Week 5

When I saw the title for this course, I thought that I would be learning a lot of new technology applications that I could use right now in my classroom and then eventually use as an administrator. I also knew that I would be learning a lot about what would be required of my district and campus as far as the state guidelines on technology curriculum go. As far as learning new technology, I did learn how to create a blog and how easy it would be to teach my students to do this for class assignments. I also passed this information on to my principal. I showed him how to create a blog and he now uses this as his weekly message board for the staff instead of the word document he used to send out. I was a little disappointed that this is all I learned. I was really excited to learn more technology applications then this but did not. I did, however, learn a lot of new information about what is required for a technology curriculum at my school and district levels. I hope to help my students reach these curriculum goals and help my campus achieve them also.

Although I did not learn a lot of new technology applications, what I did learn is still very useful to me. Learning how to create a blog looks like it will be a great starting point to advance my students in technology. I am currently working on a project to have my students start keeping a science journal blog to help them keep track of the science concepts they are learning and make stronger connections to them. Also, I plan to start keeping a blog for my classroom. This will help me communicate to my stakeholders, parents, and keep them informed of happenings in my classroom. As an administrator, I can use the knowledge I gained on technology curriculum to make sure that I have my staff implementing these SEs in their classrooms. I could also use applications like blogs to communicate with staff, parents and community members. I belive that the knowledge I have learned in this course could greatly benefit myself, my campus and my students.

The outcomes that I did not achieve were learning new technology applications that I could use in my classroom right now and in the future. I would have liked to learn more about MS Excel and MS PowerPoint. I believe that both of these applications are very important in a school setting. MS Excel is used a lot to collect data and MS PowerPoint is used quite a bit to display this data to the masses. I know that we did use PowerPoint in this class but I would have liked to have learned a more advanced use of it. Also, I believe that a more advanced knowledge of MS Excel would help me to be more prepared when I become and administrator. Since MS Excel is used a lot to collect data, I believe it would have helped me become a better team member at my school.

When it came to assignments, I was successful in completing them for the most part. The only thing that I was not able to be a part of was the web conferences. They were always offered at times when I was not available. I am a teacher AND a basketball coach so when the conferences were only offered in the evenings, I was not able to sign on to be a part of them. I also did not have the equipment it required to participate actively in these conferences. What discouraged me when working on and turning in assignments was the fact that dates and times were constantly being changed. Again, as a teacher and a coach, my time is very limited. I rely on a set scheduled and knowing what I have to do every day. When things were changed at the last minute, it made it very difficult for me to drop everything else to complete my assignments.

Although this course was not what I expected, I did learn information that will help me in the future. First and foremost, I was able to evaluate my technology knowledge and see where I need to improve and where I am strong. I realized that if I were to learn more about the technology world, I could improve as a leader on campus. I now see how important it is for a administrator to be technology savvy. Administrators use technology everyday to compile data about their schools and to communicate with stakeholders of the school. Also, administrators need to know the latest guidelines the state has mandated for technology curriculum so they can make sure that their teachers are implementing these guidelines in their classrooms. Before this course, I did not have a positive attitude toward technology in the classroom. I thought that it could cause behavioral problems and do more harm than good. I now see the great benefit that technology can have for our campus, students and staff.

Like I have mentioned in other posts, I now see the many benefits that blogs can have in the classroom. Blogs provide students with a way to communicate to their teachers and other students in a whole new way. First, students who may be absent or out for long periods of time can see what has been going on in the classroom if the teacher were keeping a classroom blog. Also, blogs can serve as an “on-line learning journal.” I am planning to start having my students keep a blog like this where they have to post weekly about what they have learned in class. I believe that this will give them a way to make stronger connections to the topics that we are learning and also allow students to view their peers’ perspectives on what was learned in class that week. I also believe it would be a great way for students to post work such as papers of projects where other students in the class could make comments on them to help improve that work.

Although blogging could be a great asset in the classroom, it could also be a potential hazard. I could see the possibility of blogging getting out of control. If not managed right, a classroom blog site could become the site of rude and disrespectful talk between classmates. Also, students could start using it to communicate to peers for the wrong reasons instead of for class purposes only. It could also possibly help students cheat on work. Instead of students taking the time to think up ideas for projects and papers on their own, they might read other students’ blogs and comments and take ideas from that. Then when questioned about who copied from whom, there might not be any way to tell. The last issue I would have with blogs is the safety of my students. A blog could be a potentially dangerous place if a student is not careful. A sexual predator could pose as another student and start communicating to students on line and eventually convince them to meet. This is my biggest concern with blogging in the classroom.

Again, blogging can be a great thing if used correctly. Blogs could be a great way to communicate with school stakeholders such as staff, students, parents and community members. Schools could set up blogs where important events could be announced and updated quickly. Also, parents could communicate with other parents through blogs to ask questions about classroom work or extracurricular activities. Teachers could create blogs for their individual classrooms. Parents and students could use these blogs to their advantage to discuss homework, projects or field trips. Also, school administrators could use blogs to send out weekly updates on school happenings. Blogs could also be used to make school community work known. For instance, if the National Junior Honor Society were to host a blanket drive, they could put it on the school blog. Community members, parents and other students would be able to see information on it and also ask questions about where the drive would take place, time, etc. Blogs could be beneficial to all parts of a school in communicating with stakeholders.

The Texas STaR Chart And Your Campus

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Infrastructure for Technology- Week 2

There are several parts to the Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020. The part that I have chosen to discuss is Infrastructure for Technology. I believe this is one of the most important parts because if we want to implement technology in the classroom, we need to make sure we have the right resources to do so. The area of infrastructure for technology can be described as the frame for technology facilitation. In this century, schools must provide high speed internet so that students may use it as a research and learning tool. The Long-Range Plan for Technology also dictates that school will integrate voice, video and data technology. Also, schools will allow for students, parents and teachers to have immediate access to data and information that is essential to the success of students.
Our school has done a great job in this area. All classrooms have at least one computer with high speed internet in it. Students’ grades are entered and can be accessed on-line by teachers, students and parents. Students recently became acquainted with Gaggle which is an on-line program of email, information storage and blogs. Gaggle will be implemented into next year’s curriculum. After looking at state and national data, it looks like most schools are following this trend and implementing more technological frameworks into their campuses. It has become a huge trend across the nation to have student grades on-line so that parents can access them at any time.
I believe that in order for our campus to improve in this domain, we will need to implement more opportunities for students to use the technology that we have. That could be having students work on projects that integrate technology or integrating it into the classroom.

Summarizatopm of the Pre-K Technology Applications TEKS.

The Pre-K technology applications outline exactly what children in Pre-K should learn in order to help develop their technology skills and build on them in other grades. Students in Pre-K begin to learn the basics about a computer. They will use devices such as a mouse, keyboard and modem. Students will also use a variety of computer software programs and applications. They are expected to start making connections and understand why they are using the software programs. Students will also begin to understand how to use a keyboard properly and other computer devices. This knowledge will help students build their skills in other grades. It also allows for a scaffolding effect on the curriculum. An example of this is using technological devices properly. In Pre-K, students begin to learn how to use a mouse, keyboard and modem and also learn the correct terminology. In K-2 TEK 2. A students are expected to use a variety of input devices such as mouse, keyboard, disk drive, modem, voice/sound recorder, scanner, digital video, CD-ROM, or touch screen. In 3-5 TEK 2. A students are also expected use a variety of input devices such as mouse, keyboard, disk drive, modem, voice/sound recorder, scanner, digital video, CD-ROM, or touch screen. This continues on through middle school and high school. Each TEK is expected to be appropriate to task. So, although the TEK says the same information, students should be learning more in depth about these skills as they move up grades. This is an example of how the TEKS for technology provide scaffolding a schools curriculum. By scaffolding the curriculum, students will build on their prior skills and also strengthen those skills giving them valuable knowledge in technology.

Long Range Plan

After reading the Long Range Plan for technology, I have gained new perspective in the importance of technology in educational settings. I was not aware that the No Child Left Behind Act had provisions for technology in it. It specified that 8Th graders would have sound technology information and be able to implement this information. This is important for me to know right now since I am an 8th grade teacher. I also learned about the dynamics that make up this state. That is helpful to me as an administrator because I know what students are like in the schools and where school populations are moving to. Also, this reading helped me to see what will be expected of my campus and district as far as technology is concerned. I will be able to better help my campus meet the technology initiative by knowing this. Finally, I will be able to help the teachers and staff at my campus understand why implementation of technology is so important. I will be able to explain to them how the initiative works and also how to implement technology in their classrooms.

Class Assignment # 1

After taking these assessments, I realized how little I knew about technology. In my class, I do take my students to the computer lab about once every other month. We just received three student computers in my classroom so I plan on using more technology as the year goes by. The first survey, Technology Applications Inventory, made me think on a more personal level. How much did I know about technology? The answer; not very much at all. I realized after taking this survey that if I wanted to use more technology in the classroom with my students, then I needed to take more time to learn more technological applications. If I learn more then I will have more ways to teach information to my students providing differentiation. The SETDA surveyed technological applications with curriculum and instruction. Again, I do use technology every so often with my students but it is very limited and a more basic skill level. This survey also added in questions about how technology is used in the district. Our curriculum does not have a lot of technological applications in it because our resources are very limited at most schools in our district. They do not have the technology to support adding it to the curriculum. We are working on adding more resources and adding more technology into our curriculum. I know that 8th grade science TEKS will require more technology use next year so we are planning for that right now. I do agree with these assessments. Both surveys showed me a good idea of my skill level when it comes to technology. I am at the basic level of knowledge and that is what both of these surveys showed. I understand that technology could be a valuable resourced in not only my classroom but in my school. I also understand that it is very important for students to become skilled in technology applications if they want to be successful in today's job market.