Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Administrators and technology
"Basic Technology Competencies of Educational Administrators" By: Carrigan, Jane et al.
Contemporary Education Vol 42 (2) 2001 pg 58-63
The amount of technology available to a school or a district is largely dependant on the decisions of the administrators. One would expect administrators to be up to date on the new technology and have a proficient knowledge of how to use it. This article, and my experience my present school district has proven that this is not true.
This article has some disturbing facts. While administrators tend to be the final decision of what technology teachers and students can have access to, this article makes me think that they are going into these decisions blindly. The research concluded that the Principal's tested showed the lowest competency in "basic computer operation, word processing, database, and spreadsheet skills" (60). I have seen personally how administrators who are not proficient in the technology their teachers and students are using can negatively effect both the value of the education the students are getting and the moral of the teachers. For instance, a colleague of mine discovered a student plagiarizing on an assignment they had to post on the class website. She found this by looking through the page history, a simple concept. When this was brought to the attention of the administrators, they did nothing about it. This teacher believes nothing was done because they do not understand the technology behind how she found how the student was plagiarizing. This is an example of why it is just as important for administrators to be familiar and proficient in the technology used in their districts.
This article stated that perhaps the administration is not meeting the proficient level because their are many higher-priority tasks that administrators must do. This could be the slurry of meetings professionals at this level are required to attend. Knowing this, I feel districts need to alleviate this workload so their administrators be familiar with the technology they themselves are encouraging or enforcing in their school. I think something has to give in order for teachers to be able to incorporate technology their classrooms. If an educator knows the administration will not enforce plagiarism rules, and the students know there is not consequence to plagiarising when they are required to electronically submit an assignment, no teacher will give meaningful assignments in this media.
Interview questions
1. How does your school incorporate MLTI?
2. How would you like to see MLTI executed?
3. What is your major issue with MLTI
4. Describe how confident you are in using wiki's, smart board, word processor, etc...
5. Do you feel you have time in your schedule to attend professional development seminars focused on technology? Do you feel this would be useful?
6. If you could lessen the burden of responsibilities administrators had so you would have more time for professional development, how would you do this?
7. What are some frustrations you have as technology is being incorporated more and more into the classroom?
8. As an administrator, you are responsible for making a lot of decisions in the area of technology, what most influences these decisions?
9. Do you receive any opposition for implementing technology in the classroom. If so, where does it mainly come from?
10. Do you ever feel like some decisions in this area that you are encouraged to enforce are not thought through or have gaps that make it harder on the district?
Contemporary Education Vol 42 (2) 2001 pg 58-63
The amount of technology available to a school or a district is largely dependant on the decisions of the administrators. One would expect administrators to be up to date on the new technology and have a proficient knowledge of how to use it. This article, and my experience my present school district has proven that this is not true.
This article has some disturbing facts. While administrators tend to be the final decision of what technology teachers and students can have access to, this article makes me think that they are going into these decisions blindly. The research concluded that the Principal's tested showed the lowest competency in "basic computer operation, word processing, database, and spreadsheet skills" (60). I have seen personally how administrators who are not proficient in the technology their teachers and students are using can negatively effect both the value of the education the students are getting and the moral of the teachers. For instance, a colleague of mine discovered a student plagiarizing on an assignment they had to post on the class website. She found this by looking through the page history, a simple concept. When this was brought to the attention of the administrators, they did nothing about it. This teacher believes nothing was done because they do not understand the technology behind how she found how the student was plagiarizing. This is an example of why it is just as important for administrators to be familiar and proficient in the technology used in their districts.
This article stated that perhaps the administration is not meeting the proficient level because their are many higher-priority tasks that administrators must do. This could be the slurry of meetings professionals at this level are required to attend. Knowing this, I feel districts need to alleviate this workload so their administrators be familiar with the technology they themselves are encouraging or enforcing in their school. I think something has to give in order for teachers to be able to incorporate technology their classrooms. If an educator knows the administration will not enforce plagiarism rules, and the students know there is not consequence to plagiarising when they are required to electronically submit an assignment, no teacher will give meaningful assignments in this media.
Interview questions
1. How does your school incorporate MLTI?
2. How would you like to see MLTI executed?
3. What is your major issue with MLTI
4. Describe how confident you are in using wiki's, smart board, word processor, etc...
5. Do you feel you have time in your schedule to attend professional development seminars focused on technology? Do you feel this would be useful?
6. If you could lessen the burden of responsibilities administrators had so you would have more time for professional development, how would you do this?
7. What are some frustrations you have as technology is being incorporated more and more into the classroom?
8. As an administrator, you are responsible for making a lot of decisions in the area of technology, what most influences these decisions?
9. Do you receive any opposition for implementing technology in the classroom. If so, where does it mainly come from?
10. Do you ever feel like some decisions in this area that you are encouraged to enforce are not thought through or have gaps that make it harder on the district?
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Students and Technology in Education
A Comparison of Traditional Homework and Computer Based Homework. Mendicino, Michael
Journal of Research on Technology in Education. Vol 41 (3) 2009
This article discussed if there was an increase in performance level for students that do their homework using a technology based program versus traditional pen and paper homework. This article discussed different types of technology such as web based classrooms such as blackboard and webct to homework assistant programs such as Masteringphysics, a program developed by MIT. These programs have their advantages and fallbacks.
Students who have access to web based classrooms tended to show little if any signigicant performance improvement. Letting students hand in work online or complete online quizzes which get immediate feedback can actually promote cheating since they can get the correct answers from their friend and they do not have to show how they came up with the answer. This, and the increase in cost this provides for school districts as well as the fact that improvement is not always seen when this type of technology is incorporated makes this not incorporated in secondary schools very often.
The other type of technology, such as masteringpysics, is where homework performance has shown improvement. This program give students step by step guide if they get a problem wrong. For instance, if a student chooses a wrong answer, the programs will say "let me break this down for you". However, students can keep asking for hints until they arrive at the right answer. In my opinion, this type of program will benefit those students who are motivated to learn the material, but for those who just want to get to the answer, this won't help at all. Students could just keep hitting the hint button so they can see the work they should do until they get the answer. However, if a student hands in work without having this tool teachers can look at answers and the work and see where the student is going wrong and so the student is going wrong just as well as a computer program. I think it is better since students will not be fed the answers or the steps to get at the answers so they are more likely to learn from their mistakes.
While these technological advantages may be very beneficial for motivated students, I believe many would be left behind if this type of educational practice was implemented the majority of the time. I think the only way technology can be implemented in a way that students will truly benefit is not in assessments neccessarily, but if we implement technology to help them grasp the concepts and broaden their understanding.
Interview questions
1. What is the most use of technology you have had in your education? How was it used?
2. What is an example of a class where technology was used the least?
3. What about the class that incorporated the most technology did you like?
4. What about the class that incorporated the least amount of technology did you like
5. What do you think about the laptop program that Maine has incorporated? How does it affect you?
6. What ideas do you have to improve this laptop program?
7. When you use technology for educational purposes, how do you use it?
8. Do you have access to internet or computers at home? Are their any programs that you use at school that you may not have at home or vice versa?
9. If a teacher designs a class website, how are you expected to use it?
10. Have you ever been required to take tests/quizzes or hand in homework electronically? Explain.
Journal of Research on Technology in Education. Vol 41 (3) 2009
This article discussed if there was an increase in performance level for students that do their homework using a technology based program versus traditional pen and paper homework. This article discussed different types of technology such as web based classrooms such as blackboard and webct to homework assistant programs such as Masteringphysics, a program developed by MIT. These programs have their advantages and fallbacks.
Students who have access to web based classrooms tended to show little if any signigicant performance improvement. Letting students hand in work online or complete online quizzes which get immediate feedback can actually promote cheating since they can get the correct answers from their friend and they do not have to show how they came up with the answer. This, and the increase in cost this provides for school districts as well as the fact that improvement is not always seen when this type of technology is incorporated makes this not incorporated in secondary schools very often.
The other type of technology, such as masteringpysics, is where homework performance has shown improvement. This program give students step by step guide if they get a problem wrong. For instance, if a student chooses a wrong answer, the programs will say "let me break this down for you". However, students can keep asking for hints until they arrive at the right answer. In my opinion, this type of program will benefit those students who are motivated to learn the material, but for those who just want to get to the answer, this won't help at all. Students could just keep hitting the hint button so they can see the work they should do until they get the answer. However, if a student hands in work without having this tool teachers can look at answers and the work and see where the student is going wrong and so the student is going wrong just as well as a computer program. I think it is better since students will not be fed the answers or the steps to get at the answers so they are more likely to learn from their mistakes.
While these technological advantages may be very beneficial for motivated students, I believe many would be left behind if this type of educational practice was implemented the majority of the time. I think the only way technology can be implemented in a way that students will truly benefit is not in assessments neccessarily, but if we implement technology to help them grasp the concepts and broaden their understanding.
Interview questions
1. What is the most use of technology you have had in your education? How was it used?
2. What is an example of a class where technology was used the least?
3. What about the class that incorporated the most technology did you like?
4. What about the class that incorporated the least amount of technology did you like
5. What do you think about the laptop program that Maine has incorporated? How does it affect you?
6. What ideas do you have to improve this laptop program?
7. When you use technology for educational purposes, how do you use it?
8. Do you have access to internet or computers at home? Are their any programs that you use at school that you may not have at home or vice versa?
9. If a teacher designs a class website, how are you expected to use it?
10. Have you ever been required to take tests/quizzes or hand in homework electronically? Explain.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Parents and Technology
"Using Parent-Student Pairs for Internet Instruction"
by Micki M. Caskey
Journal of Research in Technology in Education Vol 34 (3)
2003
In this article it discussed many issues parents have with incorporation of technology into education as well as ways to help parents overcome those issues. The tops concerns of parents seem to be what their child will be exposed to as well as their own lack of experience they may have with the subject.
Parents are fearful that when students sign up for a class website or post comments in a blog, it opens a door for students to obtain emails they may not have had access to before, or just another avenue for them to harass other students. While teachers can control this the same way they do in the classroom, all school personnell have to have the same policies in order for parents to feel their children can truly benefit from increased technology use in the classroom. Which I have seen a lack of in some districts.
While this may be more of a demographic issue now, homes are still without internet access and regular computer use. Knowing this, another concern parents have is how much their child is at a disadvantage since they do not have these tools to work with at home. Also, how can a parent take the active role, which some may value, in their child's education if the technology is beyond their knowledge? While the MLTI tried to solve this problem, I think it fell short and frustrated more people than it helped. I think that programs such as these are so rushed to be put into place it results in not only costly monetary mistakes, but costly to the eagerness for educators and tax-payers to make technology more available in the classroom and household. So until we can find a way for parents to take time out to learn about the technology, and we have a sound tried and true system for incorporating technology into our school system as well as at student's homes- the support for this incorporation will always fall short.
Interview questions
Do you have internet/computer acess at home? Explain the level of access.
Can your son/daughter stay after school often to use the resources this school has to complete assignments? About how often a week would this be possible?
What are your concerns about increased technology use in schools?
Do you have any ideas of how you would want to see technology incorporated?
What experience have to had with MLTI? Would you say it was a positive or negative experience and why?
How would you describe your level of expertise with technology?
Do you have time, or would you be interested in workshops that gave you experience with the type of technology that your son/daughter is using? Why or why not?
Has your child been victim to bullying or harassment through the internet from someone that would not have had your child's information without a teacher incorporating technology in the classroom?
Do you feel increased technology would make your child's education experience enhanced or hindered? Why?
Has increased use of technology helped you stay informed as a parent or do you feel it is an overload of information? Has new technology in the school district made your life as a parent harder or less difficult?
by Micki M. Caskey
Journal of Research in Technology in Education Vol 34 (3)
2003
In this article it discussed many issues parents have with incorporation of technology into education as well as ways to help parents overcome those issues. The tops concerns of parents seem to be what their child will be exposed to as well as their own lack of experience they may have with the subject.
Parents are fearful that when students sign up for a class website or post comments in a blog, it opens a door for students to obtain emails they may not have had access to before, or just another avenue for them to harass other students. While teachers can control this the same way they do in the classroom, all school personnell have to have the same policies in order for parents to feel their children can truly benefit from increased technology use in the classroom. Which I have seen a lack of in some districts.
While this may be more of a demographic issue now, homes are still without internet access and regular computer use. Knowing this, another concern parents have is how much their child is at a disadvantage since they do not have these tools to work with at home. Also, how can a parent take the active role, which some may value, in their child's education if the technology is beyond their knowledge? While the MLTI tried to solve this problem, I think it fell short and frustrated more people than it helped. I think that programs such as these are so rushed to be put into place it results in not only costly monetary mistakes, but costly to the eagerness for educators and tax-payers to make technology more available in the classroom and household. So until we can find a way for parents to take time out to learn about the technology, and we have a sound tried and true system for incorporating technology into our school system as well as at student's homes- the support for this incorporation will always fall short.
Interview questions
Do you have internet/computer acess at home? Explain the level of access.
Can your son/daughter stay after school often to use the resources this school has to complete assignments? About how often a week would this be possible?
What are your concerns about increased technology use in schools?
Do you have any ideas of how you would want to see technology incorporated?
What experience have to had with MLTI? Would you say it was a positive or negative experience and why?
How would you describe your level of expertise with technology?
Do you have time, or would you be interested in workshops that gave you experience with the type of technology that your son/daughter is using? Why or why not?
Has your child been victim to bullying or harassment through the internet from someone that would not have had your child's information without a teacher incorporating technology in the classroom?
Do you feel increased technology would make your child's education experience enhanced or hindered? Why?
Has increased use of technology helped you stay informed as a parent or do you feel it is an overload of information? Has new technology in the school district made your life as a parent harder or less difficult?
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Teachers Technology in education
Link to article
Teacher's Beliefs and Practices in Technology-based classrooms: A Developmental View
Levin, Tamar and Wadmany, Rivka
Journal of Research on Technology in Education 39 (2) 157-181 2006
This three year study aimed to analyze how teacher's beliefs contribute to the level technology is incorporated in their classrooms. Those that beleive in a more student-centered and constructivist classroom are more supportive and try to implement technology in their class. However teachers that are more traditional and have a teacher-centered classroom are less likely to incorporate multiple levels of technologyin the classroom. One thing this study did touch upon was that a teachers belief system does not dictate the different levels of technology they use. For instance, teachers who believe in student-centered classrooms, while they may be more supportive of using different technology, may not employ this in practice. This study found that teachers can benefit from new experiences with technology and this can ultimately change how technology is used in the classroom no matter what the belief system is for that educator. Based on this article, I would pose the following 10 quesitons to a teacher about technology in the classroom.
1.What type of teaching style to you employ most of the time? (student-centered, constructivist etc)
2. What are your past experiences with technology?
3. Are their any workshops in the past that have contributed to your using technology in the classroom?
4. In an ideal situation, how would you want to use technology in the education setting?
5. How much access do you and your students have to computers?
6. Do you think you would benefit, or do you think it would be worthwhile, for teachers to have a professional development day where they get to gain practice with incorporating technology in their respective discipline and age groups?
7. Have you had any negative experiences with technology that may have inhibited your willingness to try new things?
8. If you were to use a class website, how do you picture it being used?
9. What are some negative things you have seen come from parents being able to access students grades and the like within hours of them being posted?
10. What are some of your goals for incorporating technology in the future?
Teacher's Beliefs and Practices in Technology-based classrooms: A Developmental View
Levin, Tamar and Wadmany, Rivka
Journal of Research on Technology in Education 39 (2) 157-181 2006
This three year study aimed to analyze how teacher's beliefs contribute to the level technology is incorporated in their classrooms. Those that beleive in a more student-centered and constructivist classroom are more supportive and try to implement technology in their class. However teachers that are more traditional and have a teacher-centered classroom are less likely to incorporate multiple levels of technologyin the classroom. One thing this study did touch upon was that a teachers belief system does not dictate the different levels of technology they use. For instance, teachers who believe in student-centered classrooms, while they may be more supportive of using different technology, may not employ this in practice. This study found that teachers can benefit from new experiences with technology and this can ultimately change how technology is used in the classroom no matter what the belief system is for that educator. Based on this article, I would pose the following 10 quesitons to a teacher about technology in the classroom.
1.What type of teaching style to you employ most of the time? (student-centered, constructivist etc)
2. What are your past experiences with technology?
3. Are their any workshops in the past that have contributed to your using technology in the classroom?
4. In an ideal situation, how would you want to use technology in the education setting?
5. How much access do you and your students have to computers?
6. Do you think you would benefit, or do you think it would be worthwhile, for teachers to have a professional development day where they get to gain practice with incorporating technology in their respective discipline and age groups?
7. Have you had any negative experiences with technology that may have inhibited your willingness to try new things?
8. If you were to use a class website, how do you picture it being used?
9. What are some negative things you have seen come from parents being able to access students grades and the like within hours of them being posted?
10. What are some of your goals for incorporating technology in the future?
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
SAMR Reflection
Technology is used at various levels in school systems. One thing I never thought of before working in a district was how much administration has to do with how much teachers are willing to incorporate technology. For instance, if the administration does not take action when a student plagarizes on a classroom blog or website, it does not encourage, or make teachers feel more confident, incorporating higher levels of technology in the classroom. This happens to be the case at the district I am in. Even having my classroom website has caused problems and all I use it for is communication of what we did in class and due dates that are coming up. I will account the different levels I have seen technology being used but I may have to substitute the higher levels with possible examples I could use instead of things I have actually seen.
The first level of SAMR is the substitute level. Typing in a word processing document is an example of this level. It is actually difficult to think of an example that just uses technology at this level. When I've seen word processing documents being used features of the word proccessor such as spell check, bullets, numbering, headers, and footers are used which automatically brings the use up to augumentation level. Besides word processing another augumentation level use of technology that I have used is overhead projectors. I believe this is the augumentation level because instead of using a regular worksheet and going over it verbally, it allows students who have trouble writing things down they hear verbally can see what is being written down and hopefully grasp the concepts better.
The modification level is when the use of technology becomes more advanced. I have used this level by creating a pbworks classroom page for students. I am only able to post what we did that day and a few chapter outlines at this point. However, in an ideal situation I would put up any digital notes or documents for students to have access to. I believe this will help improve student's study habits and grades as a result.
The redefinition level is a bit trickier to hit and I don't think I have seen it used by other teachers. This level talks about using social software to enhance students learning. While I have not see students sharing information with people in which it would not have been possible without the internet, I did introduce them to googledocs. The students had to make a digital presentation about different aspects outlined for them about an assigned biome. Some students chose to use googledocs which taught them how to share it with others. The students seemed very excited they could work on the project without having to find time in their busy schedules after school to meet. The quality of this work was great and we asked for students input about the program. Although the students said it would have been better if googledocs had the tranistions and effects of Microsoft PowerPoint they said it was very useful to work on it separately and be able to share it with each other and myself.
The first level of SAMR is the substitute level. Typing in a word processing document is an example of this level. It is actually difficult to think of an example that just uses technology at this level. When I've seen word processing documents being used features of the word proccessor such as spell check, bullets, numbering, headers, and footers are used which automatically brings the use up to augumentation level. Besides word processing another augumentation level use of technology that I have used is overhead projectors. I believe this is the augumentation level because instead of using a regular worksheet and going over it verbally, it allows students who have trouble writing things down they hear verbally can see what is being written down and hopefully grasp the concepts better.
The modification level is when the use of technology becomes more advanced. I have used this level by creating a pbworks classroom page for students. I am only able to post what we did that day and a few chapter outlines at this point. However, in an ideal situation I would put up any digital notes or documents for students to have access to. I believe this will help improve student's study habits and grades as a result.
The redefinition level is a bit trickier to hit and I don't think I have seen it used by other teachers. This level talks about using social software to enhance students learning. While I have not see students sharing information with people in which it would not have been possible without the internet, I did introduce them to googledocs. The students had to make a digital presentation about different aspects outlined for them about an assigned biome. Some students chose to use googledocs which taught them how to share it with others. The students seemed very excited they could work on the project without having to find time in their busy schedules after school to meet. The quality of this work was great and we asked for students input about the program. Although the students said it would have been better if googledocs had the tranistions and effects of Microsoft PowerPoint they said it was very useful to work on it separately and be able to share it with each other and myself.
If I were to use blogs in my classroom so students can blog about things we are talking about in class. I would ask them to find an article having to do with the subject we are currently studying and reflect on that journal article. I feel this would not only allow students to practice using the internet for more educational purposes but it would be meeting curriculum standards as well.
I was searching around some of the links provided and found this Education Blog which I may prove to be useful for inegrating new technology into my classroom.
I was searching around some of the links provided and found this Education Blog which I may prove to be useful for inegrating new technology into my classroom.
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