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Mrs. Warner

Session 4: The Technology Penalty - 35 views

session 4 technology penalty van horn 21st century learning

started by Mrs. Warner on 06 Oct 10
  • Mrs. Warner
    #1 Mrs. Warner on 06 Oct 10
     
    I'll be honest, there are some technologies that I'm still not confident enough with to make the focal point of a lesson. At least not without a back-up plan for my back-up plan. Technology integration is risky, and occasionally, even the best laid plans result in "EPIC FAIL!!"s.

    Consider Royal Van Horn's article, "The Technology Penalty" posted on our course wiki here.

    Have you experienced the Technology Penalty? What happened?
    Could you reasonably have anticipated it or planned for it?
  • Christy McKinzie
    #2 Christy McKinzie on 06 Oct 10
     
    Very often, we have webquests or other activities that suggest using the Internet. By the time we sign on and load the pages half of the class time frame has passed. Then it takes more time for some of the students to type in the correct websites. When all of the students try to log on at the same time it also will jam up our signals. Also, we have many times that multiple computers that won't sign in, they aren't charged, etc.

    I plan for this to happen whenever I am working with the Internet, because it happens so frequently. I will print the pages they need, find pages that correlate in the book or have an entirely different but related activity.


    I have often had a lab that utilizing probes, LabQuests, LoggerPro and/or computers. In case the probes or other equipment is not working, I keep low tech equipment available also.
  • Jackie Davis
    #3 Jackie Davis on 06 Oct 10
     
    There is always a fear of having a Technology Penalty when you are using any of the laptops in a lesson. Most teachers prepare to have a backup plan with another teacher to switch rooms in case the laptops decide to take a day off. That way they can use the desktops that are already hardwired. I also have issues with my Interwrite tablet when they want to update the system,when I delete my icon, or when my pen is non-functioning. Sometimes I just put the pad down and start writing on the board because it would take longer to figure out how to correct the problem.

    In teaching you need to have a plan A, B, and C when dealing with technology. Technology is amazing when it works but when it doesn't it really is a burden. Sometimes you can plan ahead but then you always have those little moments when nothing is going right.
  • Angela Martinelli
    #4 Angela Martinelli on 06 Oct 10
     
    Everyday I have a technology penalty. I use PowerPoint everyday in class, as do many teachers at Kenwood. It takes much longer to create a whole PowerPoint, include activities during class, surf the internet for pictures, etc. It would be much faster to eliminate all of that and teach the way that they did in the "olden times." Now, would the students get as much out of it? Probably not. Would they be as motived? No way! So I take this penalty for the good of the group.

    There are also other technology penalties that I have suffered. Last year, I did a project using Google Earth. Well, come this year in class, the students tried to complete it, and the download was blocked by the county. Thankfully, I had a backup. Another penalty is when all the laptops don't work on the laptop cart. They spend so much time trying to get one to work, than realize that they need to get other one, which sometimes does not work either. By then, half the class time has gone by!

    You always needed to have another plan in place when using technology. One that students can do without technology at all. It probably will not be as motivating, but you have to do what you have to do to get by and get the lesson finished.
  • Robert Mryncza
    #5 Robert Mryncza on 06 Oct 10
     
    I have in many ways. the one that is the most frustrating is when my computer can log on and then the students can't get on because the wireless signal is too weak or not working at all. You plan work for 1/2 the class and the assignment for the other 1/2 and then you still have to go to plan B.

    You then have to go to notes, a reading or a group activity with reading assignment. The students don't realize they are reading when you work on a webquest so they get more work done then when I have to reproduce activities from the quest. Also getting outside resources become limited where the internet opens many avenues.

    Usually there is some type of issue even if it is not the wireless. The time restraints dictate overheads and lack lust lessons will get the job done. I like using visuals as much as possible and the ability to have students search things out on their own becomes nearly impossibe. What's the saying when the computers work it's fantasticm when they don't you're s.......!
  • Karen Huggins
    #7 Karen Huggins on 06 Oct 10
     
    Yes, with the laptop carts. I get them in to class and kids that used them last didn't logoff, or the kids can't remember their logon. What did I do , I logged onto as many computers that I could and my aid logged on to a couple and we made it work. I"ve also had the internet go down and had it go back to the old stand by of paper and pencil.
    I also believe he was right when talking about paperwork. Much of my SPED paperwork I could do much faster by hand than in the program we use.
  • Althea Page
    #8 Althea Page on 06 Oct 10
     
    Where to start...

    First of all the Business lab was updated to 2007 and some of the students understood the program better than me and others were clueless. A lesson that I taught last year was to have the students create a Corporate Organizational Chart in MicroSoft Word. This year I had to re-teach the students how to create a chart and it took alot of prep time for me re-teach myself how to do this in 2007.

    Power Points, etc. are great to use in the classroom. Finding the materials and creating powerpoints takes time. Long gone are the days when you had a file cabinet which you pulled out overheads and handouts that were the same year to year.

    All the technology that is to help make my life as a teacher easier, has bogged me down. I am asked by students constantly if I have uploaded grades several times a class period. To tell the truth, I do not use the computer during the classroom period often--I am mingling with the students. Which leads me into the Distance Learning piece, many business teachers are "into" this concept--it just seems a little to impersonal. We teach networking skills--distance learning just don't go hand-in-hand with this.

    Let me tell you about the accounting program that accompanies the book and it worked wonderfully for the first few chapters. Then at Chapter 5 it decided that it would show only error messages and not work. Of course, the students now want to have a few problems done on the compter.

    Technology as a teacher (not to teach to the students, but to aid in record keeping) should "make my life easier." OKAY--I can keep up with GradePro, Swipe, STARS, and 100 to 200 e-mails a day--just barely. But when the Internet goes down...
  • Margaret Archer-Batten
    #9 Margaret Archer-Batten on 06 Oct 10
     
    Technology penalty is very real and a reason for some older folks to avoid using technology. The time for setting up, the frequency of of glitches, the inconsistency in student availability to computer access are just some factors that impact on the the timidity of some staff to use technology. Grade books have many fall backs that score, not as is in the real world but as the grade book is programed. The writer presented many realities that those who are passionate about technology tend to pretend are non-existant. There needs to be a balance in instruction that does not remain in an all or nothing posture.
  • Kim Samele
    #11 Kim Samele on 06 Oct 10
     
    I feel that since I started putting my lessons on PowerPoint I experiecened the Technology Penalty. It takes twice as long to create the lesson on the slides. It is difficult almost to impossible to find good images of the vocabualry words on the computer because it is tedious and we are blocked from image sites.

    I have decided to suck-it-up! Next semester I anticipate that there will be a big pay-off becasue my lessons will be ready for class and I will simply need to adjust it for the students.

    With experience, I now know how long it takes to create a lesson using PowerPoint and I plan according. Soemtimes I think about the old days when I had my hard copies of the vocabulary pictures and used them to practice the vocabulary. It worked--sometimes even better, but I don't I don't think the images were as exciting as the ones I have found on-line. At least that is what I am telling myself.
  • Tammy Yost
    #12 Tammy Yost on 08 Oct 10
     
    I'll be honest ... I took my students to the computer lab this week to create Voki's for two reasons. First, I wanted to allow them to spend the time creating and playing so that we could use them throughout the year. Second, I wanted to use the opportunity to allow my students to review for an upcoming test and respond to a constructed response quetions using their Voki and emailing me the response. Unfortunately, when we got to the lab I realized that my students couldn't create accounts with Voki because they needed to access their email accounts which are blocked by BCPS. Yes, they could make the Voki without creating an account, but they wouldn't be able to save the Voki. So ... attempt at integrating technology, flush! Instead, I asked my students to create accounts at home and we would go back to the lab in the near future to continue with our Voki's.

    This weekend I created an Animoto to introduce my students to cells and to grab their attention/motivate them with the new unit. It took a great deal of time finding the images I wanted to use. Plus, I could only make a 30 second video because I didn't want to pay the money for an unlimited video out of my own pocket. So 30 seconds will have to work. Advantage is that it won't take up much time during class and it's a quick motivator.

    I agree with the author about the prep time it takes to create the directions to teach the students how to use the technology that you want to integrate too. That is my concern. I have this many days to the Short Cycle or Benchmark and this many lessons/concepts to teach. Do I really have time to devote one day to teaching my students how to use the technology? If I'm going to use the same technology throughout the year, then I guess the answer is "yes."
  • Chris Gauthier
    #13 Chris Gauthier on 11 Oct 10
     
    Incorporating technology into any lesson is going to take time, even if you are someone who is technologically savvy. You have to expect as many problems as possible when allowing students to use technology during class time. I see it all the time just with students using calculators and the problems that occur. Usually I know what the problem is because I have been teaching for a while and know what to expect, but every once in a while there is a problem that occurs that I have to figure out. Teachers always have to have a back up plan in case the technology they want to use does not work or is not available because they did not sign up for it.

    I agree with the author about the time it takes to teach students how to use technology. I taught a Geometry course that included software that the students had to work on twice a week. It took one entire period to show the students how to sign on and use the software before they were even able to use it. Fortunately there was another teacher in the room that was able to help me and the students so were able to correct any problems rather quickly. But it is not always possible to have another teacher with you which can slow down the process and make incorporating technology rather difficult.
  • john kucharski
    #14 john kucharski on 12 Oct 10
     
    There are plenty of technology penalty in the classroom for there are:
    * Computers that can not find the BCPS site/server.
    * Computers that have batteries that do not hold a charge.
    * The student or students that do not remember their login or password.
    * The WIFI network that goes down during class.
    * The student that download a program to the laptop computer from their IPOD.
    * Students are not working on the assignment and are surfing the web.
    * The site that you used last year is no longer there.
    * Programs that you can not load because you need adobe shockwave or another program to run it.
    * Etc.

    You work around it and you prepare the students to work with you when it happens.
  • Toni Dunn
    #15 Toni Dunn on 13 Oct 10
     
    I'm still behind many times so my penalties may be less than some. I still keep a paper calender with me at all times. I do feel like I personally do many things more than once as I must hit an incorrect button and things dissappear or I'm suddenly writing in the middle of a sentence instead of the end. Sharing interwrite tablets and active expressions can be very frustrating as you must restart the computer to have these plug in devices recognized. Time comsuming and inconvient especially when teachers share the equipment. Drill time can be replced with login time. I will be getting a smart board and have been putting my lesson together in ActivInspire. I like the results and I am looking forward the student interaction with the smart board lessons but it is very time consuming the 1st time around especially since I am still have much to learn about the software. I always count on the students to figure out the technology that is new to me. My plan is to be more prepared next semester and only have to tweak lesson instead of built them through technology.
  • elizabeth bana
    #16 elizabeth bana on 13 Oct 10
     
    I had a technology penalty that I will never forget. I see no point to using the interwrite tablets. The one tine I did try to use it, it did not work right and then it disconnected. I found it to be much easier to just use a tansparency. Or get an image of the work sheet, lift up the screen and write on the board. I was prepared the way I am always prepared when it comes to using new technology - they end up doing book work when all else fails.

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