Technology Action Plan EDLD 5352

Why are graduate students acting like 7th graders? My web conference reflection

The webcast that I chose to go to was very short (on March 20, 2011), however, I learned a great deal. It felt like I had just entered my seventh grade classroom after the bell had rung and students were running around everywhere. Dr Abernathy became frustrated with the lack of respect that she was receiving from the group of students so she cut the videoconference off after fifteen minutes. One of the things I learned was that you can have too many people in a web conference. There were close to one hundred students accepted into the conference. All of the students were talking at the same time and it was very difficult to follow the text strands and impossible for audio. Therefore, if I were to hold a web conference with my students I would limit the number of students excepted into a web conference to around forty people. I feel that this would be a reasonable number of people to have online in the discussions. The second thing I learned was that there should be some etiquette taught about what to expect and how to act during a web conference. Do not assume that adults can be polite. Either while the students are waiting to go into the web conference or as part of the class, students should have to read about the expectations and understand the rules before they attend. The third thing I realized was that all students procrastinate and it does not matter if the students are in graduate school or in middle school. If students are going to be required to choose a web conference (or any assignment), they will pick either the beginning ones or the last ones to attend. I would assign different sections different due dates to complete their conference. If I were dealing with a large groups of people I would try to have multiple dates to attend where the sessions are not overloaded or I would not make the conferences mandatory. I feel the people who had legitimate questions would attend the web conference so they could receive help in understand the assignments. The people who were rude and just wanting to get their credit for their conference would not attend or would quickly leave after the conference got started. I was astonished at the number of people who were asking how they would get credit for the web conference instead of listening when Dr. Abernathy asked for the floor. Several people were having issues with posting their action research plans on their blogs. These people truly needed assistance. Therefore, the final thing I learned is that people can be rude and need reminders of how to act (or need strict guidelines) no matter what level of school they are attending whether it be graduate level or seventh grade.

Action plan EDLD 5352

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Texas Progress Report on the Long-Range Plan for Technology

The 2010 progress report on the Long-Range Plan for Technology 2006 -2010 was very interesting. It broke the STaR charts down into it is four categories and described how the state school districts were doing in each. In the area of “Teaching and Learning”, the state schools have been moving from a low-tech area to more of the target tech area. The majority of the schools are in the middle, in developing tech and advanced tech. In “Educator Preparation and Development”, most campuses are moving towards the target tech level and are currently in the developing tech and advanced tech. In “Leadership, Administration, and Instructional Support” again most schools are in the developing tech and advanced tech. In “Infrastructure”, most schools are in the advanced tech area with a few in the developing tech area. With each of the sections, the report also went over all of the programs that are in the state that help that section. I was amazed at the number of programs that the state offers to help in all of the areas. I have not heard of most of the programs. There are several programs that school districts can take advantage of to increase technology in the district, and a large number of grants that schools can apply for advancing their technology. Overall, the state is increasing the amount of technology that students are using in the classroom. I really liked the quote from a student that the paper started with: “Every time I go to school I have to power down” (p.3). Not because I want the students to power down but because it shows, how integrated technology is to our students but not to the administration in the schools. Most students love to work with technology but the districts are holding them back because they are not ready to teach with technology. This needs to change. Lets let students use technology to learn; fund the schools so they can buy the technology needed to teach the students.

Resource:

Scott, R. Texas Education Agency, (2010). 2010 progress report on the long-range plan for technology, 2010 Austin, TX: Retrieved from http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=5096&menu_id=2147483665

National Education Technology Plan: Transforming American Education

The Office of Educational Technology a part of the U.S. Department of Education came up with a draft plan to change education. The title is: “Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology.” In this paper, they have five areas that they established goals for: Learning, Assessment, Teaching, Infrastructure, and Productivity. Education is in dire straights and is in need of a change. America is falling behind the rest of the world when it comes to education. The apparent fix is to move education towards a 21^st century learning model with the increased use of technology where students can become 24/7 learners.

Concerning learning the panel discusses how learning should be differentiated to fit the needs of the different learners. Schools should differentiate the pace of teaching and the instructional practices to best fit the learner. Students should collaborate with different learners all over the world and learn from all the different educators. The opportunities that educators can give students are limitless and can be instantaneous. Teachers need to create lessons that are engaging, relevant, and personalized for the learners. The learning should mirror the students’ daily lives and their futures in the business world. “21^st century learning” can be incorporated into any discipline and allows for more learning resources than a traditional classroom. Students need to learn how to think critically, problem solve, collaborate, and communicate using multimedia presentations. In doing these things schools will be preparing students to be life-long-learners.

Effective Teachers are the critical aspect in the formula of transforming the education system. Teachers need to be connected not isolated and part of online learning communities. Teaching will be a team activity where they access to resources to improve their instructional practices. The professional development that the teachers receive will need to be continuous, coherent, collaborative, and they will need more time for professional development through out the school week. Teachers will have to experience connected teaching to learn how to use it. Right now teachers have a gap in understanding technology that prevents them from using it in the classroom.

There were a couple of recommendations that stood out. The use of simulations and virtual world technology to assess students is an excellent idea. Most students love to play video games and they would enjoy taking assessments in a virtual world with an avatar. One phrase that makes me wonder is the K-16 phrase that is used through out the paper. I understand the push for students to go to college; however, I do not feel that it should be a requirement. The way some of the sentences were worded made me feel as if that will be a requirement in the future.

Texas Long Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020

Technology has become the focal point of the “21st century learner”. With the national education scene rapidly changing, states and districts must begin preparing our students for a new wave of life long learning. Across the nation, technology is quickly overtaking the traditional schooling techniques, however, not enough progress has been made on the local, state, and national levels. It is time for educators to begin to focus their efforts on preparing our students for the future by focus on the “Teaching and Learning” portion of Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology. This focuses on learning for all students in preparation for the 21st century. Including areas for students to collaboratively learn and expand their classroom beyond the walls of the traditional school. Teachers are encouraged to engage their students in distance learning opportunities and begin serving as more of a facilitator of learning, rather than the sole source of information.

According to the Campus Statewide summary for 2008, this area is one of the weaker areas. Only 26.4% of the schools are classified as either Advanced Tech or Target Tech. Most of the schools, 69.7%, are in the Developing Tech area. The goal is that by 2020 the majority of schools are in the Target Tech area. This trend holds true for RBMS as well. According to STaR chart data, this is one of lower areas for our campus. Each year has been better, but this area has yet to even reach the Advanced Tech stage.

My recommendations for this area are simple. Student learning is the focus for education. Currently our campus, according to 2008-2009 data, has received an Advanced Tech rating for two of the four areas. We have the infrastructure and our administration is providing the necessary supports. It is time for teachers to put into practice the knowledge they are gaining from all of the other supports. I feel that asking teachers to include technological strategies in each unit could help tremendously in improving this area. In addition, making data, such as STaR chart data, more available to our teachers, will help them see where improvements needed.

E-rate Discounts

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