Chapters 7 & 8 (LeBaron & Collier)

“Investments in equipment have not always been accompanied by changes in teaching” (Areglado & Perry Jr., 2001, p.87). Our schools have the right idea, but do not know how to implement technology in a way to maximize its use as well as student learning. We need to align the goals of school leaders, politicians and other stakeholders to promote learning and restructuring of our educational system (Areglado & Perry Jr., 2001; Zimmerman, 2001).

First, it is necessary to establish proactive school leaders. I like the quote that stated, “Leaders believe that when it ‘ain’t broke may be the only time you can fix it’” (Areglado & Perry Jr., 2001, p. 89). This says it all about how we need to take a look at our schools and figure out how we need to improve and use technology better. We need to work smarter, not harder. Just buying hardware is not enough since we need to all take the lead in implementing it into our classrooms (Areglado & Perry Jr., 2001).

Next, we need to pay attention not only to the politics of technology integration, but also to the pedagogy behind it (Zimmerman, 2001). Politicians need to see results and involvement in order for them to support any project. If we want funding for our schools, we need to show solidarity and total school and community support. This can take the form of letters, petitions, grant requests, phone calls or any other communication to political figures. Good old fashioned grassroots support starts with each school employee (Zimmerman, 2001). Yet, we must show definitive proof that technology improves instruction. This is where the nasty old SOL comes into play. Yes, we do rely too much on these scores for countless reasons but these are the only things that politicians claim to understand.

Finally, the question remains of how to restructure our schools. If I had it my way, we would have a laptop for every student to supplement instruction as well as teach basic technology skills in every class. Sadly, our nation doesn’t care about schools. If given the choice between a road and a school, guess what wins. Also, just compare the salaries of celebrities and politicians with the amount of money given to our schools. We must still keep trying to be the best teachers for our students. If we model good instructional practices, incorporate technology and provide real life skills, our students will thrive. I will continue to consult our ITRT for ideas as well as use open ended assignments allowing students to use technology as they see fit in the context of social studies.

References

Areglado, R.J. & Perry Jr., G.S. (2001). The computers are here!: Now what
does the principal do?. In Collier, C. & LeBaron, J.F. (eds.) . Technology in
its place: Successful technology infusion in schools. San Francisco, CA:
Jossey- Bass Inc.

Zimmerman, I.K. (2001). Building public support: The politics of technology
transformation. In Collier, C. & LeBaron, J.F. (eds.). Technology in its
place: Successful technology infusion in schools. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-
Bass Inc.

Social bookmarking

Check out my new portaportal site. I will be adding some cool links soon, keep checking back. Go to www.portaportal.com and type in kbouf4jc into guest access.

K

Wiske et. al, Chapters 1 and 2

The main purpose behind these first two chapters is that leanring is a process and that we need to prepare our students by teaching them how to learn (Wiske, Franz and Breit, 2005). It is one thing just to know a fact and recite it for a random assessment. However, it is much more important that our students learn for understanding which means that they participate in a more formative assessment of thier abilities (Wiske, et al., 2006).
The authors discuss the use of generative topics to get students to delve deeper into the curriculum through open ended questions which can be used in any subject (Wiske, et al., 2006). As a civics teacher, I use this technique in the form of case studies and other methods just to get the students to think beyond the SOL. I agree with the authors that there needs to be goal setting and collaboration among students and teachers throughout the learning process.
Also, technology can play an integral role in the learning process (Wiske, et al., 2006). One way that my students utilize technology to fit the understanding by design model is through the use of a Wiki. This is basically a community blog that they set up and the civics teachers post open ended type questions. Usually they tend to revolve around what is happening in the news or just political opinions over big issues. So far it has been very successful for those that volunteered to participate. I highly recommmend it for your upper lever studetns as an alternative assignment to some of the more boring memorization for the SOL.

References

Wiske, M.S., Franz, K.R., & Breit, L. (2005) Teaching for understanding with technology. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Abilock- Week 2

1/22/07

Abilock Article

In Debbie Abilock’s article, "Using Technology to Enhance Student Inquiry", three key points stand out. First, there is a clear need for collaboration on the part of teachers, administrators, librarians and technology resource specialists. Second, we as teachers need to make sure that our students are information literate through the use of technology. Finally, through technology we should teach our students the research and design process of finding, sorting and synthesizing information (Abilock, 2001).

Collaboration is important in all aspects of education. However, in terms of technology integration, it is essential. All teachers need to embrace change in instructional methods and the main way to keep up with the times is to keep on learning how to use new hardware and software to help students. Librarians, administrators and specialists need to work with teachers as well as model uses of technology for learning (Abilock, 2001). Also, it is important to have support available should a problem or question arise.

Information literacy is critical for our students in this day and age due to the ever changing world of communication technology. Students need to learn how to learn through the use of various technological tools as well as become lifelong learners in the process (Abilock, 2001). The only way to do this is if they are exposed to relevant and valid forms and uses of technology that are appropriate to their curriculum. “The challenge for students is to understand complex issues, develop an informed and defensible position, locate data supporting their point of view, recognize information that is relevant, and evaluate the authority of sources” (Abilock, 2001, p. 4).

Finally, students need to learn to use information and technology in an appropriate manner. As teachers we need to model acceptable behavior. Research and synthesizing information are skills that need to be practiced. Thankfully, we have a world wide web that offers access to billions of pieces of information. We must make our students aware of how to discriminate credible from false information.

We need to work as one in education in order to benefit our students. If we continue to ignore the ever changing technologies that surround us, then our students will not be competitive in a global market and workplace. Knowledge of how and when to use technology is critical. If we do not change our educational system to accommodate technological advances, then we will simply be left in the dust.

References

Abilock, D. (2001).Using technology to enhance student inquiry. In LeBaron,
J.F. & Collier C. (eds.). Technology in its place: Successful technology
infusion in schools. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

ITEC 545 Kevin

Hello everyone!
Welcome to my first posting. Currently, I am still setting up all of the features for this online course and I am looking forward to working with others that are interested in the integration of technology in our schools.