AHA'S-5-1-07

This entire semester consisted of Aha's for me, but I think the biggest revelation was how powerful blogging can be as a medium for communication. By developing and maintaining this blog, I have been able to reflect more deeply on what I have learned and experienced and then also to read and comment on what others have felt about the same subjects. This has also lead me to discover many other educators' and technology educational professionals' blogs which have opened up a world of information for me to use in my classroom and to share with other teachers. Because of this experience, I now have a blog for my students, campus teachers, and parents to communicate about what's happening with technology on our campus. Although it is just getting started, I feel that it has great potential. (http://blogs.parisisd.net/mmdowns)
Other Aha's this semester have been:

• How wonderful it is to use track changes and comments when using Word. This is a great tool for collaborating and writing rough drafts.
• Experiencing a threaded discussion and realizing that I can be successful in an online environment.
• Learning of the NARA website and it's potential. I am conducting a mini-inservice in May for 4th and 5th grade teachers and NARA and NAIL will be my focus.
• Discovering interactive PowerPoint. This has now become part of my curriculum for next year.
• Entering the virtual world of Second Life has definitely been an eye-opening experiencing into what the future could be in educational technology.
  

Finally, I think I will continue to blog at this site. This was my first graduate course and blogging here has helped me to organize my thoughts and opinions. I think, even if no one else ever reads what I write, it will be beneficial to me as a learner and perhaps others will keep their blogs going, and I can continue to learn from them.

Technology Enhanced Curriculum

Romano's fictional classroom of Mrs. Robinson and her son's sounds workable in theory. The balance of traditional teaching and technology seem an easy fit. He addresses several issues: time, cost, grades, availability, software, training, etc... and gives plausible resolutions to some foreseeable problems. It is apparent though that his vision is dated. He didn't mention how podcasts, webcasts, wikis, ipods, smart boards, and other technologies can be used, in my opinion, to build a better technology enhanced curriculum. I foresee more project based integration, with students given a problem, topic, or task and asked to research and then develop a project that shows their understanding while working in teams, not only in class, but through distance learning. I do see the need for subject specific software that has the ability to tutor remedially, but only in limited usage. Students need to be able to collaborate with each other and peer tutor. As I was looking for other schools technology enhanced curriculum's, I came across the New Century School House @http://landmark-project.com/ncsh/index.php. It was cool to see the ideas of other educators perfect technology integrated classrooms. I was disappointed that there wasn't more details as to how curriculum would be taught, but I loved the concept.

Online Learning and Vitrual Worlds

The crux of my educational philosophy is to have the students drive instruction through their needs and interests in a collaborative environment. A successful on line learning program provides students with the opportunity to choose courses that meet their needs and their interests and in its very nature is in a collaborative environment. I can see many applications in a high school curriculum. Enrolling students from around the country or possibly the world in literature, history, foreign language, and government classes and sharing different points of view would be such a wonderful learning experience. The lesson possibilities are endless. Of course like in any educational setting the teacher must be an active participant who guides the learning and pushes the students to think critically.
After learning about Second Life I went to our districts lead techies and asked them for some input. They had mixed views, but were happy to show everyone at our monthly meeting (including the asst. superintendent and superintendent) a you tube movie from teen Second Life showing a very dramatic scene where a 17 year old girl is turning 18 and having to leave the teen world. Their take was that it looks like a game, but it's not fun. I asked about the educational possibilities and they were luke warm. So I decided to look further and see what I could find. I found lots of blogs and information. Below are some links to movies from the blog Cool Cat showing how educational institutions are using Second Life. I was impressed and feel this medium is definitely something I want to explore more.

• National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s Virtual Island
• Tour of The Rocket Ring at the International Spaceflight Museum
• Architecture on the Double - collaborative building
• A tour of Thomson NETg Training facilities
• Emergency Preparedness Training in Secondlife

Primary Sources/NARA

The ability to access historical documents through NARA and NAIL was a wonderful resource to learn about. Finding a primary source is so powerful when researching any historical time period or event. Reading or hearing the words of a person that actually lived and experienced an event makes history so much more real than just reading a textbook. This was made very apparent in the address of the keynote speaker at TCEA in February, Erin Gruwell (pictured). She is the teacher that the Hillary Swank movie Freedom Writers was based upon. She was a dynamic and inspirational speaker. She told about her students reading the Diary of Anne Frank and becoming so involved in the story that they wanted to talk to someone who had lived through the events in the story. They did research and found that one of the people (a primary source) who had actually lived in the house with the Frank family was still alive. Through e-mail and letters they were able to bring this aged woman to their school to speak to them about her experiences. According to Ms. Gruwell they were blown away by her story. The power of a primary source was made very real to me through her retelling of this event.
Since reading of NARA and NAIL I have shared these sites with several teachers. I am encouraging them to use these databases when teaching students. I can see ways that teachers could use these resources to help students not only do historical research for social studies, but also to understand scientific and mathematical theory and do character studies in reading. The NARA worksheets can be a very viable resource for teachers to use to help guide their students. This is another way that teachers can use technology to do things that would not be possible without it. It is also a prime example of how the teacher has to be present to guide the students questions and searches to make the learning authentic.
I've included the link to these sources on my new school blog and hopefully the teachers and students who read it will be as excited as I am to use this information.

Patterns and Connections

When I was a little girl I remember my dad taking a course at the local junior college where all of the instruction was through television. He thought this was the best thing since sliced bread and just knew that I would be learning this way in my school. Of course I don't remember ever seeing a television in school until I started teaching. It is interesting to see the parallels between educational television and educational technology. It wasn't until the mid '90s that computers where seen in our school and at that time everyone just knew that we would be using computers to teach everything. I feel the failure of educational television was for some of the same reasons that educational technology has failed to take hold as quickly as was hoped. Lack of money for equipment, lack of quality in service, and the fear of change are obstacles that were and are encountered. Hopefully through money being spent wisely on needed technology and more specific inservice, fears will be dispelled and educational technology will continue to thrive.

Romano's perceptions that I most identify with are as follows:
Humans will become more dependent on the microchip and will continue to adapt. This was proven to me today as it applies to education when a seasoned teacher who resists using technology was in a panic when her Elmo wouldn't work. She has become dependent on technology and is adapting without even knowing it. This is awesome to me, because it shows that even those who are hesitant to change are becoming more and more comfortable with technology.

Computers can be programmed to replicate and amplify certain basic cognitive functions of the human mind and therefore have great potential in teaching and learning. One of the most wonderful things about computer technology is its capacity to store, compute, and retrieve information without any personal bias. This allows teachers the opportunity to guide students towards reliable information in a faster way than in the past allowing more time for thoughtful interaction with the information.

Using a computer amplifies our capacity to perform basic cognitive functions, yet cannot make an emotional connection. Although as stated above the computer does amplify cognitive functions, there is still no replacement for the teachers roll in guiding the student to use the information in a responsible manner.

There is a feeling that computers should have a vital role in teaching and learning, but there is a need for a focused definition of the teacher's role in integrating technology. This is the battle that I feel we are fighting. Teachers are required to use technology but are still unsure of how to do this effectively. I hope to continue to learn and teach how to do this in a way that helps teachers understand their role.

Course-specific software allows individualized learning experiences based on the learners needs rather than the teacher's availability. A skills based computer program is used by many teachers to prepare for the TAKS test. This program is individualized and seems to have positive results. I do see that the teacher must be available at all times to help the students.

The fundamental role of computers in the classroom is to extend the capacity of teachers to provide individualized tutoring, compensating for the disparity of learners abilities. I agree with this perception to an extent. Yes, computers should be used to help teachers provide more individualized instruction, but I'm not sure that I agree that it is the fundamental role. I believe computers should be used not only as tools to tutor, but as a way to show students a world that is beyond their classroom. Computers should be used to enhance the learners imaginations, to show new outlets for creativity, and promote problem solving. Computers are a fantastic tool that teachers should embrace as a way to take their teaching to places that were not possible in the past.

Perspectives

I spent the last four days in New York City on a mini vacation. I was inundated with digital technology. From the electronic check in at the airport to the giant streaming billboards in Time Square, I was definitely aware of the impact that digital technology is having on our world society. I encountered a group of teens intently reading the CNN news feed stream. It occurred to me that if this information was coming to them in the form of a lecture or print, they would not have been as connected. Romano's perceptions that all human activity is driven by information and that all learning is perceived by the senses was very apparent.
But without the benefit of a giant teletron, we as teachers must be able to inform our students in a way that makes the learning intrinsic. The perception that how a teacher manages the information has a great impact on the learning process is one that I see everyday. Teachers who rely solely on lecture and print are losing their students interest and therefore not making links to the information. I am working with teachers to help them manage their technology use to create interest and encourage learning by showing them the different skills, programs, and tools I am learning in this course.
The perception that information technology can be used by teachers to plan, communicate, guide, and evaluate more effectively has been amplified to me in the form of video conferences. I have had the pleasure of helping facilitate video conferences with the University of Michigan science department in the last few weeks. The students observed crickets in a habitat while learning the scientific process. This was a very effective lesson due to the teacher's planning, guidance, and communication while using the video conference. She was also able to evaluate her students effectively by monitoring their responses to the scientists questions and their observations.
This experience also follows the perception that a verbal description alone compromises the learning experience. If the students were only told the steps of the scientific process their learning would have been compromised. By conducting the observation with a scientist, watching video, and having hands on experiences, a greater "sensory impact" was accomplished.
The perception addressing fidelity, relevancy, and accessibility were also seen in the video conference lesson. The live crickets used in the observation and the expertise of the scientist meet the issue of fidelity. Understanding and being able to use the scientific method are relevant in most problem solving situations. The crickets are to remain in the classroom and the students will have access to the information through websites and videos.
Through the use of video conferences, blogs, webquests, online video, skill development, etc... I hope to continue to find ways to help teachers and students acquire and manage information effectively.
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Hopes and Fears-3/6 Blog

When outlining the skills I would like to learn in an earlier blog, I had listed building a web page for my technology club. Several years ago while taking a staff development class, I developed a web page for my homeroom class using Front Page. But, after moving grade levels and classrooms, I stopped keeping up with it and it disappeared, along with what I had learned about web page development. When my technology club students wanted to have a web page for the club, I thought it was a great idea, but somewhere along the way, I had become somewhat afraid of my ability to create a web page. When Charlie began teaching Dreamweaver some of what I vaguely remembered from Front Page came back, but I was still leery. After reading Clara’s blog about Microsoft Live, I began to feel a little more encouraged. Now I am even more hopeful. I went to a technology staff meeting on Thursday and was shown a new free web page developer that our school district is going to be using called Joomla (http://joomla.org/). It looks very user friendly, and I think the kids and I will love it. My other hope is that by using some reverse mentoring the students can help the teachers use it and create their own class web pages that students can help write.

While reading in Empowering Students with Technology, I found myself scribbling notes and nodding my head in agreement with Dr. November’s views. Teachers are definitely more challenged by the use of technology than their students. In my first blog, I talked about how interesting it is to see how excited kids get when they are given the opportunity to use technology. In my lab I have been trying to help students take this enthusiasm and build on it. I try to show them how to take the technology skills they are learning in computer class and apply them to what they are learning in their core classes. My fear is that these connections are not being made due to the classroom teacher’s reluctance to use technology in their classroom. When teachers (not all of course, but a majority) are shown new technology to use, they must be coerced, coddled, and sometimes pushed into using it due to their own fears. I know that some of this fear is due to several of the barriers that Dr. Romano sites in Empowering Teachers with Technology. In many instances teachers have not been shown convincingly how using technology can enhance their teaching and the student's learning. We have been told you must use technology, but have not been given examples of how it has empowered other businesses and teachers, or how it can be better than the status quo. Many unproved software programs have been thrust on us, usually because some administrator somewhere heard from some other administrator somewhere, that it is wonderful. But then the promised gains in student performance have not been realized. My hope is that I am able to dispel some of their fears and break down barriers by showing teachers that they do not have to be masters of the technology they want to use, but can learn it with their students. I hope to research and find new software that is course specific. I want to help teachers understand that if they give their students opportunities to use technology in a managed environment, they along with their students will grow. One small way I hope to help is by starting a blog for technology on our campus. Through this blog, I am going to encourage teachers, administrators, students, and parents to share ideas, best practices, lessons, questions, etc... I am also going to encourage teachers to video their best practice lessons and share them through the technology web page that the students and I are going to develop. Of course this will bring up more fears, but without facing our fears we won't grow.