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Sunday, July 28, 2013
School Evaluation Summary
This by far was the biggest challenge of this course. The assignment has great purpose, but since I have been out of the classroom for almost six years, it was quite difficult to come across the information especially during the month of July. Since I left Southfield Christian there has been major changes in the administration and the vision for the school. Technology has been a major focus of the school, not only to benefit the staff and students, but also to make it more marketable as a private school.
I was not able to collect as much information as I would have liked to for my research, so in some areas I feel it is a little incomplete due to lack of information. To complete my research I contacted the former administrator for Global Christian School Online, which is based out of SCS. He was active in the technology at the school and gladly helped me complete the survey. I was able to discuss with him the changes that have been made at the school and the improvements that still need to be made. To get another perspective I talked to a high school history teacher who has taught there since 2004. I was surprised to see just how far the school has come in less then a decade and the potential it has in the future. By attaining a administrative and teacher perspective I feel like I got a well-rounded view of where the school stands with technology.
I was not expecting to see that the overall benchmark rating was "integrated". When I taught there previously, I would have rated it a "emergent" school. I am very pleased with the progress made by the school overall and look forward to advancements in the future. The one piece of information I would have liked to research was the school's technology use plan. I was unable to reach anyone at the school to get a copy and according to my sources it is not readily available.
Please click on the links below to review my school evaluation survey and summary
Maturity Benchmarks Survey
School Evaluation Summary
I was not able to collect as much information as I would have liked to for my research, so in some areas I feel it is a little incomplete due to lack of information. To complete my research I contacted the former administrator for Global Christian School Online, which is based out of SCS. He was active in the technology at the school and gladly helped me complete the survey. I was able to discuss with him the changes that have been made at the school and the improvements that still need to be made. To get another perspective I talked to a high school history teacher who has taught there since 2004. I was surprised to see just how far the school has come in less then a decade and the potential it has in the future. By attaining a administrative and teacher perspective I feel like I got a well-rounded view of where the school stands with technology.
I was not expecting to see that the overall benchmark rating was "integrated". When I taught there previously, I would have rated it a "emergent" school. I am very pleased with the progress made by the school overall and look forward to advancements in the future. The one piece of information I would have liked to research was the school's technology use plan. I was unable to reach anyone at the school to get a copy and according to my sources it is not readily available.
Please click on the links below to review my school evaluation survey and summary
Maturity Benchmarks Survey
School Evaluation Summary
Friday, July 19, 2013
Technology Use Planning Overview
Technology Use Plan
Definition of Technology Use Plan
Research studies in education demonstrate that the use of technology (e.g., computers) can help improve students’ scores on standardized tests, improve students’ inventive thinking (e.g., problem solving), and improve students’ self-concept and motivation (Hew, 224). Therefore, a proper technology use plan is essential to a school’s effective use of technology. Regional Technology Education Consortia's (RTEC) Technology Plan Task Force states that "a technology plan serves as a bridge between traditional established standards and classroom practice. It organizes and integrates the content and methods of education in a particular discipline with applicable technologies. It facilitates multiple levels of policy and curriculum decision-making, especially in school districts, schools, and educational organizations that allow for supportive resource distributions" (Knuth, 1996). A technology use plan is the process in which a school or district develops short- and/or long-term plans to incorporate technology into its classrooms. Plans can be drawn up by committees or teachers who submit proposals for purchasing specific technologies (See, 1992). This plan’s focus is on the out-come or what will be achieved by using technology, not just one the simple purchase of a computer. This process should provide a “road-map” for a school or district to develop a school culture of technology. A plan should incorporate four major areas: 1) awareness – what is available, 2) application – work smarter not harder, 3) integration – more efficiently and effectively, and 4) refinement – change what is taught and how it is taught (See, 1992). A school should have a plan that sets goals or a vision and stays focus on meeting those whether it is short- or long-term.
How might the new National Educational Technology Plan 2010 be an effective and powerful resource for technology use planning?
The Department of Education recognizes that technology is now a part of our daily lives and work, and schools need to prepare their students for the future in an engaging learning environment (NETP, 2010). There must be a rubric for student achievement to provide valid research data to continually improve the future technology plan. A key part of this plan is to effectively and efficiently improved student’s research and development skills.
The National Education Technology Plan 2010 calls for "revolutionary transformation rather than evolutionary tinkering" (NEPT, 2010). It encourages our education system at all levels to
• Be clear about the outcomes we seek.
• Collaborate to redesign structures and processes for effectiveness, efficiency, and flexibility.
• Continually monitor and measure our performance.
• Hold ourselves accountable for progress and results every step of the way (NEPT, 2010).
It is important to have a benchmark or standard for school districts for work from. The NETP allows districts to have a foundation for what the overall national standard is and has given data to help accomplish their own personalized technology plan. The five essential goals are learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure, and productivity. The NEPT points out that all levels of education needs to work together to ensure that our students are competitive with the rest of the world and "ensure that even low-income and minority students, students with disabilities, English language learners, students in rural and frontier school and other are given an equal opportunity to be successful" (NEPT, 2010).
The application of a national standard as a benchmark will help ensure that state and local government have a “roadmap” to develop their own technology use plan. The State of Michigan has developed an in-depth plan for the local governments to base their district plan. The national and state plans will help school, whether public, private or charter, who may not have developed a plan previously to have goals to towards.
Michigan State Technology Plan: http://www.techplan.org/
Do you agree with See about tech use plans needing to be short, not long term? Why or why not?
John See has a good point when he talks about a technology use plan needing to be short-term. I believe there needs to be both short- and long-term plans at a school. Technology changes at such as rapid pace that it seems impossible to develop a five year plan, but having a long-term vision can help a school stay focused on implementing technology in an effective way. See points out that one year plans can be effectively used for planned purchases as long as there are not restrictions of the technology changes sooner than the purchase. Too short of a plan can leave a school without a clear vision, but instead a rushed decision to meet the anticipated deadline.
What do you think about his comment that "effective technology plans focus on applications, not technology?"
The aspect of the article I thought was most applicable to the classroom was going beyond enhancing the curriculum. I thought it was an interesting point that schools should not buy technology to teach technology. Many schools have computer classes to teach students various applications, but do not go beyond that. See’s thoughts that technology use goes beyond just computers and goes into every content area, shows that our students are beyond learning to type, but needing to actively apply technology.
A plan should be specific for what students, staff and administration should be able to do. See focuses on the importance of the output, or what the students will be able to do, compare to the input, which could be how many machines a school may have. This was interesting to read because when you read articles about school districts it seems to be about the numbers, not how it will be applied. In the City of Farmington, there is a millage to be past this summer for a $220 million bond, which includes technology and security improvements. Unfortunately, there are no answers for the taxpayers what the investment will do to improve tests scores and graduations rates. The term “technology improvements” are advertised to encourage voters to pass the millage. There is no clear plan or vision for what this technology and other improvements in the schools. As an educator and taxpayer I would like to see the technology use plan for this school district and have data that proves that what they are looking to add will truly help the students.
What experiences have you had with technology use planning and what have been your experiences in terms of outcomes (both good and bad?)
During my years teaching at a private school there was little talk about technology plans. Our in-service meetings usually revolved around current enrollment and the budget for the year. During my curriculum meeting we address the budget and were given a allowance per teacher and choice how to spend the amount given. As a department, were able to propose larger funded items. When I wanted to purchase another multimedia project for the social studies department, all I had to do was send an e-mail to the principal. Six years later the overall culture and focus of the school has changed. There has been a change in administration and now the school is actively pursuing technology for the rights reasons. They did research on the effectiveness of specific devices and applications. Now the school has a Director of Operations who sole job is to lead the school down the path of appropriate technology. Each year the administration team and school board reviews the technology and its usefulness and makes a plan to ensure that the school is competitive with other schools. I look forward to returning to teaching and using the knowledge I have learned in my EDTECH courses to help my school with its technology use plan.
References
Hew, K. F., & Brush, T. (2007). Integrating technology into K-12 teaching and learning: Current
knowledge gaps and recommendations for future research. Educational Technology
Research and Development, 55(3), 223-252.
Knuth, R., & Hopey, C. (1996). Guiding Questions for Technology Planning. Version 1.0.
See, J. (1992). Developing effective technology plans. The Computing Teacher, 19(8).
US Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics. (2002). Technology in Schools: Suggestions, Tools and Guidelines for Assessing Technology in Elementary and Secondary Education. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2003/tech_schools/
U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Technology. (2010) Transforming American education: Learning powered by technology. Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/sites/default/files/netp2010.pdf
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Digital Inequality
At first, I felt lost in my direction of this presentation. I am currently unemployed for a couple reasons. As I have mentioned, I'm a stay-at-home mom, but I was employed at an online school that dissolved after this year due to changes in the administration and budget. For these reasons I have been taking my past experiences and research to find a topic that is relevant to my teaching. I decided to focus on my time teaching at an Christian online school. Most of my students were from Detroit and needed to attend their online classes at learning centers due to the digital divide in that community. This presentation was a great way for me to learn more about digital inequality in the Detroit-metro area. I focused on the financial issues of the school system and the alternative online school for students who may not want to attend a public or charter school. I was pleased to see that there are numerous organizations working hard to bridge the gap in Detroit. I learned about the progress that Life Builders, the Knight Foundation, and Detroit Digital Justice Coalition have made. It was surprising to me when I did my research how many people are in the "have not" category, even within the United States.
Online schools, like the one I worked at, can help bridge the digital divide by connecting with organizations in the communities they are involved with. By networking with these organizations the school will be able to understand the level of technology students have access to not only during school hours, but also at home. I found that there are a variety of grants available to help setup community technology centers or resources to purchase updated technology. Overall, I saw the most important aspect of my finding to be educating those who are disadvantaged for free or at low-cost. A community program to educate people, young and old, on basic computer programs will not only benefit the individual, but also the community as a whole.
This assignment led me to discussions outside my specific research. My husband currently teaches at a public high school and will be transitioning to online textbooks this year. The divide is also in the suburbs and students who are without access to the Internet at home will be at a disadvantage when they leave school and have to take a textbook home instead of accessing it online or on a tablet. No community is without a divide, although we see some communities, like Detroit, may be at a greater disadvantage overall.
This was my first time using VoiceThread. I found this was a great resource to present my PowerPoint presentation in a more interactive way. It was extremely easy to use and edit. I liked the various options to comment on each slide. When recording my audio presentation I had several interruptions. My two dogs took it upon themselves to bark randomly and lap up their water quite loudly during my recordings. Because of this I was please to see how easy it was to delete a recording and start over. I look forward to using this program to make my PowerPoints more engaging.
Hope you enjoy my presentation on the amazing city of Detroit.
VoiceThread Presentation on Digital Inequality
Online schools, like the one I worked at, can help bridge the digital divide by connecting with organizations in the communities they are involved with. By networking with these organizations the school will be able to understand the level of technology students have access to not only during school hours, but also at home. I found that there are a variety of grants available to help setup community technology centers or resources to purchase updated technology. Overall, I saw the most important aspect of my finding to be educating those who are disadvantaged for free or at low-cost. A community program to educate people, young and old, on basic computer programs will not only benefit the individual, but also the community as a whole.
This assignment led me to discussions outside my specific research. My husband currently teaches at a public high school and will be transitioning to online textbooks this year. The divide is also in the suburbs and students who are without access to the Internet at home will be at a disadvantage when they leave school and have to take a textbook home instead of accessing it online or on a tablet. No community is without a divide, although we see some communities, like Detroit, may be at a greater disadvantage overall.
This was my first time using VoiceThread. I found this was a great resource to present my PowerPoint presentation in a more interactive way. It was extremely easy to use and edit. I liked the various options to comment on each slide. When recording my audio presentation I had several interruptions. My two dogs took it upon themselves to bark randomly and lap up their water quite loudly during my recordings. Because of this I was please to see how easy it was to delete a recording and start over. I look forward to using this program to make my PowerPoints more engaging.
Hope you enjoy my presentation on the amazing city of Detroit.
VoiceThread Presentation on Digital Inequality
Sunday, July 7, 2013
EDTECH Challenge
New Horizon Report 2013 K-12 Challenge #1: Ongoing professional development needs to be valued and integrated into the culture of the schools.
I had mixed feelings about this assignment as a whole, but in the end I felt proud of all the new skills I learned along the way. As I read through the NMC New Horizon Report: 2013 K-12, my eyes were opened to the range technology has in education currently. I have been out of the classroom since 2007, so a lot of the trends and challenges were unfamiliar to me. I used to work at a private high school and was known as the "tech savoy" teacher. This would no longer be the case if I was hired today, but that is why I chose an EDTECH program. Challenge 1 stood out to me, not only because it applies to the school environment I once taught in, but it still seems to be an issue with professional development and the overall culture of a school as the technology continues to increase.
My school was split between veteran and rookie teachers. I was shocked coming out of college that high school teachers were still using the overhead projector and had no plans on changing. There were two multimedia projectors in the whole school, but I was able to get one just for the social studies department. My use of the projector was mainly for interactive note taking, where the veteran teachers only used it to show a movie. As the years have passed, the school has integrated iPads into the classrooms. Unfortunately, I believe they are underutilized because the school has not made it a culture. Technology training would be a great use of a professional development day. If all the teachers could fully understand what options they have to enhance their classroom and how easy it can be, then they would embrace these tools, rather than shy away from them. There was never a time when I had a meeting that focused on changing the school culture when it came to technology. There was a short meeting once on how to use the grade book program, but nothing more.
Some teachers like to stick with what they know. This obstacle can make it difficult to change the school as a whole. Although teachers are given technology, if there is not proper training, then more resistance is met. With the use of a technology specialist or a teacher with training in technology, we can overcome this challenge. Teachers love to share ideas and work hard to make sure their students learn the objectives set in place. Professional development days can increase the school's knowledge as a whole and encourage those who are uncomfortable with newer technology to ask questions.
In conclusion, this assignment taught me a lot. First, that my blood pressure still increases to a high rate when learning new technologies. I struggled with this assignment, not because I didn't understand the trends and challenges set forth in the New Horizon Report, but because there is such a broad range of programs on the internet to review. I tried several different animation programs and settled on PowToons. My script called for several actors, which other programs did not allow unless you upgraded. The real stress came from trying to find an audio program to use to record my script. With help from my fellow classmates (thanks!), I found that Audacity was a good fit. I was able to manipulate my voice and my husband's voice to fill all the characters. The problem that occurred when searching for good audio programs was in the installation. I ended up with malware on my computer, which took time to delete and secure my computer. My final project was what I envisioned from the beginning and I feel that this assignment was the perfect example of active learning. I appreciated the technology challenge, but also the research aspect. The New Horizon Report updated me on the trends and challenges schools are facing today. I hope that you enjoy my cartoon about trying to change a school's technology culture.
2013 Horizon Report K-12
I had mixed feelings about this assignment as a whole, but in the end I felt proud of all the new skills I learned along the way. As I read through the NMC New Horizon Report: 2013 K-12, my eyes were opened to the range technology has in education currently. I have been out of the classroom since 2007, so a lot of the trends and challenges were unfamiliar to me. I used to work at a private high school and was known as the "tech savoy" teacher. This would no longer be the case if I was hired today, but that is why I chose an EDTECH program. Challenge 1 stood out to me, not only because it applies to the school environment I once taught in, but it still seems to be an issue with professional development and the overall culture of a school as the technology continues to increase.
My school was split between veteran and rookie teachers. I was shocked coming out of college that high school teachers were still using the overhead projector and had no plans on changing. There were two multimedia projectors in the whole school, but I was able to get one just for the social studies department. My use of the projector was mainly for interactive note taking, where the veteran teachers only used it to show a movie. As the years have passed, the school has integrated iPads into the classrooms. Unfortunately, I believe they are underutilized because the school has not made it a culture. Technology training would be a great use of a professional development day. If all the teachers could fully understand what options they have to enhance their classroom and how easy it can be, then they would embrace these tools, rather than shy away from them. There was never a time when I had a meeting that focused on changing the school culture when it came to technology. There was a short meeting once on how to use the grade book program, but nothing more.
Some teachers like to stick with what they know. This obstacle can make it difficult to change the school as a whole. Although teachers are given technology, if there is not proper training, then more resistance is met. With the use of a technology specialist or a teacher with training in technology, we can overcome this challenge. Teachers love to share ideas and work hard to make sure their students learn the objectives set in place. Professional development days can increase the school's knowledge as a whole and encourage those who are uncomfortable with newer technology to ask questions.
In conclusion, this assignment taught me a lot. First, that my blood pressure still increases to a high rate when learning new technologies. I struggled with this assignment, not because I didn't understand the trends and challenges set forth in the New Horizon Report, but because there is such a broad range of programs on the internet to review. I tried several different animation programs and settled on PowToons. My script called for several actors, which other programs did not allow unless you upgraded. The real stress came from trying to find an audio program to use to record my script. With help from my fellow classmates (thanks!), I found that Audacity was a good fit. I was able to manipulate my voice and my husband's voice to fill all the characters. The problem that occurred when searching for good audio programs was in the installation. I ended up with malware on my computer, which took time to delete and secure my computer. My final project was what I envisioned from the beginning and I feel that this assignment was the perfect example of active learning. I appreciated the technology challenge, but also the research aspect. The New Horizon Report updated me on the trends and challenges schools are facing today. I hope that you enjoy my cartoon about trying to change a school's technology culture.
2013 Horizon Report K-12
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