucial sentences without ruining the book. They can easily jump from one spot to another, find a specific topic, or do a search in seconds. Books could translate with the touch of a button, there are no ripped pages, no waiting for the book to be checked back in, and no limit to number of copies printed.
I know some people worry that reading a book will not feel or smell the same as it does today. In fact it won’t. Books won’t smell moldy, pages won’t yellow, and the new generation will wonder why it would ever have been any different. Much like we miss using slide-rules to calculators.
Professional Development Models
I did not realize there were different types of models for professional development. I agree that professional development is necessary and benefits all teachers, but I did not realize how different these PD’s can be. I was glad to research one that I did not like and did not feel benefited teachers because now I am able to tell the difference between effective and ineffective models. Ones that are well planned, have measurable goals, have been tried and revised, and strive for continued growth result in effective development.
Technology Use Plan Techniques
Technology has become a central entity of schools. Therefore, Technology departments must have policies and procedures in place just as any other department. Creating Technology Use Plans is a thorough, daunting task. These plans need to be created by a Technology team, have detailed budget information, clearly stated goals, and continual evaluation and review.
Schools must look at budgets with realism, especially during this current economy. Technology needs easily falls to the wayside. However, evaluating and ranking district needs, acquiring feedback from staff regarding use and subscriptions, and determining the overall vision schools the technology department can accurately assess the situation and future.
TUP plans should be implemented if not currently used and should be re-evaluated every three years.
This project was a collaboration with myself, Matt Gross, and Stephanie Walden using Google docs. This was an exciting new adventure using collaborative techniques. We were able to create, edit, and review in the same document at the same time. It allows us to see who is working and collaborate. I will definitely choose to use this method again.
Seminar Reflection
From podcasting under the gun I learned all of the different ways it can be used in the classroom. Podcasting is not just for teachers, but can use them for students to record information. Podcasting allows students and teachers to be very creative with learning. I loved the music aspect of it, so that the presenter can stay on track. Incorporating the music would take more experience and research, but I like how the music incorporates into the podcast.
Podcasting would be good for those students who are not great writers, but good speakers. My son fits this category and I would love to use it with him. Podcasting would also be a great tool for students to create scripts. This would help students organize their thoughts and topics. The video aspect would be great for students to view themselves. Kids love to watch themselves and this would add a great element. Having an introduction that outlines the script helps students with their writing abilities also. I am so impressed with all the ways podcasting could be used in education. Our school does student led conferences using Powerpoint presentations. Instead, students could create a podcast for their conference presentation. This would also be great for a journalism class. Many public schools do not have student led stations or announcements anymore and this would be a great alternative to daily announcements. Teachers could edit it first so the content was acceptable. Podcasting lessons would allow students who are absent to see it from home or at a later time at school.
