Chapter 5 Reflection

In Chapter 5 of Teaching with Technology, we start to see how classrooms and students change when they use technology more and more.  Technology really encourages a more constructivist or collaborative classroom.  Technology cannot be used effectively in a traditional lecture style of class.  As the teachers started to settle in with the technology and let the students do more and more with it in their assignments, the more and more they saw that their classrooms were changing, and changing for the better.  Students were becoming more active in the lessons and the learning/ teaching of the lessons. Even those students that were not known as the exceptional students were finding a specialty in relation to technology or what could be done with technology.  Teachers started using students to teach the classes where students researched topics then presented them to the class, instead of the teacher just lecturing on the topics.  In this, however, teachers were beginning to see how their traditional ways of assessing students on knowledge was no longer going to work.  Because the students were learning differently and applying what and how they learned in different manners, standard testing would no longer work.  Teachers became worried about how to assess the students knowledge, especially those teachers that were not working on the ACOT program and really did not know how to use computers.  I found it a little humorous that no one in the book outside of the ACOT program really knew how to use technology.  When you look at today's world where everyone knows how to use a word processor, boot up a computer, and type emails it is hard to remember a world without the world wide web and with individuals who did not own a home computer or have one in their classroom or at their disposal.

I love that with the use of technology comes an increase to move classrooms in a collaborative direction.  I think that students who collaborate and constructively put together their learning environment find a better understanding of the knowledge they are gaining.  The application and deeper thinking associated is critical for successful learning.  I also think it is interesting how classrooms were changing not only for the use of technology but in general.  Even assignments where technology was not centrally focused (like a chemistry lab), the teachers were still taking advantage of the different types of teaching and learning that technology had presented.  I have been in classes that have used several of these types of teaching - most common the learn a subject and teach it to the class, become the second expert (next to the teacher) and instruct the class.  While it is definitely more work on the students part (and less on the teacher), it helps students grasp what is being learned in a fully manner as researching helps one better understand.  I definitely got more out of units I put together and taught then one that a teacher handed out an article and lectured on.  This is incredibly encouraging seeing that colleges seem to be the last to convert to this style of teaching since traditional a college class is known as a stuff lecture style approach.  I am excited to see how the increase of technology due to Common Core and Common Core testing continues to change the landscape of our classrooms.

Teacher Technology Change

When integrating technology into the pedagogical practices of a teacher, there are several different ideas that must be considered in the development of the teacher's skills with technology.  These ideas revolve around knowledge, confidence,beliefs, and culture relating to technology and the environment that the teacher is in.  Most of the practices of different professionals today have shifted to reflect the increase in technology and software available.  For example, a mechanic now hooks a car up to a software program that gives a read out of what the problem with the car system is.  If I take my car to the shop, I expect that the mechanic will have the equipment and no-how to use it.  Why does this not extend into the classroom of the 21st century.  Shouldn't our schools and teachers be equipped with this new technology and no how, just like our mechanics and doctors and other professionals?  These other professionals must learn how to use the new technology.  Both those that are in school learning the trade and those in the field currently practicing.  How these two different groups learn how to use and integrate the technology is approached in similar and different ways.  For pre-service teachers, learning the technology is fairly routine.  Because schools try to stay current with the trends, they are equipped with the materials needed to teach students.  And younger individuals (those in college) are also more versed in technology to begin with.  What these students lack is the knowledge of how to apply this technology to teaching because they do not have a basis in the classroom.  They must increase their confidence in using technology by observing the use of technology in classrooms or teaching small groups in classrooms.  The beliefs that they have that must be changed or only those that students come in with regarding their own K-12 experience usually.  Their cultural change refers to how the technology will be taught in the program, which is hopefully by integrating it into the entire work being done and not in a single class.  The current in-service teachers must also learn how to use and implement technology but they face other difficulties that pre-service teachers do not.  In-service teachers have the existing PCK that they can utilize to help apply the information they are learning to the classroom.  They however lack the self-efficacy in themselves and their use of technology to actually teach in the classroom.  It was found that the longer that the teachers were given to learn about the technology and implement it slowly, the more successful the process was.  In-service teachers must also change their way of thinking that they have set in their minds from years of teaching, which for teachers who have been serving longer may prove to be tougher.  It is also important that in-service teachers use the culture of the schools that they teach in to their learning process.  In both the in-service and pre-service cases, the important part is that there is professional development and training that is done to help teachers change their beliefs to best utilize the technology.

One thing I had never thought about in regards to pre-service teachers and learning technology was how not having the pedagogical knowledge of teaching in the classroom would effect how effectively they can apply what they are learning to teaching.  I also have just had in my mind that I will have a better understand and will be able to use technology better when I get out of school because I don't have those PCK, but this article instead looks at this lack of PCK and a hinderance in a way.  And that makes sense.  Without the background of how students learn, what is taught, a basis of activities to use in teaching, etc it is harder to apply the technology from the get go.  I can be quick and effective with the technology but if I am stumbling trying to reach the students and come up with activities, then I am not really any better off.  Definitely food for thought, and something else to think of when applying the things I learn to my future classrooms - how can I apply the technology I am using to classroom activities and other learning issues that I will face.

Chapter 4 Reflection

Chapter 4 takes the 5 stages of technology integration in the classroom and discusses problems, issues, success, and other thoughts that teachers had while working with technology in their classrooms.  The issues that they encountered in the Entry stage included un-anticipated problems in the classroom including student misbehavior and cheating, the change to the physical classroom environment in reduced space and extra heat and noise, software issues and problems with the computers including computers or equipment going down and leaving the classroom without technology during class time, and just the way that the teacher handles changes in the classroom.  During Adoption, teachers began to  anticipate the problems that may occur with the computers, equipment, or students and they started to address and be pro-active against them.  They devised plans to catch students at cheating using technology and came up with ways to avoid computers from crashing or being overloaded.  The adaptation phase teachers finally stopped trying to just fix the problems presented and started working on ways that they could integrate the technology into the classroom or into the behavior management of students.  Teachers started collaborating with each other to work on effective strategies for using computers and software in lessons and in classroom management.  The end of the chapter looks at classroom management again and how technology has changed the face of how the classroom runs.

I think that the teachers discovered something over the time that they used the technology, that all change takes time and that all change will create problems and solve problems.  The key is to weather the storm and learn how to change as it presents itself.  In the beginning it will be really tough to change, but as time goes by it will become easier and more natural.  After awhile it will be so much a part of your daily routine that not having it will actually be a difficult thing to handle, like the teacher who's tape recorder broke and she couldn't record her thoughts for the day.  Some thoughts that I had while reading included: in response to teachers talking about the computers being down or breaking after a few years, computers and today's technology does not have the longevity that paper and pencil does.  They will break, often, and have to be replaced.  It is something that must be remembered and factored into the schools future planning.  In response to students not having a problem focusing for an entire class period when in front of the computer: todays students live with technology playing video games and watching tv during all of their free time.  Of course they will be more engaged when technology is involved in the classroom.

Chapter 3 - Teach with Technology

Chapter 3 in the Teaching with Technology book looked at the evolution of technology in a group of classrooms in a study that involved adding technology into a certain number of classrooms.  Although this chapter does not specifically call out the technology that was added included computers, printers, scanners, and other early 1990s classroom technology.  There were five stages that the teachers and classes had to work through with the integration of this technology. (*one point I had to remember is that this technology was added in the 90s when technology was not a common thing in classrooms)  The five stages were Entry, Adoption, Adaptation, Appropriation, and Invention.  Entry was the initial introduction of the technology into the classroom including the unpacking and plugging in of the computers.  This also included some brief software installation.  Adoption is the initial use of the technology in the classroom.  This stage is incredibly tough because most teachers tried to just use the technology to continue with their everyday routine instead of changing their lessons to work with the technology.  Adaptation is when the teachers and classes start to integrate into the lesson plans in a more natural way.  While the traditional classroom activity were still prominent in the classrooms, the technology started to work it's way into the lesson plans and activities.  Appropriation is not really a phase that must be passed but more of a state of mind that the teachers and students came to where the technology started to become an effortless part of everyday learning.  Finally Invention is when the technology is used to create something completely different within a normal lesson plan.  This is when the teachers and students start using the technology to create assignments and to lead them in new paths.  The book suggested that these steps should be taken incrementally if technology is suddenly added to a classroom.

I had several notes that I made along the way while reading this chapter.  A lot of them were looking at my view of technology and how I started my elementary school in an environment where computers did not exist and we slowly started integrating computers into the learning atmosphere.  I looked at some of the problems that teachers faced in trying to do this and wondered what my teachers faced in this very unstable time.  I also looked at how I viewed technology and the comments made about integrating it into a world where technology didn't exist.  One thing that I noted immediately is that change of any kind takes time, it is not something that can happen overnight.  Also new things are hard to accept, especially when it is something as new as technology was.  Another thought I had was that on page 34, there was a note about how teachers enter the profession with deeply held notions about how to conduct school.  On this I wondered why schools have been so different then other professions over time? I would never go to a doctor's office that still looked like an office from 1950, so why should our schools look the same?  While older individuals might hold tight to those older ideas of school, why are the younger generations holding tight?  In the Adaption portion - the teachers were amazed by what the computers could do and the students attention was held by the computers - in those days, computers were not household items, no one had email and Facebook accounts and smart phones. These computers were probably the only ones these students ever encountered.  Of course they were fascinated by them.  Today, 3 year olds have iPads and 3rd graders have cell phones - are computers still holding the same fascination today as then?  Another question I always have is that if people could see how successful these ACOT programs were immediately, then why didn't more people buy into it earlier?  Even today the idea of technology is not fully accepted in education, even with all it's success. This study allowed teachers time to get use to the technology and integrate it into their classroom, this is not a luxury that many teachers are given these days.  Today they are given the new technology on a Friday and expected to fully integrate it on Monday morning.  They don't have time to break in the technology slowly.

These are just some thoughts I had on this chapter as I read.

Professional Development Reflection

Professional Development is largely personal, what are some things you can do for FREE to improve your technology skills?

I will approach this reflection in two different ways: one way in looking how I currently approach improving my technology skills in my job since I am not currently a teacher, then I will discuss ways that I could possibly improve my skills if I was in a teaching position.

My current job working in an architecture firm as an interior designer requires me to use technology everyday, for almost every thing that I do.  Technology is involved in how we create our drawings, how we answer questions from contractors, how we manage the construction of buildings, and in our every day operations.  When I first started working in 2004, very little in our firm was done digitally outside of the actual creation of the drawings we do and answering emails.  We would hand write our phone logs, our construction questions, and the paper work we process during construction.  Not only was this very tedious, it was time consuming and created a lot of paper work to file that took a lot of space in storage.  Over the years, a couple of us at the firm took on learning new ways to organize the office using technology to bring us out of the dark ages and make our company more efficient and streamline.  We did research on how other firms use technology, experimented with different ideas we had using programs, and asked other people what they did.  We would also take part in luncheons that discussed changes that could be made to help efficiency in firms.  It has taken 8 years, but we have slowly turned our entire firm to an almost completely digital company including the addition of using iPads to remove the need to carry drawings and papers out to job sites when we do job visits. This has increased our turn over speed in office, and has kept us more organized and saved space.  It took a lot of extra time on our part outside of normal office hours to figure out what we needed to do and we meet a lot of resistance from other employees along the way but in the end it has moved our firm from one that was not utilizing the technology available today to one that has fully committed to technology.

When it comes to teaching and improving skills on technology, the biggest factor is time and when to learn how to utilize the technology, make it work correctly, and fit it into current lesson plans.  I think one of the first things to do, that is free, is to take advantage of the local library branch and look into resources and teach how to utilize different types of technology.  There are "____ for Dummies" books for almost everything these days, and there are several guides and help manuals to help easily talk through simply learning technology types.  After taking the time to read through the how-tos and the quick tips and ideas, I think next we have to remember that as teachers we don't have to be perfect and it is alright to learn with the students and make mistakes.  So pick a lesson two a week where testing out the technology with the students is a secondary goal of the lesson.  Talking to the students before hand that you are trying things out and that this will be experimental will probably make them excited about the lesson and could possibly lead you to discovery as the students may figure it out quickly and be able to help you.  The thing to remember is that students today have been using technology since they were about 1 year old so they are incredibly comfortable with trial and error and quickly finding out the answer were we feel like we need to know before we confront.  Finally if the above to ways have not worked, or you feel that you need more help before involving the students, look for peer support.  Ask other teachers in the school if they have conquered the certain technology yet and what they did to learn it.  Maybe see if you can trade of lessons on different things and help each other out.  You can also look on teacher forums and do internet searches to see if other teachers have posted how-tos on the technology you are trying to use.  While there are plenty of conferences you can pay to learn things at, sometimes self discovery is just as useful and sometimes more beneficial in the end.

Video Editting Assignment

I will be using the school computer for my video project.  It is iMovie '11 (version 9.0.8)
I will play around with it at home on my personal computer which runs some version of iMovie '11.

Chapter 10

Cyberbullying has become the new threat in bullying in schools and out of schools.  Chapter 10 reviews some of the issues that occur in cyberbullying today and what can be done to prevent them from happening or correct them once they have happened.  One of the main preventive activities that they call out is education of students and parents on internet usage and what cyberbullying is.  Letting students/ kids know what defines cyberbullying, why it is not acceptable, and why it is always okay to talk to a grown up about it will help the student understand the course of action to take.  Creating a peer support system is helpful in the correction and comforting after cyberbullying has occurred.  Students are generally more receptive to their peers or peers they look up to and will be more willing to take advice from these people.  Parents play a very active roll in the prevention and monitoring of cyberbullying.  Keeping a watchful eye on children and their at home internet usage can clue into signs that they are either being bullied or are a bully.  Parent involvement is also essential in keeping students safe from dangerous online predators or websites that are not safe.  Because the internet and technology becomes a part of our daily lives from a very young age, it is important for teachers and especially parents to start discussing safety and prevention at an early age so that students realize that it is okay to talk to an adult figure at any time.
Bullying and Cyberbullying are all part of the same definition - a way for students to make fun of, demoralize, or destroy the ego of a fellow peer.  The creation of the internet has just made another medium for the students that have a bully mentality to use in their practice.  And because the internet can create a more private portal for bullying (the ability to hide a screen, play on a PC in private, secrete or stolen identity, etc) it is even harder to find and catch those students that participate in bullying.  I was a bully in 6th grade, I did it due to a lack of friends and wanting to lash out at those students I wished were my friends.  Some students do it because they think it is fun and get enjoyment out of others suffering.  Still others participate because it is modeled by parents and siblings at home.  The ability to find and stop those that bully will probably never end, it is like war, there is always someone who just has that desire to fire a missal.  The important thing to remember is effectively employing our kids and students with the knowledge of what cyberbullying is and what to do if it happens will help protect them and potential stop others from performing the act in the future.

Chapter 11

Chapter 11 is a wrap up chapter of the book.  Is goes over various rules that have been stated regarding internet and technology usage by students and to some extents faculty within the limits of a school.  The main thing to remember is that the school is not over activities that happen outside of the school unless they specifically apply or effect the school, and that the school is not allowed to take away the freedoms of students.  Students have freedoms like the first amendment, but they are limited in nature regarding the age and maturity level of the student.  Schools still do have some covering on students that violate policy.  There are limited cases when a school can sensor student internet activity, usually when it can cause harm to the school or other students.  Other rules include those that link over to standard everyday rules like lewd and obscene language is not allowed in any online activity.  Finally any criminal activity that takes place on the internet, whether in school or out of school is punishable.  Just because it is the internet, does not mean that there is a blanket protection coverage or the ability to go anonymous.  

Rules are incredibly important part of any social activity.  There are standard rules that most students know to follow and generally do without any issue.  These are rules that have been stated throughout the book.  Then there are rules that a small portion of the population need to be concerned about.  These are the activities that are meditated or are outside of a standard mis-conduct.  This chapter focused more on these activities.  In general most students know that posting lewd acts on the internet is not allowed because it is not allowed in standard classroom practice either.  Some students, however, are already pushing the limits in the classroom as to acceptable behavior, and they more then likely will stretch the limits with online behavior as well.  Having rules set aside to discipline and refer to with these students are necessary so they do not get away with inappropriate activity.  Because the students that act inappropriately in standard classroom environments will probably also act inappropriately on the internet, it is easy to know who needs to be watched and monitored.  These rules are in place to protect their well-being as well as the well being of other students and the school in general.  It is unfortunate that we have to have these types of rules, but it is also unfortunate that we need so many prisons - they seem to go hand in hand.

Chapter 9

Chapter 9 deals with different types of contracts and policies must be looked at when adding technology to a school situation.  Like with any other item that is used in education today, guidelines and rules must be made to prohibit certain actions and to punish those people who do not follow the rules.  Because the internet is expanding at such a rapid rate, and it is much more difficult to oversee the activities done by students, the verbage in these types of contracts is very important so that a variety of different situations are covered.  In the policy documents that exist, it is important to create a standard of conduct that needs to be followed when using technology - especially technology that will have the name of the school or organization attached to it.  This becomes an image of the organization and a bad image is hard to erase.  Using a school webpage to post pictures of a party is no different then wearing the shirt for the elementary school you teach at to the bar - both can be seen by many people and can create a negative image.  

This chapter didn't necessarily touch on this issue, but it is one that I have thought about since the beginning of this class, and with the increase of school violence and shootings in America lately.  The world wide web, email, and internet technology creates a much more public image of schools today then existed pre-1990.  I wonder what the impact of the increased visibility of schools, school happenings, and the people of the school has done to the safety of the schools and students.  We read about an activity earlier in the book where a teacher let students into the hallway to record a YouTube video.  I have heard of several schools that go into a lockdown mode after the first bell since the Newtown incident, not allowing students into the hallways unaccompanied.  This is one concern with increasing technology - where will it happen if we fear the world around us?  Also by constantly putting more information on the web, you are providing more information about the private lives of the students - even a picture in a YouTube video can give an angry parent a location in the building or a school to target.  I think with the new critical push on school security that it should be defined in relation to this new use of technology.

Chapter 3

Chapter 3 starts to look at a problem that comes up any time change is introduced into an environment. How do you incorporate the change into your current daily set up in a fairly seamless manner and help those that have problems incorporating change into their day lives.  In most classrooms and schools, technology is not a prominent teaching tool.  This chapter took some time to look at effective ways to integrate new ideas into the classroom and the school.  These included CBAM models which help faculty go through a process of accepting the new technology on a personal level, and public level, and a group level; professional development for the faculty so they can understand the equipment they have been giving and how to integrate it into classroom learning and how to use it; and having a committee that spear heads the change of technology.  This committee is important for helping administrators see the importance of new technology in the classrooms, for organizing professional development seminars, and helping those that are resistant to change adapt better.  The end of the chapter touches briefly on how to incorporate technology into our daily lesson planning in an effective manner, not just as a markerboard that can be plugged into the wall.  

Getting people to actually accept and start using technology seems to be one of the toughest things for people in any job to do.  In my current job I see this in several different ways.  In my office, people are resistant to updated technology that changes the way that they currently are comfortable with doing things.  While the main reason is a comfort with the known, there is also the idea of trying to find the time to learn the newer technology and the loss of productivity during this time.  The next thing I see is the integration of technology into the classroom and the resistance on many levels that is meet with.  At one school district I am working with we were trying to decide if each room was going to have a SmartBoard in it.  When we asked the facility manager he said that only the teachers who would gotten this technology would bring them in, that not everyone would have one.  In this case you have some classrooms with more technology then other classrooms and the difficulty of placing the technology and the proper infrastructure for it in the correct areas.  In my opinion if a district is spending the time and money to build new buildings, they should go ahead and put the technology in now and let the building be a part of the future of learning.  Finally I see the technology that is placed in the rooms and how the teachers are currently using it.  Through my observations at work or for school I have seen teachers that have technology but no place to plug it into, teachers that don't know how to use the technology to it's full potential, teachers that were given the technology but have no intention of using it, and everything in between.  I think this chapter was a great starting point on what we need to do to encourage change and the steps needed to make it happen.  Whether it be direction from above, a group of respected faculty that help with the transition, or a number of different option - there needs to be a plan for the change to make it happen.

Chapter 8

Chapter 8 focuses on assessment in schools, especially in the light of increased technology and a change to a partnering style of pedagogy over standard teacher instruction.  Schools have been and always will be about testing, especially standardized testing that compares students from schools across the nation and the world.  There are varying levels of assessment that can be done for students including formative providing feedback, ipsative trying to better previous attempts, peer where other students assess their peers work, real-world where students share there work with a global audience, self-assessment where you look at your own work and make decisions on what can be done better, assessment where students can use the technology tools that they use in their daily lives like cell phones or ipads, and summative assessment which is the standard testing of knowledge.  Outside of assessing students, teachers should assess themselves to see how effectively they are reaching students and how their students are reacting to the partnering that is being done.  Administration should also be assessed for how effectively they are supporting a 21st century learning environment and the growth rates in their districts and how effectively it is being implemented. Finally teachers should be assessing parents of their students and how they are reacting to partnering.  Parents are usually worried about what their students are learning and the way they are learning compared to how they were taught.  Keeping parents in the loop of the classroom will ensure that they know what their kids are doing and help to curtail any possible issues.

One thing that I really agreed with in this chapter was the portion where he discussed the role of standardized testing in comparing American students to students in other countries.  I have always thought that it was ridiculous that government is so concerned with numbers from a one day high-stakes test.  How a child or group of schools compares to another group of schools on simple summative questions will never give  a true relationship of how the students compare in real life.  While one country may have great testing rates, they may also have the largest drop out rate of college because students decide that living off the government or working in a blue collar job is more productive.  The actual outcomes of the countries are the true comparison points that should be looked at.  Which countries are more innovative and create more new things, what countries have the highest employment per capita and the most productive use of resources.  These are items that can be assessed and given a true weight of worth, students testing only gives a false sense of truth. One reason I truly hope that CCSS turn out to work for education is that it will change our perception of summative assessment to a more real-world and application style of assessment that will truly tell teachers, parents, administrators and the world how effective our education is.  If CCSS is truly designed effectively then hopefully this type of testing will come to the forefront and we will steer away from high stakes uneffective testing.

Common Core State Standards

Last semester I had a class that looked into issues affecting elementary school classrooms, and one of the issues that we looked into was Common Core standards. We looked at how they differ from the current standards, how they are already being integrated into our classrooms and curriculum, and what it means for the future.

From my understanding, the main idea behind CCSS is to focus on enriched knowledge and learning as opposed to rote learning.  The current state standards focus on students memorizing large amounts of facts and then taking high stakes tests at the end of the year that require them to regurgitate the knowledge.  CCSS focus instead on the student learning proper research and learning schools on more broad range subject manner which will help them understand in the future how to find the answers to questions and how to learn more about the answers instead of the basic facts. (ie - knowing that the Civil War happened in the late 1800s versus learning that the Civil War was between the northern and southern states in the Union and was fought primarily over slavery and who won the war and the impact it had on our nation.  The second concept gives a much broader view of the Civil War not a focus on the date.)  CCSS standards also focus on greater writing and language arts skills and the use of writing in all subject areas.  There will still be high stakes testing involved with CCSS, but instead of the focus being on memorized knowledge, it will instead be on the students ability to reason, make inferences about facts given, and draw conclusions to find the correct answers.

I love the ideas behind CCSS, and I hope that this becomes a great change to the way that our educational system is run.  NCLB did incredible damage to our school systems in the early years of the 21st century, and there will more then likely be a generation of students that hate school, hate testing, and will not further their education as much as in the past because they do not have a good view of schooling.  CCSS appears to help students find the long term needs for life long learning and learning skills that will be used throughout their life.  I worry how well it will be implemented into our schools however.  Those currently in teacher prep programs that are being taught how to teach to CCSS standards will transition seamlessly.  However teachers that have only taught under a rote learning system will have problems transitioning and helping their students understand how to make the transition.  Also students who are in high school and have spent their entire lives in a rote learning atmosphere will suddenly be forced to rethink the entire way that they learn.  This system can only be effective if it is properly received and implemented into our schools, and I believe that the shift to 21st century classrooms will help make this easier.

I am excited to start teaching in the schools and to use the ideals behind CCSS.  I think that the lesson planning and time spent in the classroom working on projects will be more time intensive then in the past, but since I do not have the past to influence me I will not know the difference.  I think we have the opportunity to show students how fun learning can be and to greatly enrich their experience in school if we do this effectively.