Since this week is the topic of collaboration, it is important to remember that collaboration can be teacher and technology working together. A perfect example of this is utilizing some type of data tool to assess the students. This week, I had the opportunity to discuss with three different teachers how they utilize student data to help them. Below is my discoveries and realizations:
Student Data and Technology at a Glance
Friday, February 10, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Collaboration Tools...how can they help?
Since the topic of choice this week is Collaboration, I took some time to investigate a variety of collaboration tools that are available. As I established in an earlier post, my definition of collaboration is working with another person or integrating a technological tool. So, I decided to look at both ways. When it comes to collaborating with another person, it is vital to communicate. Using a collaboration template may help with the communication piece. As for integrating technology, there are hundreds of websites that contain free lesson plans for all grade levels, content, technology integration, and multidisciplinary opportunities.
When working with another teacher or some type of specialist, it is important to know the purpose for the collaboration as well as each other's roles. There are many different types of templates that teachers to use as a way to communicate with the other collaborating partners. Regis University happens to have an great guideline as to writing lessons (see link).
Regis' Guide to Lesson Planning
However for collaborating, I thought the Collaborative Lesson Plan Organizer was the best (see link).
Collaborative Lesson Plan Organizer
This particular graphic organizer seemed to have all the components I would consider when designing a lesson. The first thing I always think about when creating a lesson is the standards I would cover. This organizer not only asks for subject standards, but it also asks for the technology standards. To be honest, I never have really thought about the technology standards until this year. By having that component in the lesson plan template will help keep those standards in my mind as much as my subject standards. The best part of the template is the fact it also wants you to decide which 21st Century skills will also be covered using Bloom's Taxonomy. Being that we are all educators of 21st Century Learners, this may help some of the veteran teachers remember to include these type of skills in lessons. The Collaborative Lesson Plan Organizer also lists things such as materials needed , type of technological resources needed, and the activities and assessments the students will complete. The only thing I would like to add to this particular organizer is the an area for the partners to write what each of their roles will be in the lesson. For example, the lesson I'm currently designing with my librarian will require her to teach the students how to use the software while I'm responsible to guiding the students research. Within in the organizer, I don't have a place to write these responsibilities, so I plan to add that for my own personal use.
Along with working with others, another form of collaboration is the ability to integrate technology into lesson plans. This is fairly easy due to the amount of resources that are available for educators. This week, I took some time to "google" lesson plans with technology for middle school science. Within my search, there was 82,400,000 results! Of course not all of these sources will be reliable or exactly what I want; however, the fact there are this many results made me realize how easy it is to find lesson plans! Since I'm a middle school science teacher, I narrowed my search a little by focusing on just grades 6th-8th, particularly life science content. With this search, my results was a little more narrowed; however, it still provided me with over 10 million choices. The key is to take the time to really focus your search to your content standards as well as the technology standards. Even with a narrowed focus, there will still be hundreds of free lesson plans available! Some of my favorites that I found during this investigation are listed below:
Interactive Science Teacher
Lesson Plans (brought to you by Teacher Planet)
Lesson Planet
Internet4Classrooms (7th Grade Science)
Read Write Think
21st CenturyLibarian Forum (ideas!)
When working with another teacher or some type of specialist, it is important to know the purpose for the collaboration as well as each other's roles. There are many different types of templates that teachers to use as a way to communicate with the other collaborating partners. Regis University happens to have an great guideline as to writing lessons (see link).
Regis' Guide to Lesson Planning
However for collaborating, I thought the Collaborative Lesson Plan Organizer was the best (see link).
Collaborative Lesson Plan Organizer
This particular graphic organizer seemed to have all the components I would consider when designing a lesson. The first thing I always think about when creating a lesson is the standards I would cover. This organizer not only asks for subject standards, but it also asks for the technology standards. To be honest, I never have really thought about the technology standards until this year. By having that component in the lesson plan template will help keep those standards in my mind as much as my subject standards. The best part of the template is the fact it also wants you to decide which 21st Century skills will also be covered using Bloom's Taxonomy. Being that we are all educators of 21st Century Learners, this may help some of the veteran teachers remember to include these type of skills in lessons. The Collaborative Lesson Plan Organizer also lists things such as materials needed , type of technological resources needed, and the activities and assessments the students will complete. The only thing I would like to add to this particular organizer is the an area for the partners to write what each of their roles will be in the lesson. For example, the lesson I'm currently designing with my librarian will require her to teach the students how to use the software while I'm responsible to guiding the students research. Within in the organizer, I don't have a place to write these responsibilities, so I plan to add that for my own personal use.
Along with working with others, another form of collaboration is the ability to integrate technology into lesson plans. This is fairly easy due to the amount of resources that are available for educators. This week, I took some time to "google" lesson plans with technology for middle school science. Within my search, there was 82,400,000 results! Of course not all of these sources will be reliable or exactly what I want; however, the fact there are this many results made me realize how easy it is to find lesson plans! Since I'm a middle school science teacher, I narrowed my search a little by focusing on just grades 6th-8th, particularly life science content. With this search, my results was a little more narrowed; however, it still provided me with over 10 million choices. The key is to take the time to really focus your search to your content standards as well as the technology standards. Even with a narrowed focus, there will still be hundreds of free lesson plans available! Some of my favorites that I found during this investigation are listed below:
Interactive Science Teacher
Lesson Plans (brought to you by Teacher Planet)
Lesson Planet
Internet4Classrooms (7th Grade Science)
Read Write Think
21st CenturyLibarian Forum (ideas!)
Monday, February 6, 2012
Definition of Collaboration (Others & My Own)
Dictionary.com defines Collaboration to work with one to another. Roblyer defines Collaboration to be work with one another as well as a integrating technology. My definition of the term is the two of these definitions combined.
In education, collaboration is the truly one of the best ways to become a successful teacher. It is vital to work with fellow teachers. We not only have to rely on one other for certain tasks, but we also need to use those with more experience. When I became a teacher, I relied on my cooperating teacher to help guide me to find my way. Due to her experience, I was able to develop great classroom management skills as well as designing innovative lesson plans. Now, that I don't have a cooperating teacher with me anymore, I have to rely on other resources. My teammates have become crucial when it comes to integrating subjects and classroom behavior; however, the internet has also become one of most reliable resources to create lesson plans. Being that we are all educators to 21st Century Learners, it is important for us to use strategies such as collaboration to create a successful learning experiences for our students.
When it comes to collaboration, it can happen in a variety of ways. Collaboration can happen within intrapersonal exchanges. Roblyer described these to methods of communicating via technology. Examples of this would be email exchanges among teachers/students and teachers and parents. Students can conduct cooperative learning through problem solving, simulated activities, and data analysis with webquests or other online activities. Over the last few years, Google Docs has become a popular way to submit work online and share with teachers and other students. The internet has changed collaboration to include other ways than just sitting next to each other to do a project or talking with one another. It can now be done virtually.
Not only does the internet change ways for students to collaborate, but it has completely changed for teachers. The main source of communication among teachers is email. For me, it has become second nature to check my school email every free moment I can. Along with email, there are blogs, wikis, and sites dedicated to just teachers. Within in a few clicks of a mouse or keyboard, I'm able to find countless lesson plans or ideas that are pertaining to my subject area. Sometimes, it can feel overwhelming how much is available. The key is to recognize how to use it.
At the middle school level, the teachers rely on technology as well as each other. For example, my teammates and I try to integrate writing across the curriculum. In order for this to happen, we definitely need to collaborate with one another. Usually, the Language Arts teacher will help us create common key concepts, communicate these concepts to us virtually, and the rest of us integrate them into our subject areas. An example of this is how I had the student read an article about declining pollinators and had to create an nonlinguistic representation of the article. The Language Arts had taught this skill to the students the day before, and she let me know via email. Then I was able to assess the students knowledge of the concept in Science.
Along with my teammates, I rely heavily on my Librarian and Technology Specialist. As expressed in the brochure, Librarians do help students achieve standards in a variety of ways, Things such as providing materials for teachers, strategies to incorporate information literacy, and purchasing databases/software, can really enhance a teacher's curriculum. By collaborating with with my school's librarian and technology specialist, I've been able to enhance my lesson plans with technological components and cooperative learning skills. The librarian and I are currently in the process of designing a project using GoAnimate for my students disease project. In previous years, I've usually required my students to write a research paper, but this year, I will enhance the 21st Century Learning by revising the lesson to include technology. With the Librarian's help, I am able to learn how to use the program, have her expertise available to the students during class time, and develop a rubric that makes the project much more effective and purposeful than just a typical, boring research paper. As a way to make sure to communicate each other's role in this project, we are using the Collaboration Planning Organizer. This will record the standards, essential questions, technological resources, and purpose to each activity. By filling out this graphic organizer, it will create a cooperative learning experience for each student as well as for the teachers.
Personally, I believe the expectations to Collaboration are respect and communication. It is important to respect each other's time, ideas, and effort. When you respect each other's time, things have a tendency to be done in a more efficient manner. When you communicate well, it can really make something outstanding. Some of the best ways to communicate may be using a graphic organizer, lesson plan template, or web based strategy. By modeling this type of collaboration, the students are also able to learn the skills to collaborate.
Resources:
Collaborative lesson plan organizer. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.lrs.org/documents/lmcstudies/collab_plan_organizer.pdf
Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/collaborate
Lance, K., Rodney, M., & Hamilton-Pennwell, C. (n.d.). How school librarians. Retrieved from http://www.lrs.org/documents/lmcstudies/CO/CO2brochure.pdf
Roblyer, M.D., & Doering. A.H.(Ed.).(Recent edition). Integrating educational technology into teaching. Boston, MA: Allyn&Bacon.
In education, collaboration is the truly one of the best ways to become a successful teacher. It is vital to work with fellow teachers. We not only have to rely on one other for certain tasks, but we also need to use those with more experience. When I became a teacher, I relied on my cooperating teacher to help guide me to find my way. Due to her experience, I was able to develop great classroom management skills as well as designing innovative lesson plans. Now, that I don't have a cooperating teacher with me anymore, I have to rely on other resources. My teammates have become crucial when it comes to integrating subjects and classroom behavior; however, the internet has also become one of most reliable resources to create lesson plans. Being that we are all educators to 21st Century Learners, it is important for us to use strategies such as collaboration to create a successful learning experiences for our students.
When it comes to collaboration, it can happen in a variety of ways. Collaboration can happen within intrapersonal exchanges. Roblyer described these to methods of communicating via technology. Examples of this would be email exchanges among teachers/students and teachers and parents. Students can conduct cooperative learning through problem solving, simulated activities, and data analysis with webquests or other online activities. Over the last few years, Google Docs has become a popular way to submit work online and share with teachers and other students. The internet has changed collaboration to include other ways than just sitting next to each other to do a project or talking with one another. It can now be done virtually.
Not only does the internet change ways for students to collaborate, but it has completely changed for teachers. The main source of communication among teachers is email. For me, it has become second nature to check my school email every free moment I can. Along with email, there are blogs, wikis, and sites dedicated to just teachers. Within in a few clicks of a mouse or keyboard, I'm able to find countless lesson plans or ideas that are pertaining to my subject area. Sometimes, it can feel overwhelming how much is available. The key is to recognize how to use it.
At the middle school level, the teachers rely on technology as well as each other. For example, my teammates and I try to integrate writing across the curriculum. In order for this to happen, we definitely need to collaborate with one another. Usually, the Language Arts teacher will help us create common key concepts, communicate these concepts to us virtually, and the rest of us integrate them into our subject areas. An example of this is how I had the student read an article about declining pollinators and had to create an nonlinguistic representation of the article. The Language Arts had taught this skill to the students the day before, and she let me know via email. Then I was able to assess the students knowledge of the concept in Science.
Along with my teammates, I rely heavily on my Librarian and Technology Specialist. As expressed in the brochure, Librarians do help students achieve standards in a variety of ways, Things such as providing materials for teachers, strategies to incorporate information literacy, and purchasing databases/software, can really enhance a teacher's curriculum. By collaborating with with my school's librarian and technology specialist, I've been able to enhance my lesson plans with technological components and cooperative learning skills. The librarian and I are currently in the process of designing a project using GoAnimate for my students disease project. In previous years, I've usually required my students to write a research paper, but this year, I will enhance the 21st Century Learning by revising the lesson to include technology. With the Librarian's help, I am able to learn how to use the program, have her expertise available to the students during class time, and develop a rubric that makes the project much more effective and purposeful than just a typical, boring research paper. As a way to make sure to communicate each other's role in this project, we are using the Collaboration Planning Organizer. This will record the standards, essential questions, technological resources, and purpose to each activity. By filling out this graphic organizer, it will create a cooperative learning experience for each student as well as for the teachers.
Personally, I believe the expectations to Collaboration are respect and communication. It is important to respect each other's time, ideas, and effort. When you respect each other's time, things have a tendency to be done in a more efficient manner. When you communicate well, it can really make something outstanding. Some of the best ways to communicate may be using a graphic organizer, lesson plan template, or web based strategy. By modeling this type of collaboration, the students are also able to learn the skills to collaborate.
Resources:
Collaborative lesson plan organizer. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.lrs.org/documents/lmcstudies/collab_plan_organizer.pdf
Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/collaborate
Roblyer, M.D., & Doering. A.H.(Ed.).(Recent edition). Integrating educational technology into teaching. Boston, MA: Allyn&Bacon.
Updating some lesson with technology integration...
This week, I took the opportunity to investigate the importance of technology integration. If you read a few of my previous blogs, you will be able to find out my opinion on the subject as well as my critique of lesson that did integrate technology. Due to some of my new found knowledge, I took one of my own lesson plans and updated it to include technology. The second lesson is my revised version of the lesson I had critiqued earlier in the week.
Lesson 1: Circulatory System
Lesson 2: Conservation
Lesson 1: Circulatory System
Lesson 2: Conservation
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Online Learning...Is it a Good Thing?
This week, I took the opportunity to watch a video about online learning. Susan Patrick, the president and CEO of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) explains many different reasons why online learning provided better opportunities for students as well as educators. In this video she expressed how online learning enhances the instructional methods to meet each student needs, creating motivation in students, and increasing success of students.
Susan Patrick: Why Online Learning is a Smart Solution
The first point Susan Patrick discusses is the shortage of teachers available in critical subjects such as Physics. In fact, the State of Georgia has four hundred high schools and only eighty-nine Physics teachers. This makes it impossible for every high school to offer the subject. By providing online learning programs, students are able to access learning opportunities that may not be available to them in their high school. It also allows them a self-paced environment. Working one on one with a teacher online, allows students to work at his or her individual pace and still learn the same material as other students. Not only do the students get the chance to take a subject that may not be available at the school, the educators love the flexibility online learning provides.
Teachers are now able to teach classes that work with his or her free time as well as provides more one on one opportunities with students. Since the teachers are able to use their time differently, it provides the allotment to teach classes outside for the school times. Also, it allows retired teachers the possibility to continue teaching in the comfort of their own time and the amount of classes they prefer to teach. According to Roblyer's Summary of Elements, students need opportunities to study in unique ways, online learning provides this opportunity for students as well as teachers.
Due to this concept of online learning, it is important to provide the teachers with professional development. The best part about online learning is that it allows teachers increase productivity. They will be able to learn on their own time the new resources needed to integrate technology without taking time away from teaching the students. By providing these resources, teachers will be able to save time on lessons, save money on consumable materials, and provide feedback to students much faster.
I completely agree with Susan Patrick; online learning is great concept. Of course, I love my students, and I really enjoy connecting with them on a day to day basis. However, having the possibility to teach online classes may allow me to connect with more individuals across the state, country, and world! It allows me to work with some of my students that may need more one on one direction. I still enjoy the atmosphere of traditional school, however, online schooling is definitely something to think about...
Resources:
Roblyer, M.D., & Doering. A.H.(Ed.).(Recent edition). Integrating educational technology into teaching. Boston, MA: Allyn&Bacon.
Susan Patrick: Why Online Learning is a Smart Solution
The first point Susan Patrick discusses is the shortage of teachers available in critical subjects such as Physics. In fact, the State of Georgia has four hundred high schools and only eighty-nine Physics teachers. This makes it impossible for every high school to offer the subject. By providing online learning programs, students are able to access learning opportunities that may not be available to them in their high school. It also allows them a self-paced environment. Working one on one with a teacher online, allows students to work at his or her individual pace and still learn the same material as other students. Not only do the students get the chance to take a subject that may not be available at the school, the educators love the flexibility online learning provides.
Teachers are now able to teach classes that work with his or her free time as well as provides more one on one opportunities with students. Since the teachers are able to use their time differently, it provides the allotment to teach classes outside for the school times. Also, it allows retired teachers the possibility to continue teaching in the comfort of their own time and the amount of classes they prefer to teach. According to Roblyer's Summary of Elements, students need opportunities to study in unique ways, online learning provides this opportunity for students as well as teachers.
Due to this concept of online learning, it is important to provide the teachers with professional development. The best part about online learning is that it allows teachers increase productivity. They will be able to learn on their own time the new resources needed to integrate technology without taking time away from teaching the students. By providing these resources, teachers will be able to save time on lessons, save money on consumable materials, and provide feedback to students much faster.
I completely agree with Susan Patrick; online learning is great concept. Of course, I love my students, and I really enjoy connecting with them on a day to day basis. However, having the possibility to teach online classes may allow me to connect with more individuals across the state, country, and world! It allows me to work with some of my students that may need more one on one direction. I still enjoy the atmosphere of traditional school, however, online schooling is definitely something to think about...
Resources:
Roblyer, M.D., & Doering. A.H.(Ed.).(Recent edition). Integrating educational technology into teaching. Boston, MA: Allyn&Bacon.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Technology Integration in Lesson Planning
Last week, a website that showed four different examples of excellent teachers integrating technology into their classrooms. To recap, the following link will take you to these examples.
Classrooms at Work
This week, I took some time to re-look at these lesson plans, and analyze my own experiences of integrating technology into my classroom.One of the main reasons why I decided to go back to school and get my Master's in Integrating Technology is due to my desire to learn more! I've realized that this world has some new technology source come out on a regular basis. Software seems to be created on a daily basis and hardware on a monthly basis. The funniest thing I ever heard was from the Best Buy salesman. He informed me that my computer was now officially outdated the minute I bought it! Technology is the future, so I need and want to learn more to survive!
My hopes are to take examples such as the teachers in the link above and provide my students with a memorable learning experience. Of course, every teacher wants the "lightbulbs" to click on with students, but I also want to go beyond by giving them a great learning tool. The example I liked the most from the Classrooms at Work link was the 8th grade Wild Ride. This project idea really integrated three completely different subject areas and kept the student completely actively engaged in a project-based learning experience. After reading about this project, I started to think of ways that I could integrate with my own teammates.
Project Wild is successful for a multitude of reasons:
1. The teachers involved really took the time to collaborate. Each teacher still was able to teach the students the required standards that their subjects required, but still able to find common ground with this project.
2. It was organized with a daily calendar.
3. It took a highly interesting topic such as Roller Coasters. Kids love them! So, it made it even easier since the students were so interested.
4. They created a system with the "Roller Coaster RedBook" that kept the students organized and allowed them to reflect on daily tasks.
5. Cooperating Learning - Each student was given a job.
6. Project Wild integrated technology in a purposefully way - it wasn't just there to allow the teachers time to work and not teach.
The reasons are endless, but the key is the time the teachers put in to collaborate and work together. Because of their hard work, the students truly had a great learning experience.
My goal that I have to with using technology is fairly similar to the example above. I would like to integrate technology with purpose. Over the last few years of my teaching career, I've become much more technology educated, but I'm just starting to really integrate it into lesson plans with much more purpose and meaning. Project Wild is a perfect example of a way to integrate technology as well as other subjects. I would love to do the same with my own colleagues.
Being that I'm a science teacher, I definitely understand the purpose to the "science" side of Project.Wild. Although, I don't teach Newton's Laws, this project has given me some ideas for the human body. In fact, my team and I are trying a little "integration day" for Valentine's Day to be "Heart Day." For one day, each teacher on the team will have lessons that coincide with the Circulatory System. Since this is just a one day integration, only one of the teachers plans to do integrate any technology with some research on the history behind Valentine's Day. However, each of the other teachers plan to do some great hands on activities. As a way to tie each of classes together, the students will complete a reflection sheet in the form of a heart with the four chambers as their four classes. See below for the example:
Pathway through Heart Reflection Sheet
Just like Project Wild's 8th grade teachers, I have the luxury to work with a team of teachers. Although we do not block, it is still possible for us to create some integration among our topics. It just has to be in smaller doses. As I investigated this website, I definitely explored the 8th grade lesson the most, but I really enjoyed reading about the 9th grade lesson as well. Since I don't always get the opportunity to collaborate with other teachers, I would like to explore ways for my students to share their work with classmates from other classes. I've used technology is a multiple of ways for science projects, but I've never explored ways for the students to share their work with people that are not in their actual science classes. The Global Challenge lesson plan provided a great example.
The the past few months, I've really learned a variety of ways to make technology much more purposeful. The best aspect is how much my students really enjoy learning with technology. The students are always actively engaged and really thrive on hands on experiences with technology. Due to this new found appreciation for technology, I'm definitely looking at ways to improve my teaching. In fact, next year, I plan to have a blog for my students to use for their homework assignments, and I'm working on creating forms on Google Docs as an option for students that prefer to use computers over worksheets. :)
Classrooms at Work
This week, I took some time to re-look at these lesson plans, and analyze my own experiences of integrating technology into my classroom.One of the main reasons why I decided to go back to school and get my Master's in Integrating Technology is due to my desire to learn more! I've realized that this world has some new technology source come out on a regular basis. Software seems to be created on a daily basis and hardware on a monthly basis. The funniest thing I ever heard was from the Best Buy salesman. He informed me that my computer was now officially outdated the minute I bought it! Technology is the future, so I need and want to learn more to survive!
My hopes are to take examples such as the teachers in the link above and provide my students with a memorable learning experience. Of course, every teacher wants the "lightbulbs" to click on with students, but I also want to go beyond by giving them a great learning tool. The example I liked the most from the Classrooms at Work link was the 8th grade Wild Ride. This project idea really integrated three completely different subject areas and kept the student completely actively engaged in a project-based learning experience. After reading about this project, I started to think of ways that I could integrate with my own teammates.
Project Wild is successful for a multitude of reasons:
1. The teachers involved really took the time to collaborate. Each teacher still was able to teach the students the required standards that their subjects required, but still able to find common ground with this project.
2. It was organized with a daily calendar.
3. It took a highly interesting topic such as Roller Coasters. Kids love them! So, it made it even easier since the students were so interested.
4. They created a system with the "Roller Coaster RedBook" that kept the students organized and allowed them to reflect on daily tasks.
5. Cooperating Learning - Each student was given a job.
6. Project Wild integrated technology in a purposefully way - it wasn't just there to allow the teachers time to work and not teach.
The reasons are endless, but the key is the time the teachers put in to collaborate and work together. Because of their hard work, the students truly had a great learning experience.
My goal that I have to with using technology is fairly similar to the example above. I would like to integrate technology with purpose. Over the last few years of my teaching career, I've become much more technology educated, but I'm just starting to really integrate it into lesson plans with much more purpose and meaning. Project Wild is a perfect example of a way to integrate technology as well as other subjects. I would love to do the same with my own colleagues.
Being that I'm a science teacher, I definitely understand the purpose to the "science" side of Project.Wild. Although, I don't teach Newton's Laws, this project has given me some ideas for the human body. In fact, my team and I are trying a little "integration day" for Valentine's Day to be "Heart Day." For one day, each teacher on the team will have lessons that coincide with the Circulatory System. Since this is just a one day integration, only one of the teachers plans to do integrate any technology with some research on the history behind Valentine's Day. However, each of the other teachers plan to do some great hands on activities. As a way to tie each of classes together, the students will complete a reflection sheet in the form of a heart with the four chambers as their four classes. See below for the example:
Pathway through Heart Reflection Sheet
Just like Project Wild's 8th grade teachers, I have the luxury to work with a team of teachers. Although we do not block, it is still possible for us to create some integration among our topics. It just has to be in smaller doses. As I investigated this website, I definitely explored the 8th grade lesson the most, but I really enjoyed reading about the 9th grade lesson as well. Since I don't always get the opportunity to collaborate with other teachers, I would like to explore ways for my students to share their work with classmates from other classes. I've used technology is a multiple of ways for science projects, but I've never explored ways for the students to share their work with people that are not in their actual science classes. The Global Challenge lesson plan provided a great example.
The the past few months, I've really learned a variety of ways to make technology much more purposeful. The best aspect is how much my students really enjoy learning with technology. The students are always actively engaged and really thrive on hands on experiences with technology. Due to this new found appreciation for technology, I'm definitely looking at ways to improve my teaching. In fact, next year, I plan to have a blog for my students to use for their homework assignments, and I'm working on creating forms on Google Docs as an option for students that prefer to use computers over worksheets. :)
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Whole School Technology/Classroom Viewpoints...
Scenario #1: Hypothetically speaking, I was awarded a $45,000 grant to use for technology, how would I spend it?
This is an easy question for me. I would spend it on iPads! $45,000 is definitely not enough money for my the students at my middle school be given in a one to one option, but it is definitely enough money to purchase a few mobile labs that move from classroom to classroom. I did a little research, and this is how I would spend the money:
$20,160 = 32 iPad 2's + iPad covers + apple TV connector + connection cords + mobile cart
$20,160 = mobile lab #2 will same accessories as above
$1900 = "Mommy Computer" preferably an apple computer- this will be used for the iTunes account and creation of apps.
Total= $42,220 leaving the remaining money to be used for app purchases and any maintenance that may occur.
Now, being that I'm a science teacher, I would really like one of the labs to go to just the science department and the other to be used among the other departments. In a perfect world, it would be wonderful to have 1 mobile lab per department, but since this scenario only gives me $45,000. I would need another $45,000 to make it happen! I know it is selfish of me to to have one of the mobile labs for just the science department, but there is a little method to my thinking. I'm actually in the process of conducting an opinion poll with my technology specialist of the school I currently teach on this exact topic. I've also asked many of the teachers about iPads and how often they would use them in their own classrooms. All the science teachers, except for one said they would forego a mobile lab of laptops for a iPad lab instead. The other departments, math, social studies, and language arts, had only a few people that said they preferred iPads over laptops. Since the interest and demand seems to be more so with science department, hence the method behind my thinking.
Scenario #2: a $3,000 budget has been given to the technology teacher, how can/will they spend it.
I took the time to ask my technology specialist. She believed the money is definitely not enough money to buy anything new. So, the money would be better spent to update/upkeep last year's technology. It may beneficial to use for other maintenance costs such as batteries.
At our middle school, my technology specialist is the one that makes any and all decisions about the technology in the school. My principal really has now say, and she can use her budget however she chooses. The way she makes her decisions is based on how the teachers will use it and how it will benefit the students. I took a look at 4teachers.org's technology tool planning kit. Ironically, we are the process of such a change in the school by replacing two mobile laptops with iPads. We are now using this tool kit as our checklist. So far, so good....
This is an easy question for me. I would spend it on iPads! $45,000 is definitely not enough money for my the students at my middle school be given in a one to one option, but it is definitely enough money to purchase a few mobile labs that move from classroom to classroom. I did a little research, and this is how I would spend the money:
$20,160 = 32 iPad 2's + iPad covers + apple TV connector + connection cords + mobile cart
$20,160 = mobile lab #2 will same accessories as above
$1900 = "Mommy Computer" preferably an apple computer- this will be used for the iTunes account and creation of apps.
Total= $42,220 leaving the remaining money to be used for app purchases and any maintenance that may occur.
Now, being that I'm a science teacher, I would really like one of the labs to go to just the science department and the other to be used among the other departments. In a perfect world, it would be wonderful to have 1 mobile lab per department, but since this scenario only gives me $45,000. I would need another $45,000 to make it happen! I know it is selfish of me to to have one of the mobile labs for just the science department, but there is a little method to my thinking. I'm actually in the process of conducting an opinion poll with my technology specialist of the school I currently teach on this exact topic. I've also asked many of the teachers about iPads and how often they would use them in their own classrooms. All the science teachers, except for one said they would forego a mobile lab of laptops for a iPad lab instead. The other departments, math, social studies, and language arts, had only a few people that said they preferred iPads over laptops. Since the interest and demand seems to be more so with science department, hence the method behind my thinking.
Scenario #2: a $3,000 budget has been given to the technology teacher, how can/will they spend it.
I took the time to ask my technology specialist. She believed the money is definitely not enough money to buy anything new. So, the money would be better spent to update/upkeep last year's technology. It may beneficial to use for other maintenance costs such as batteries.
At our middle school, my technology specialist is the one that makes any and all decisions about the technology in the school. My principal really has now say, and she can use her budget however she chooses. The way she makes her decisions is based on how the teachers will use it and how it will benefit the students. I took a look at 4teachers.org's technology tool planning kit. Ironically, we are the process of such a change in the school by replacing two mobile laptops with iPads. We are now using this tool kit as our checklist. So far, so good....
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