Bitter Sweet Reflection

As I continue to journey through this ever changing world of technology I must reflect on my experiences. I decided to make this week’s post a short one . This course has been a wonderful experience, I have learned so much. It is said that “Nothing which has entered into our experience is ever lost.~ and that “Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.~(Auguste Rodin) I certainly plan to use every bit of information gained from this course not only as a means of professional growth but as ammunition to engage my students.

 I started the course with an idea of what we would be doing and was extremely terrified about failing as I am no technology guru. It is now the end of the course and I am proud of myself; I did well. There are, of course, many areas of technology that still elude me, but I’ve definitely gained ground. This gain in proficiency has helped me become less fearful of using technology in the classroom.  Our facilitator Dr. Watwood has taught us that technology isn’t going anywhere and so we might as well get with the program.

By no means were we spoon fed in this course; the weekly blogs had us researching and reading on whatever the topic was; and although quite time consuming at times, the experience prove to be very informative and helped me significantly as a professional. The lessons on Web 2.0 tools and me learning to create a web tutorial was amazing. I feel much more confident now that I can use these tools to promote learning and to help students that are struggling.  I may never be a tech guru, but it’s great to feel at least competent.

What would I change?

I think although I am now more aware of the various Web 2.0 tools available it would have helped me more to do more “application based “activities - after all, if we are going to be administrators we should not only be equipped to judge teachers on what they are or are not doing, but also to give meaningful suggestions and possible relevant trainings. I thought the course would have been more of me learning to utilize more computer programs and getting more hands on in terms of actually using the computer and learning more about it.

The blogs gave insights into what was and is happening in terms of technology, the horizon report for me was a real eye opener in terms of what is to come. Although we had the “option”, I would have loved to see a lot more video and voice post being utilized; a suggestion would be probably make it a requirement to create at least two of each for the duration of the course. One of our first assignments was to create a delicious account; surprisingly we didn't do much with that at all. I would have loved to see it used more and to see colleagues sharing more of the sites the visited and found interesting. To be honest I bookmarked twice using delicious, I guess I found it easier to use “my favorites”

In closing I want to say thank you Dr Watwood for giving us insights as to what is out there in terms of technology, you have certainly heighten my curiosity with regards to technology and has boost my confidence in its use. I also want to say thank you to my colleagues for sharing their thoughts and views on my blog pages. I hope to still blog and even gain new followers as I share interesting thoughts, views and concerns with them.

I leave you guys this week with the following  inspirational quotes.

Have a blessed holiday everyone. See you in Cyber space in 2011. 

Visionary High School's Three Year Technology Plan - Group One

The following is a link to our technology plan.

http://www.slideshare.net/walshdavisjm/final-draft-tech-plangroup-work-1-6200751

The Future of Technology in Teaching

There are many systems and tools available in today’s marketplace that can help administrators and faculty to be successful in their everyday roles of educating students. With the topic of emerging issues in mind I decided this week to journey though the internet and research just how far some of these technologies have reached in terms of their use in modern day classrooms.

The 2010 tech report predicted six emerging technology. I decided to focus on cloud computing and ebooks; these I believe will have positive financial impact on school in school divisions as many administrators are faced with budget cuts.  

Many schools are beginning to develop pilot programs to test these new technologies based the 2-3 year prediction made in the report. It is my view that it is important for both administrators and teachers to recognize the potential for these technologies to help them be more efficient and more effective in their day to day operations

E-Books

Electronic textbooks are usually accessed either through an online server or are downloaded to student laptops. More and more school districts are replacing traditional textbooks with electronic versions, and a few have decide on eliminating textbooks altogether. Many researchers believe using e-books will better prepare students for college and the workplace; several universities including students at Arizona State University, Case Western Reserve University among other. Recently the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia has gone on board by participating in a trial program to have students use ebooks. Many school administrators at the University level are exploring if electronic books are a good fit for higher education.  The aim for many of these colleges is to find a way to reduce the costs of textbooks for students. In terms of high schools, I was surprised to find that many school counties had already begun pilot programs to test out this technology; For example Isle of Wright County Schools in Virginia spent more than $55,000 this summer provide students with Apple iTouch iPods to have access to eBooks in the event they get sick and have to miss a few days of school. Teachers of Hardy Elementary School in Smithfield Virginia  have been using the technology as well.

In North Texas, Plano and Irving schools are introducing e-books into a few classrooms. Midland Independent School district  is also moving away from textbooks entirely and using online resources. One remarkable finding while I research the topic was Philadelphia's School of the Future, designed by Bill Gates' Microsoft crew,  opened in 2006 without a single textbooks – each student had a laptop, today all books used are online.

ü  EBooks are delivered almost instantaneously.

ü  Eco-friendly

ü  EBooks take up less space/stored virtually

ü  . EBooks are portable.

ü   You can easily search for any information in an eBook, instead of turning page after page.

ü  EBooks can be interactive and contain audio, video and animations, which can enhance the message that the author is trying to convey and enhance understanding for students

Cloud Computing

 Cloud computing is another big thing. This technology I believe has significant benefits mainly because of its potential to reduce hardware and software costs for both schools and districts. Cloud computing is using virtualization and various other technologies to share computer hardware and software resources on the internet A new set of recommendations to improve the school system recently released by the U.S. Department of Education advocate for educators to implement cloud computing solutions to improve the way students learn. The national education plan - entitled Transforming Education: Learning Powered by Technology - stresses that "21st century learning" is important for school districts and that cloud computing is one way of achieving this.

Cloud computing has already made an impact for some high school students. An article in Info World  last year examined the creation of Minnesota's Online High School, a public school using cloud computing to educate students across the state.

Check out this video of three teachers from Keith Valley Middle school using cloud technology.

Other benefits of using Cloud Computing:

• Reduced and/or simplified expenditure on software licensing
• Decreased reliance on school-based IT staff – fewer applications hosted locally means less to do for school-based technical staff
• Enabling greater access for students and staff
• Reduce/eliminate problems associated with software version control and updates
• Cost effective.
• Allows for greater experimentation,- more web 2.0 tools can be explored without the common restrictions-
• Reduce barriers to participation, contribution, sharing.
• Allow Sharing and collaborating between students.

Credit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpZZ5vibP6s

http://www.booksonboard.com/landing.php?ebooks-audio-books

http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2010/chapters/trends/

http://www.microsoft.com/education/schoolofthefuture/overview.aspx

Technology and Teachers

Educational technology has become a driving force in the classroom over the past decade. It is unquestionable that whatever aspect of education you may find yourself in, it is often difficult to catch up, keep up, and put up with fast-moving technology which we are expected to use on a daily basis.  Today, not only do we use computers, but there are countless other technology gadgets at our finger tips; we have cell phones that can work wonders, motion sensor technology, and electronic books among others. Currently, most educators use a variety of tools-including video, e-mail, desktop conferencing, online programs as well as video conferencing-to teach. Consequently, it is no longer acceptable for educators to be technology illiterate. As computer and associated technologies continue to change and evolve, educators must continue to strive for excellence in their work. Today, that includes continued time and effort to maintain and improve their technology skills. Unfortunately in this day and age some teachers still do not accept change easily and many schools find it difficult to get teachers to invest time in the use of some of these technologies even though the benefits outweigh time invested.

Having checked out Will Robinson's blog post (URGENT: 21st Century Skills for Educators (and Others) First), I totally agree with his comment, "how in god’s name can we talk seriously about 21st Century skills for kids if we’re not talking 21st Century skills for educators first?".  As I reflect on the horizon report with these countless new and emerging technology I cant help being in total agreement. One of my fears is that as educators we are not ready for some of these technologies, and it is my opinion that some of us won’t be ready until we receive some formal training and even then there is no guarantee that we will totally get it.

It should not be ok to allow teachers to play catch-up with today’s technology especially with the pressures of accountability and No Child Left Behind mandate. The reality is that  as teachers many of our philosophies talk about being “life long learners”, and how we want to develop our students drive for learning and exploring, but are we doing that for ourselves?. It is my view that we become total hypocrites if we put on a facade for our students and parents about the importance of learning new things when we ourselves refuse to trod the waters.

Scott McLeod's slide which states "Given the realities of our modern age and the demands of our children's future, is it really okay to allow teachers to choose whether or not they incorporate digital technologies into their instruction" poses an interesting question; the fact is that we already don’t have a choice. No child left behind has already outlined this fact; it is expected that teachers use technology and know about these technology to enhance student learning. How then can we be effective if some are able to choose not to use technology?

Recently, I had the opportunity to sit in a conference with my school principal to discuss the new appraisal instrument used for assessment of teachers; high on the list is the use of technology in classroom. I was informed that a PowerPoint presentation was not seen as “accomplished or proficient” on the scale but was in fact “developing” (the lower end of the scale). In other words we need to be moving far beyond the basic and start engaging our students with the use of current technology. Hence, the technology must be in the hands of the students, and yes we need to know how to use it.

With that said I also believe that faculty development is a critical component of any technology plan.  School district and administrators should establish partnerships for assessing and delivering effective technology training to assist educators as they help students achieve high academic standards. It is their job to provide professional development strategies that ensures staff knows how to use new technologies to improve education.  Professional Development training is the general method of increasing this knowledge and as such must be included in the schools tech plan. I am well aware that there are of course self‐ learners of technology, that given resources and opportunity are able to manipulate the use of various technology and learn as they go, but what about the majority? Should this be left up to chance?

 I am not saying we should just sit around and wait for training… after all we should be driven enough to want to learn about these new technologies; but there must be some formal training developed within the school to assist teachers in carrying out the best possible instruction using technology with their students. Many are of the view that it is not the technology that should be of importance but the teacher. There is no doubt that there are many excellent teachers who can achieve the goal of having students pass the “state exams” without using “advanced technology”, the question is, is this the only thing that school is about, getting students to pass exams?

John Dewey (1859-1952) suggests that all decisions about education should be made within the context of the society. In other words, the society of the 21^st Century is ever evolving in the use of technology and so as educators we too must be evolving in its use if we are truly to prepare our students for taking their place the wider society.

The 2010 Horizon Report: What does it mean for Educators.

2010 Horizon Report: Key Emerging Technologies

View more presentations from New Media Consortium.

 It is amazing how far we have come in terms of technological developments and to think the Jetsons had it all J. In my review of the   Horizon Report, I was surprised to see the many new educational technologies that are out there and are being used; to be honest, as an educator I felt unprepared and overwhelmed. The 2010 Horizon report is the latest in a series of influential yearly publications identifying technologies that are likely to have an impact on teaching, learning, research or creative expression in education around the globe within the next five years.  The report in each of its edition identifies six budding technologies or practices that are likely to enter mainstream use in schools within three adoption horizons spread.  Each report also express critical trends and challenges that will affect teaching and learning over the same time frame.  The Report addresses four trends as key drivers of learning technology from now until 2015. These trends include: A transition from shortage to abundance in both learning content and the ability to connect people and materials via the Web, the expectations of anytime/anywhere learning opportunities, the move away from a centrally managed and controlled information technology infrastructure to cloud based learning and collaboration tools and the emergence of a social learning model that emphasizes collaboration and inter-disciplinary work.  In addition to these key drivers, the report goes on to identify four critical challenges to higher education. These challenges include: the need to insure that higher education prepares students for systematic and creative work and the need to instill digital media literacy as a core competency across disciplines for all students. From these trends and challenges a set of six technologies to observe emerge….. Mobile computing, Open contents, augmented reality, Electronic books, Gesture based computing, Visual Data Analysis.

The Horizon Report provides very valuable insight into emerging trends for educational technologies and in helping educational planners.  Based on the report I believe proactive educational leaders can benefit significantly from the Horizon Report methodologies, creating a structured opportunity for colleagues to discuss the most important trends and learning technologies.

It is evident that the use of computer technology and the growing access to educational resources through the Internet are requiring educators to rethink how they teach and help students to prepare for life and to work in the coming decades. What was even more evident is that as teachers we’re really not ready. We are logging behind in the use of these technologies that are available and the thought is scary, especially when I think of schools like mine. The reality is we are preparing these children for technology we don’t yet know about, for jobs that don’t even exist as yet. 

In examining the Report I had a lot of questions….Mobile computing, Open contents, Augmented reality, Electronic books, Gesture based computing, Visual Data Analysis…..are we prepared as educators? Are we familiarizing ourselves with these technological advances or are we hanging on to old habits? Educators have been under increasing pressure to learn how to teach about and teach with new technological tools. Over the past 15 years, the typical workplace has been transformed by computer technology, are our kids ready?

  

The guiding mission of the North Carolina State Board of Education is that every public school student will graduate from high school, globally competitive for work and postsecondary education and prepared for life in the 21st century. But how are we doing this? Currently all software installation is done by the county office. How are we entrusted to prepare students for 21^st century we aren’t even allowed to install simple computer software. I looked at one of their main objectives “Every student will be enrolled in a course of study designed to prepare them to stay ahead of international competition”. http://www.ncptsc.org/boardrecsandgoals.pdf and thought of countries like China and India, who are far ahead of the game compared to America in terms of preparing their kids for the future. In assessing the current system I believe we spend so much time focusing on the wrong things. To really be serious we need to be moving with the technology rather than playing catch up. This report was an eye opener.

Credits:

http://www.ncptsc.org/boardrecsandgoals.pdf

http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2010/chapters/methodology/

http://www.tv.com/the-jetsons/show/3723/summary.html

http://www.nmc.org/publications/horizon

http://www.slideshare.net/nmc/2010-horizon-report-key-emerging-technologies

http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology_and_learning

School Boards and Technology

The National Ed Tech Plan,  places educational technology within the proper context of reforming education and better preparing our youth to lead productive and successful lives in the 21st century.    It addresses the critical issue of using technology to provide more assessment data to teachers and educational leader. It also focuses on the infrastructure that will be needed to accomplish all of this, including what it calls individual “access devices” for students and teachers.  Much attention is also put to preparation of teachers to promote 21st century learning, and the ways that technology can assist this preparation.  I believe this has an impact on local boards in that their plans need to foster the development of these goals in helping students to become successful in today’s classrooms.

             In the minds of many citizens, school boards have considerable influence over educational decisions and provide a key social and political connection to the schooling process. School boards play a vital role in the governance of local public education. It is the individuals on these school boards who ensure that local schools are held to the highest standards and reflect the community values in the learning and instruction that take place. Therefore these people should be abreast with the latest technology and its impact on 21^st century learning. If you are to make meaningful decision about technology you should at least know about it and its impact on teachers and students in the classroom. By state legislative enactment, school boards are delegated power and authority to develop policies, rules, and regulations to control the operation of the schools. My concern is that a lot of these policies or regulations that they put in place are done without proper thought on the underlined impact of such decision. Consequently it is the community, teachers and students who suffer.

        At present, my county seems to have a powerful local board. The members are known to be no nonsense “go getters”.  A lot of their policies however need to be amended.  I strongly believe that the school board should represent a continuing commitment to local citizen as they control decision-making in education. There job is to establish school district goals and advocating on behalf of students and schools. With that said, there job is to help the schools be effective. I look at the whole system as one big chain reaction from the White house all the way down. If the national plan includes the use of technology then the local board needs to include policies that empowers the schools use these technologies in whatever way they think will encourage student development. I find that a lot of the restrictions that are now present in the current system are based on board decision. These decisions are by people who aren’t in the classroom and to my surprise, sometimes people who aren’t even educators. School boards should look out for students.  When making decisions about school programs, school boards should incorporate their community’s view of what students should know and be able to do and not just make decisions based on their own beliefs.   As the education “watchdog” for their communities, local boards should ensure that students get the best education.

The board is responsible for putting in place the proper keystones for students to learn and achieve at the highest level possible. As such they should be key stakeholders in technology planning and implementation in order to help students reach their fullest potential. Boards should give teachers and administrators the opportunity to recognize what’s developmentally appropriate in terms of technology use; and encourage students exploring and playing in digital sandboxes hence giving them opportunities to become ethical digital citizens.

            Schools should definitely educate their boards about the web in schools. I don’t see how we can teach kids 21st-century values if we are not teaching them digital citizenship and appropriate ways of sharing and using everything that’s available on the Web.  Who best to educate about these “web tools” than the policy makers themselves? These policy makers need to understand that it is hard to teach students Internet etiquette or rules of how to act and interact online without exposing them to the stuff that is out there; it is hard to teach those things in a vacuum.

Internet Censorship in Schools

Preventing access to unwelcome websites has been common government tactics in countries like China, Iran, Saudi Arabia who have extend greater censorship over the net than any other country in the world. Most of the blocked sites are about sex, religion, women, health, politics and pop culture. Social sites such  Google News, Blogger blogs, YouTube, Facebook, Myspace, Orkut, MySpace, Pandora, Yahoo! Messenger, Flickr etc. are also blocked as well. If these countries see the need to protect their people from these sites by restricting them, then we must, to an extent, protect the children we are responsible for from some of these sites, by restricting their use especially while on school grounds.

The Restricted Internet Options basically controls the access privilege of certain internet pages. It is all about the system administrator allowing visits to few websites and preventing the rest. For many schools this is based on the Children’s Internet Protection Act of 1999. The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) is a federal law enacted by Congress to address concerns about access to offensive content over the Internet on school and library computers. In essence, the act (http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/cipa.html ) call for all school libraries receiving federal funds to put in and use blocking/filtering software to stop students from viewing material considered destructive.  It is believed that without restriction on some of these sites students are less likely  to concentrate on what they are being taught; schools therefore need to be careful about what they allow students to access on school grounds.

In researching for this blog I was surprised to find how many people were of the opinion that filtering the web restricts the flow of knowledge, restraints education and creates a society where free thought is feared, not encouraged; one article suggested that “censoring produces a generation of people that are a product of Government endorsed information”  It is my view however that blocking websites is a great way for the schools to secure the fact that their laptops and computers are being used for educational purposes only. Think of all the illegal downloading, emailing, gaming, instant messaging, and other explicit material they could access without the filter. Interestingly, research has proven that attempts at censoring ideas often add to the attraction of the targeted materials, which, in turn, has often given them a greater audience. Students are coming up with new ways to evade censorware, evident in the numerous websites geared at teaching students how to bypass restrictions. This means that we’re not stopping kids from doing mischievous things online but in fact motivating them to keep their network activity hidden from the educators who are supposed to be helping them navigate the information age.

While I believe that censorship in school are necessary, sites that provide meaningful information for students shouldn’t be blocked. The problem I find is that there are often some sites that will get blocked that shouldn’t be; sites such as those that really educate about drugs, sex and violence. Needless to say various types of mandated filtering software now eliminates sources of information for students using library and school computers for research papers and projects. Students who can afford home computers end up with an advantage, since more resources are available. We need to be cognizance of the fact that computers are tools, and as tools, they can be used properly or improperly. As teachers we have the responsibility to put things in place to protect the students from themselves.  Students don't need to be checking facebook, watching youtube, or chatting on IM during  class. In the same breath, there are numerous programs online that can improve their academic performance. Similarly, sites like smart.fm are genuinely useful for learning languages.

For many teachers the filtering of internet information can be annoying and frustrating. Personally, even  trying to find a recipe online at work can prove to be a hassle. The problem lies in the fact that censorship efforts may impact readily available materials, given the internet's potential to instantly redirect, encrypt, and repackage information. A few such cases were noted for English teachers who kept getting blocked trying to access the book “Moby Dick” online.  There is also instance a school's systems security manager blocked the social bookmarking site delicous.com reason being that it can be use to search for porn.

I believe that teachers should have different access to the internet than the students, which would allow them to access educational sites other than those listed by the school and to also decide the extent to which they can use things like web 2.0 tools to make the learning experience more fun for their students. The reality is that we can’t be expected to increase the use of technology in classrooms as mandated by “No Child Left Behind” if we are going to be restricted on where we can source our information; we can’t be expected to creatively reach our students with the technology they are exposed to outside of school if we ourselves cant access it within the walls of the school.

As government and schools continues to rationalize censoring internet in schools as a way to “protect” the students, inevitably the only real solution is to educate the students as to how to critically, and even morally evaluate the sea of information that is now instantly available from around the world. With adequate education and information there should be no fear. To say “it is forbidden” is not enough, we have to be able to clearly, rationally, and convincingly justify our resistance."Given the limitations of filtering technology, the best way to protect children is to teach them how to use the Internet. A software program simply cannot do that" (New York Time 1998).


Credits
http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Bypass-Internet-Restrictions-From-School-Or-Work&id=730214

http://www.delicious.com/

http://smart.fm/?ul=en

http://www.nytimes.com/

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/cipa.html