WEEK 5!!!!!

When I began this course I imagined that it would be a simply overview of the technology requirements of the 21st century school. I wanted to learn new ideas of how technology can be used to enrich classes. I had not considered how vital technology has become and how heavily it will be relied on in the future. “The very nature of information has changed in the past decade. It has become increasingly digital, networked, and overwhelming.” (Warlick, 2007.) As an administrator, we must facilitate technology needs to have access to this digital information and seamlessly add it to the day to day instruction. This class has gone beyond what I envisioned and has enabled me to picture the future of education.

I feel the relevancy of this course remains to be seen in my situation. It has opened my eyes to many things that technology can add to classroom instruction. As a teacher, right now, I still feel hampered by many of my school districts acceptable use policies as well as the limited availability to software for my subject. However, I have a much better understanding and stronger opinion on the importance of facilitating technology to meet the needs of the students. Schools should be preparing students for the future, and a school that has to operate 10 years behind the kind of technology the students have at home will not get the job done. If schools are to meet the children at their ability levels, and teach to pre-existing knowledge, then those schools must do all they can to stay cutting edge.

I was very excited entering this class to see that we would be using Power Point, blogs and frequent discussion board time to study the subject. However, I quickly discovered that I myself am a Digital Immigrant. With the exception of Power Point, I have only been exposed to these types of activities through this course. I became extremely frustrated, almost to the point of giving up as I worked on some of these activities. “These skills are almost totally foreign to the Immigrants, who themselves learned – and so choose to teach – slowly, step-by-step, one thing at a time, individually, and above all seriously.”(Prensky, 2001.) I was a living example of what takes place in the classroom for veteran teachers who get frustrated with technology. If I was not under pressure by the course deadlines, I may have easily found a way to get around using it.

The most discouraging part of the course assignments came when I tried to post my Power Point on my blog. As I began to explore Author Stream as a way to convert my Power Point presentation, I hit a snag and was unable to correct it. I still have no idea what went wrong, but I devoted several hours to trying to solve the problem. I then decided to give up on Author Stream and tried Slideshare and was successful in downloading my file. However, I was unaware of all of the inner workings of down loading a file like this and the presentation did not convert correctly. After another few hours, I finally got the file to down load without reformatting. However, I then had major issues getting the file loaded on my blog. I contacted my school technology teacher for help, but she had no idea how to use Slideshare. After many hours and much help from my wife I was able to post my presentation to my blog. I simply did not know what to do, nor was I tech saavy enough to problem solve. Had this been a classroom situation, I would not have had time to get the issue fixed before it needed to be used and I would have found an old-fashioned way to teach the information.

This course has taught me that if technology is to be integrated, teacher learning must be a priority for school leaders. I found myself falling into the Digital Imigrant mindset because of my issues using the blog and Slideshare technology. “A frequent objection I hear from Digital Immigrant educators is “this approach is great for facts, but it wouldn’t work for ‘my subject.’” (Prensky,2001.) I actually thought this as I was trying to master the use of the programs thorugh out the course.

The biggest thing I learned navigating through the readings and course work is the need to train the teachers and provide relevant technology staff development.
“It would seem that 30 hours of sustained, hands on technology training should have conferred ome degree of ‘proficiency,’ which should then have spilled over into actual classroom use. Yet, when asked to survey their individual software application skills, 60% of the teachers reported ‘no’ or ‘low’ levels of proficiency with the applications in question. More critically, only 17% of teachers reported regular use of technology in their classes, and 72% of that usage involved remediation or skills-type software or word processing.” (Burns, 2002.)
I was a living example of lack of training. But we must prepare our kids for a technological future, so we need to not fear technology in schools, but embrace it. “So if Digital Immigrant educators really want to reach Digital Natives – i.e. all their students -they will have to change.” (Prensky, 2001.)

I think one of the areas that teachers will soon be utilizing in classes is the online blog. This will give students 24/7 access to classroom activities, lectures and assignments. It will open up new levels of classroom communication and collaboration. Schools will be “creating a richer, more dynamic, more interactive Web where participation is the rule rather than the exception.”(Richardson, 2005) By providing this tool as an embedded part of the classroom, teachers and students can exchange ideas and learning like never before.

One concern that I have with the classroom blogs is accuracy of the information posted. “When information comes from a network, it is not always obvious where it came from, who wrote it, or why.” (Warlick, 2007.) Classroom blogs will have to be closely monitored. If a student posts an opinion on a blog that is grossly inaccurate or inappropriate, it may stay posted long enough for other students to see and think of as a fact. There are also issues of liability and slander if a student chooses to lash out at a teacher or student. Teachers will have to set strict guidelines and policies for classroom blogs. “We must, instead, teach children how to be their own gatekeepers, and this is an ethical imperative.”(Warlick, 2007) Teachers will also have to maintain a close watch over postings and walk that fine line between protecting information and censorship.

“Principals play an important role in integrating technology in each of our schools.” Using a blog to communicate to the stakeholders shows willingness to model appropriate technology use in the school. “But as more and more people get on the blog bandwagon, more and more teachers and schools are starting to experiment with the technology communicate with students and parents, archive and publish student work learn from far flung collaborators , and ‘manage’ the knowledge that members of the school community create.”(Richardson, 2004.) Blogs provide the school with unlimited access for all members of the learning community to see what is taking place and get information about upcoming events and classroom activities.

Burns, M. (2002). From compliance to commitment: Technology as a catalyst for communities of learning. Phi Delta Kappan, 84(4), 295-303.

Jones, E. (2007). Strategies to put instruction ahead of technology. Principal Leadership, 7(6), 35-38.

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants: Part 1. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1-6.

Richardson, W. (2005). Blog revolution: Expanding classroom horizons with Web logs. Technology & Learning, 26(3).

Richardson, W. (2004). Blogging and RSS – The what’s it? And how to of powerful new Web tools for educators. MultiMedia & Internet @ Schools, 11(1), 10-13.

Warlick, D. (2007). Literacy in the new information landscape. Library Media Connection, 26(1), 20-21.