Module 2: Philosophy of Education.....I'm not real sure

Unfortunately, never being a classroom teacher or studying education, I have never written a philosophy of education. This has been the post I struggled with through the whole class.

From the technology perspective, I would say technology should be ingrained in all philosophies written today. I still don't know that I can grasp what my philosophy is, but I think through collaboration with others, I learn more each day, and hope to bring a well thought out perspective to my peers when discussing this topic.

Module 9: My Reflection on this class

Technology Integration is a tough topic, until it is further explored. I believe this class has really opened my eyes to so much more in the reality of integration. I had already started exploring the SAMR model this past year in my job as Technology Director, but now I see it in such a bigger view. We often look at the substitution method of SAMR and think "Wow, I've done something great and innovative." When digging deeper, I have personally found that this is really only scratching the surface to Technology Integration. Substitution should be the springboard into bigger change for our students, don't be satisfied at this level.

Having never been a classroom teacher, this class took me outside of my technology box and comfort zone. I also feel it has helped me to be able to identify more with the challenges that my peer teachers face in the classroom. I'm often an advocate of "Don't worry, technology is not a one size fits all, what works for them might not work for you". Now to go back to school and challenge my teachers to keep reaching for what does work for them, and to not be side-lined by one failure.

I hope through our use of a SAMR based audit, my teachers will be able to look at the answers they are giving and reflect on the change they are making, and how they could change to the next level of SAMR instead of staying in a comfortable position.

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." -Nelson Mandela

Module 6 Reflection: Learning Tools

One thing that I think we need to keep in mind about Technology Integration is that it is true, the kids probably know more about using a computer than we adults know. However, do the kids actually know how to learn with a computer? I believe the answer to this is No. Using a device is not the same as actually learning with a device.

Kids today know how to Google pretty much everything, but they don't necessarily retain what they have searched. This in turn is not what I find to be "True Learning". It's learning on the fly for that moment, unless they take what they searched and actually put it into practice.

I found the following article about student centered classrooms from edweek.org, and I really felt this article gave me a lot to think about. 5 Ways to Make Your Classroom Student Centered

I think if students are given a project without specific requirements, they will need to have goals and objectives for their project to help them measure and hold themselves accountable.

Reflection Module 5--Classroom Management

I would say in our district the majority of the Classroom atmosphere's are "Control by Authority." This is one challenge in Educational Technology that is a hard challenge. While there are many great "Screen Control" software programs out there for Laptops and iPads, it is usually something that the teacher needs to set up and maintain. This is one more added task with all the daunting challenges already added in by the DOE.

In our Technology Department, we often laugh that our job is to "Do more with Less." We are fortunate to have some free time to look into programs that can be incorporated for little or no cost, yet sometimes to get the full "bells and whistles" there is an associated cost. Who really is responsible to pay for that one costly subscription for one classroom?

Self-Control, I think that is one challenge that we will always have a challenge with our teens and technology. I don't know if it is so much a lack of self-control as a need for validation. With all the social media to choose from, our kids have now gone from the need to socialize with many people to collecting as many followers to feel "popular." Even my daughter is checking daily to see how many Pinterest followers she has gained in a day, and finds delight in having more followers than myself.

I think when we as a society can teach our kids that your worth is not through your social media followers, then we will see them be able to show a little more self-control through the use of technology. But parents must be the role models that teach our children the merits of what is out there to find to benefit and enrich your life, not give you value and worth.

I am not a huge social media fan, which puts me on the outer edge of technology sometimes. I find much merit in what I do follow out there, but I have to remember to model self-control to my children. This shows my children that time with family and friends and paying attention to that around me is much more valuable in the learning process than just staring at a computer screen. I try to follow a few content rich items rather than just everything possible out there.

Reflection Module 4--StakeHolders

In reflecting about the StakeHolders for a successful Technology Integration, I think I'm going to target Parents/taxpayers in my final Project. There is so much to share with them to make sure that we are all on the same page. As I've taken over as Technology Director, I have found there is a lot of "misunderstandings" about what we are trying to accomplish. Parents seem to feel as if they have no right/control over their child's use of technology. This is quite the contrary, even though students may be assigned school work that will be enhanced with Technology, there is still a line where parents need to feel that they still have some control over what their child is doing.

My plan would be that for starters, have a parent meeting before handing out the student's 1:1 device. Even if the device stays at the school all the time, make sure parents know what the plan for usage is actually going to be before the students start to use the device. Explain some of the programs to be used, and how they are "controlled".

The key items that we need to share with Parents/TaxPayers about our 1:1 initiative are the following: Digital Literacy/Digital Citizenship, RUP (Responsible Use Policy), and possible "penalties" for mis-use/abuse.

Many parents, and some teachers are not aware there is a difference between Digital Literacy and Digital Citizenship. Everyone needs to know basic usage concepts and troubleshooting (Digital Literacy) of the device they have been handed. Many times in the Technology Department we see students whose "Computer does not work." We reboot the computer and everything is fine. This is a basic step they need to know when at home. Digital Citizenship is something I personally feel should be learned in the home, and the school just re-enforce this concept of behavior. However, we all know not all parents themselves practice good Digital Citizenship. Therefore pointing out the highlights of this concept at a "student" meeting will help to educate everyone.

Sharing the RUP at a Parent/Student meeting will make sure that everyone is on the same page. Also, all staff members need to know what is stated in the student RUP in order to make a Classroom Management plan that follows these same rules.

And finally, if we share our Plans for usage of the device, then parents might feel that they even have some ownership in the process. I know this past year, I have had parents contact me that they did not want their child to use the laptop they brought home for anything other than homework when at home. I proceeded to talk with the parent and let them know that they had full authority over the device once the child was at home. If they wanted to put the laptop up after homework, by all means they could do that., but please send it back to school the next day with the child. Or if a Parent did not want the laptop coming home at all, we have worked out a check-in/check-out system with the library for these devices as well.

Flexibility is a part of the whole process, not everything in Technology has a one size fits all solution.

Reflection on Module 3 - Fundamentals

The skill that I personally feel is the most important would be “Ways of thinking.” Creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making and learning.

I feel the most important of these “Ways of thinking” would be problem-solving followed by learning, decision making  and critical thinking, and finally creativity,

While each of the 21st century skills is incredibly important and relevant to life today, I feel if you can’t problem solve, think critically, or make a decision, then all of the other skills will be obsolete. Each skill has its specific place in life, however as we all know with Technology integrated into our lives, Technology will fail you at some point in your life. Today I witness so many kids and adults for that matter, that once the technology fails, they forget how to Problem solve or think critically to continue working without “said device or program” I witness many times the Internet might go down, and kids can’t figure out how to go to a library and open an encyclopedia to do research. People look at what they don’t have, and if they can’t think creatively, they can not figure out how to make things work with what they do have.

Take Google from a child for a day, and you will see that they start to falter and fumble when it comes to finding an answer to something they do not know. How many times have you gone to a store or fast food place, paid cash and when the cash register is not functioning, the cashier can’t make change for you?

While I haven’t completely planned out my technology Infusion plan, I would like to think that “Ways of thinking” will come in to play from the aspect of I like to give my teachers some options on how they can use a resource to integrate technology into the classroom. The teacher will then need to be creative on making it their own. They will need to make the decision as to how said resource will be able to work in the classroom. For example, I worked with my teachers to help integrate flippity flash cards with google spreadsheets in the classroom. One teacher took it a whole different creative route. Rather than thinking in the format of “Question” and “Answer” he looked at it as, “I want to put Non-Sense words on the cards and the kids then read through them.” This then spurred other thoughts among the other teachers. (I know, this is also collaboration at its finest, as well.)

As for assessing “Ways of thinking” I do believe this would be one of the hardest to assess. No two minds really work the same, therefore I do believe this form of assessment for this 21st Century Skill would have to be evaluated by someone who can look at things objectively realizing their way of solving something is not the only way. Creativity is to each his own. We all have a difference of opinion on what we think is creative. Its kind of the same with Problem Solving skills. Are you going to just assess that they solve the problem successfully, or do you require them to solve the problem a specific way? I feel it is going to be a greater challenge to assess "Ways of thinking", but those who really love a challenge will be glad to take it and run!

Reflection on Module One

Coming from the "Dark Side" and learning to think more like a teacher, I'm very excited to learn from each of the teachers in this class. Technology is what I live and breath, and as some of my teachers would explain it, it is "In my blood".  To interact and collaborate with each of the teachers in this class, I believe will give me a better insight on how to better encourage my teachers to feel confident about the skills they do possess. My biggest weakness is from the fact that I have never been a classroom teacher. My "students" are all equipped with the same resources from the technology front line. However, the skills they each possess all vary from strong to extremely weak. 

I hope that I can be a leader for those in this class by using my technology background to encourage them  and share with them from my experiences.  The first thing I try to teach my teachers is to start with something small and perfect that, then add the next step. If we try to take on everything in technology all at once, something will go wrong. You have to be prepared for something to go wrong and fail. Have a back-up plan, and don't become defeated after a failure. To effectively use Technology does take a large amount of time and devotion, and Professional Development is a huge key in this process.