Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tools Available
As the building of K12 Instructional Technology Content Management System continues, it is exciting to see the number and level of value of the tools that exists for teachers to use in their classrooms. While I want to get tools out there for teachers, it is important that they see examples of how to use them to improve student learning. Technology for technology sake is short lived at best and a potential waste of time and money at worst. My next steps will be to develop lessons that incorporate tools found on the Internet as well as those within Moodle--which easily translates to other learning management systems. I want to build a picture of what integration looks like...when asked the question of "why do that" the answer should be to reinforce previous learning, to add to current knowledge or to create new knowledge...that will be the goal.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Technology Anxiety
As I read and reflect on books and articles I have read and continue to read regarding technology integration, teacher training and the children we currently serve, I find myself feeling an urgency....verging on panic that we are so far behind.
Here it is Christmas of 2009, we have students who will graduate in 2010 without the slightest knowledge of how to harness the technology that they have in their hands for continued learning, collaboration and real communication. The majority of our veteran teachers do not have the knowledge or skill to help our students embrace this technology.
Teachers sit on the forefront, they have the power to influence the direction of our country in a very real way. While I believe that everyone is a teacher, those who have chosen it as a professional are extremely important to the mission of this nation. Yet our politicians do not acknowledge this, they do not address it. Instead we have groups meeting to write curriculum on a national level and I am pressed to ask, does this curriculum include what teacher need to know? Does it include a clear description for the future? Is it fluid, susceptible to changing on a dime so technology can be inter weaved and changed as it changes in the market place? Or is it based on rhetoric and not action? The prospect of this leads us to more of the same and we can't afford more of the same.
In the Great State of Ohio, the now defunct eTech started down the path of wiring buildings/districts and eventually grant monies came forth for the purchase of computers. After computers appeared, it was realized the teachers did not know how to use them. Training began to occur statewide. Unfortunately, it was based on building skill, knowing how to use a word processor does not necessarily translate into understanding how to integrate curriculum. It fell woefully short of the need of teachers. A clear picture of what integration looks like has not been built. We have instead words that are vague both for the professional and the layman. The latest of which is "21st Century Skills".....I keep hearing it but when I ask others to describe it, I get blank looks.
Instructional design will help build the picture, so professionals and layman have a clear understanding of what integration look like, how the tools are used and to break down the jargon that confused and befuddles all of us. The training of veteran teachers as well as our pre-service teachers must be based in the philosophy of instructional design. Professional development can not be an after thought, meaningful professional development has be linked and sanctioned at the state level if a difference is going to be made at the classroom level. The evaluation of educational practices have to be on-going with demonstrated change as an embedded consequence of improved learning at the classroom level. This evaluation can not be left as a hit and miss by districts, it has to be a formalized, structured evaluation complete with rubrics so administrators, teachers and all stakeholders know what good teaching looks like, no guessing, no rhetoric.
This blog and my website will work to bring to light solid practice in an endeavor to help those who are interested in building a picture of what integration, best practices, professional development and evaluation looks like.
Happy Holidays to all!
Here it is Christmas of 2009, we have students who will graduate in 2010 without the slightest knowledge of how to harness the technology that they have in their hands for continued learning, collaboration and real communication. The majority of our veteran teachers do not have the knowledge or skill to help our students embrace this technology.
Teachers sit on the forefront, they have the power to influence the direction of our country in a very real way. While I believe that everyone is a teacher, those who have chosen it as a professional are extremely important to the mission of this nation. Yet our politicians do not acknowledge this, they do not address it. Instead we have groups meeting to write curriculum on a national level and I am pressed to ask, does this curriculum include what teacher need to know? Does it include a clear description for the future? Is it fluid, susceptible to changing on a dime so technology can be inter weaved and changed as it changes in the market place? Or is it based on rhetoric and not action? The prospect of this leads us to more of the same and we can't afford more of the same.
In the Great State of Ohio, the now defunct eTech started down the path of wiring buildings/districts and eventually grant monies came forth for the purchase of computers. After computers appeared, it was realized the teachers did not know how to use them. Training began to occur statewide. Unfortunately, it was based on building skill, knowing how to use a word processor does not necessarily translate into understanding how to integrate curriculum. It fell woefully short of the need of teachers. A clear picture of what integration looks like has not been built. We have instead words that are vague both for the professional and the layman. The latest of which is "21st Century Skills".....I keep hearing it but when I ask others to describe it, I get blank looks.
Instructional design will help build the picture, so professionals and layman have a clear understanding of what integration look like, how the tools are used and to break down the jargon that confused and befuddles all of us. The training of veteran teachers as well as our pre-service teachers must be based in the philosophy of instructional design. Professional development can not be an after thought, meaningful professional development has be linked and sanctioned at the state level if a difference is going to be made at the classroom level. The evaluation of educational practices have to be on-going with demonstrated change as an embedded consequence of improved learning at the classroom level. This evaluation can not be left as a hit and miss by districts, it has to be a formalized, structured evaluation complete with rubrics so administrators, teachers and all stakeholders know what good teaching looks like, no guessing, no rhetoric.
This blog and my website will work to bring to light solid practice in an endeavor to help those who are interested in building a picture of what integration, best practices, professional development and evaluation looks like.
Happy Holidays to all!
Friday, December 18, 2009
And we begin again....
Today I begin a new adventure. I finish the last two days of my job next week and now I look forward to a future of my own making. Excited and frightened all at the same time, which I am sure others have felt and embraced...and so shall I.
I brought my new website up this morning and have been working for several hours. I have much work to do, but it is a beginning. This blog will be accessible through my website.
http://www.k12instructionaltechnology.com/ is a combination of my work and a listing of my credentials. I will be using it to develop/showcase my skill as an instructional designer in the world of online learning. The site is a Moodle site that will allow me to think out of the box, to test ideas and to share with others. This is an adventure that I am looking forward to, so onward and upward.
I brought my new website up this morning and have been working for several hours. I have much work to do, but it is a beginning. This blog will be accessible through my website.
http://www.k12instructionaltechnology.com/ is a combination of my work and a listing of my credentials. I will be using it to develop/showcase my skill as an instructional designer in the world of online learning. The site is a Moodle site that will allow me to think out of the box, to test ideas and to share with others. This is an adventure that I am looking forward to, so onward and upward.
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