Embracing the Common Cause Advocating for Ed Tech

Summary: Educational Technology seems with this digital age and 21st century skills needed for the work force a mandatory part of schools and education. However some schools are doing away with this content area. Educational technologists, teachers and advocates are now trying and attempting to make this content area a mandatory and necessary subject area within schools. This article provides ways to keep educational technology with in schools and how to advocate for it properly. It provides the basis explanation and ideas from the ISTE’s advocacy toolkit and Ed Tech Action Network. One way, to help advocate for technology in schools is to know your technology, being able to back it up by understanding it and how it aids in learning. Another way to help would be to make connections with administrators and if needed at the state level with legislators and teach them about the importance of educational technology. It is even easier to get to the national level because of the resources are out there to get in touch with House of Representative or a Senator and see where they side on education related issues. Having a good knowledge of the subject and putting effort into your advocacy will make your case for educational technology that much better. This article helps educators and advocates help aid their process in fighting for educational technology.

Reflection: This is a great article that helps all educators who are fighting with their administration, state or even at the national level for educational technology within schools. I do feel that technology within the classroom is vital. Even though right now pursuing my masters in educational technology I would have to agree and be happy to have read this article but technology is such an integral part in a student’s life. Students grow up to day and not having a cell phone or an ipod is seen as non-existent. Student’s sometimes are more knowledgeable about the technology they we are. So if schools, the state or the country are rejecting the notion of educational technology then how can we all learn these new tools in ways to learn and develop our minds. I feel if we don’t have technology in schools then it will be looked at as a negative and the jobs that are out there in the IT world aren’t going to be fulfilled by people who have the skill set needed. I hope that with this resources and many others can have help advocate for educational technologies.

Reference: Roland, J.(2006). Embracing the common cause Advocating for ED tech. Learning and Leading with Technology. 33(5), 10-13.

Power of the Mashup

Summary: The Power of Mashup, is an article that was published in Learning and Leading with Technology. This article is about “the power of mash-up,” which is a combination of an application and other sources to create something new. Examples of the power of mash-up would be Google Lit Trips and iHistory Podcast Project. Jerome Burg who now is a retired teacher created the Google Lit Trips. In his class he combined character study in literature with using the application Google Earth. Therefore his students were able to go on virtual field trips with the character they were studying. This tool was found to help with students visual learning and accomplish an appreciation for stories they have read. Nowadays Jerome Burg has dedicated himself to sharing this idea and many other ones with other educators. Another example provided in this article was by teacher David Briggs which he created the IHistory Podcast Project. This project is used in his history class where he had students reflections put into a podcast. Students seemed to have found this project to be fun and exciting cause they are allowed to use their ipods or mp3 players. Also discussed in this article are crucial learning functions that are abled to be accomplished through these types of lessons, which are; ubiquity, deep learning, making this visible and discussable, students expressing themselves and their ideas, building a community, collaboration, research, project management and reflection. This idea of combining a technology application with other sources can open up major eyes of students and help aid in their learning process.

Reflection: This idea of a power mash-up seems really intuitive and exciting for lessons. It can help a unit that I am teaching to go from boring to more engaging. I feel the more engaged a student is in the lesson the more they want to learn. I know that the act of wanting to learn is rare in classrooms, but just having the majority of the students engaged in the lesson can change the classroom environment and learning experience. The iHistory Podcast Project and Google Lit trip are just a basis to have other educators learn new ways to use the Internet in the classroom. I truly believe being a teacher is about providing creativeness to the classroom these Teachers are great pioneers in integrating technology and using their creativeness within their own classroom. One drawback that I could see happening is not having the support by administration to use such technology tools in the school or having the equipment to perform these lessons.

Reference:Boss, S. & Krauss J. (2007) Power of the Mashup. Learning & Leading With Technology, 35(1), 12-17.

Technology Integration

Summary: Technology Integration is an article found in Learning and Leading with Technology. In this article it explains resources that aid in integrating technology into a classroom environment. An example of this would be the U.S. Department of Education which ran a program called R*Tec, regional technology in education consortia. This programs offered resources, professional development and technical support in high schools, middle schools and elementary schools. Also provided in this article were website resources. Some examples of the web resources described in this article are 4teachers.org, the ATEC website, wested.org and ETLCO website. The 4teachers.org website provides free online tools and resources for teachers. The ATEC (atec.org) is a site that is considered a teacher’s handbook. It provides teachers with how to use technology within the classroom. The website Wested.org aids with and focuses on how technology will help support good teaching. ETLCO (edtechleaders.org) offers instruction for faculty, administrators, staff and students at all levels from beginner to advanced.

Reflection: This article is great for helping teachers, administrators and staff can see what is out there. Also it gives a good brief background on the websites as well. I agree that technology should be integrated with classroom teaching, but there is definitely more to it than providing resources. I was expecting how schools are going into integrating technology. These resources provided were very helpful though. As teachers integrating technology is just another task that will be a necessity for teachers to do in order to have lessons that are engaging and provide students with 21st century skills that are needed. I feel that there is no way teacher integration can happen so quick and easy, however I do feel that with dedicated educators and staff and with great resources it can occur in a fashion that is easy.

Reference: Merillat, L.(2007). Technology Integration. Learning and Leading with Technology, 34(6). 20 – 24.

Nailing Digital Jelly to a Virtual Tree

Summary: This article written by Kathy Schrock and Ferdi Serim explains how ISTE created an Emerging Technologies Task Force (ET) to help educators, school districts and staff with deciding if a new technology to them is right for their school or learning environment. An emerging technology is expressed throughout the article as a virtual tree and the challenges are the digital jelly hence the title of the article. The ET is an online database. The way data is collected is through grade level, size of district and type of network connections. This can allow the users of the ET to search for an emerging technology that fits the user’s demographic. The definition for an emerging technology within this database is one that is not widely in use or widely known. This means that an emerging technology for one school isn’t right for another. The way an emerging technology is looked at is by three different components organizational capacity, process management, and operational capacity. Organizational capacity discusses the amount of human resources and professional development needed for the technology. Process Management is about the tools used by the technology for teaching and learning (i.e. literacy tools, creativity tools). Operational capacity gives users an idea of other items needed to make it work, like network security or data management. The challenges that arise in this article are how can these emerging technologies be used? How long will it take from time implemented to adoption of technology? This database has broken up these emerging technologies into sub-categories to better understand what each is and what the technology is capable of doing. These categories are social networking, mobile phones, virtual worlds, user-generated content, new scholarship and emerging forms of publication and massively multiplayer educational gaming. These categories help users distinguish what type of technology they are looking for and what is out there for them. It seems that this database is helping schools decide and decipher which emerging technology is worth their money.

Reflection: It seems emerging technology can be very useful for school districts but also really overwhelming to decide which should be chosen to be used and which shouldn’t. I feel that this Emerging Technology Task Force created is a great tool that can be used by all educators. It seems through this article the way everything is broken up and even the technology itself if a school district or an educator themselves is looking for a new emerging technology to use then can read reviews, feedback, professional development needs, types of network needs and etc. However to get a better understanding of the ET I would have really liked to have navigated through this database myself.

References: Schrock, AuthorK., & Serim, F. (2007-08). Nailing digital jelly to a virtual tree Tracking emerging technologies for learning. Learning and Leading with Technology. 35(4), 12-16.

The New Gold Rush by Ferdi Serim

Summary: Online learning seems to be leading the new way of teaching. When discussing educational technology “online learning is the fastest growing segment.” Hence why in this article Ferdi Serim references online learning as, “the new gold rush.” This article explains ways to benefit from online learning as well as research that can help teaching institute learn to introduce online learning. Serim explains how the idea of replacing highly skilled and talented teaching professionals with scripted content as a way to reduce cost and/or help profits is the worst way to approach online learning. Serim’s ways to best navigate to successful online learning is through the use of research and best practices, evaluate offerings using research, and prepare for a long jouney. The way the use of research and best practices is explained by using research it is shown that if you partner highly talented educators with online facilitators they can help mold these educators into great online teachers. While the online-facilitators can experience and learn more specific teaching materials needed for online learning. To evaluate offerings using research Serim explains that , understanding and evaluating online programs requires understanding the stakeholders position.” The main issues with these policies are cost and benefits. When discussing the long journey aspect of online learning, Serim discusses a story of a Magnet school in New Mexico that once their facility was built it was extremely beneficial especially for students who where considered at high risk to drop out. In conclusion Serim’s believes,” that by applying these lessons, you can confidently embark on your voyage into online learning, helping your students learn in new ways never before possible.”

Reflection: The idea of online learning as the new gold rush seems much more prevalent in the University or College setter than in high school and/or elementary school. I feel that there is a barrier with online learning and the absence of human presence and one on one interaction can be missed and needed for various learners. I feel it can also depend on the specific learner. Ferdi Serim brought up some great arguments within this journal article about how if properly executed an online school can be beneficial to learners and useful. This statement I don’t completely disagree with. I feel however that it can really beneficial to the right group. In a rural area, a student who needs to move at their own pace, or a student who is unable to attend school an online school solution can be a fantastic idea. However I feel school should be about interactions face to face, collaboration, exposing students to diversity, and social. I feel these aspects are completely lost within an online school setting.

Reference: Serim, F. (2007).The new gold rush. Learning & Leading with Technology. 34(2), 12-16.

Helpful Hints for Successful 1 to 1 Computing by Paul Wurster

Summary: School districts around the United States are using various ways to implement a computer for each student and use it as a tool for the whole school year. 1 to 1 computing is a way this can occur. 1 to 1 computing is when each student in the class is given a laptop and teachers and students use the laptop for all subjects and all day during the school to learn as an aid. This article by Paul Wurster discusses the helpful ways to implement this idea of 1 to 1 learning in a school district using school districts in Oregon as a background. He explains that various school districts introduced 1 to 1 computing gradually and with a plan. Whether it is a 5-year plan or a 2-year plan. Also adding a laptop to each student becomes expensive when considering, software, upkeep, technical problems, professional development programs, added staff and training. Ways to help with training and professional development are that some school districts have adopted a 45 minutes training before school, district-wide custom training, on-site workshop and mobile labs. A drawback to all this training is that the availability of the technology needs to be at these teacher’ hands right away. For example Apple provided the La Mar school District in Oregon with a workshop on Imovie, however there were no digital camcorders readily available for the teachers to use. Therefore the teachers lost their Imovie skills that they learned. Another major issue is to keep up with software and technical difficulties. Some instructional technologist have implemented the use of a problem map so that faculty, students and staff know where to go for that specific problem. Another idea that the Eugene and Springfield districts used was onsite tech support. It seems that 1 to 1 computing is doable and can be done. It just takes a lot of work and good knowledge and ideas learned from other schools that have been through it or are going through it.

Reflection: The idea of 1 to 1 computing seems like an ideal situation for all schools. Having to have a laptop computer for each student, for his or her own academic studies would be wonderful. It seems extremely time consuming, and having teachers who want to be involved with this type of learning would be fantastic. However I don’t feel that every school district has teachers who are all passionate and ready to change their ways of teaching. I know from my own personal experience of teaching in two different school districts, they have been complete opposite packages of teachers. One school is very into change and new ways to aid student’s engagement and the other is to concerned with teaching to the test and no need for collaboration. This idea of 1 to 1 computing supports the key elements of the Electronic Educational Village, 21st century skills and meaningful learning by having teachers think about their lessons they are giving and learning along the way with their students so that both parties are learning together. This program of 1 to 1 computing can help with; natural partnerships, collaborating, digital aged thinking and much more. I don’t feel that this program would be successful in a school district that don’t have teachers who are always willing to change and improve their teaching. I feel though this article was really helpful for those schools who were deciding that if this would be the right fit for them and if they are willing to put all this work into 1 to 1 computing.

Reference: Wurster, P. (2006-07).Helpful Hints for successful 1 to 1 computing. Learning & Leading with Technology. 34(4), 12-17.