1. I think Baltimore County needs to do a better job of keeping up with the technology that is out there. We are still using Windows XP which is two operating systems old and Microsoft Office 2003 when Office 2010 is now available. They need to realize that teachers and students are using the newer software because they have either upgraded or had to buy a new computer to replace an older one. In order to accomplish this, they will need to make sure the hardware is able to handle the upgrades.

2. Baltimore County needs to incorporate textbooks that are available online so students can access them at home instead of having to carry 2-3 books home with them everyday. This will help to keep the costs down because teachers will just need a classroom set to use instead of assigning a book to every student they teach.

3. I think Baltimore County needs to give teachers a chance to actually see some of the new technology in action in a classroom setting instead of workshops where we do get a chance to use it but will not know what problems would occur with students using the new technology. I know teachers like playing with new technologies, but it would really be nice to see how a teacher in our own discipline incorporates new technologies.

I can see using the following web 2.0 tools in the classroom.

1. Safari Montage: There are quite a few math videos available that teachers can use to aid in their instruction. I have used quite a few in my classes and they provide alternative explanations which can beneficial if students are having problems understanding a concept.

2. Promethean Flipcharts: These flipcharts allow teachers to demonstrate concepts by moving figures around and creating images that cannot as easily be done in Microsoft Word.

3. Graphsy: This tool would allow students to create graphs online instead of doing it the traditional way using paper and pencil.

In Geometry, a class could divide up and use a video camera to do a project based on congruent triangles. There are 5 possible ways, and they could divide up into 5 groups, choosing one of the methods to prove triangles congruent and videotape a lesson on how to prove two triangles using one of the methods. This could be used to teach the other members of their class the remaining methods that their group did not work on.

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.

I think Baltimore County is working towards this goal with implementing technology, but the biggest obstacle is that they do not keep up with the hardware needs. I speak to teachers in other buildings and they are using computers that we got rid of a few years ago. In order to be able to handle the technology of today, BCPS will have to buy computers in mass just like they did when Hairston came in as the superintendent and switched over from Apple to PC. In the new curriculums that I have seen, there is more technology being suggested as alternatives but that is mostly because not all schools have the same equipment available to them. BCPS will have to work that all schools have the same equipment available to them before they can seriously expect teachers to integrate technology on a regular basis.

Challenge based learning will allow a student to be successful because they are able to work independently and to challenge themselves. They can make progress, though it would have to be monitored by the teacher in order to make sure they reach certain points in order to complete the course. With the Carnegie curriculum that I piloted a few years ago, I would assign certain pages for the students to complete and then we would review them as a class so they could make sure that they completed everything correctly. This monitoring also allowed for me to ensure that the curriculum was completed so the students were ready for the final exam. The students enjoyed competing with each other when they worked on the computer portion of the Carnegie curriculum, which encouraged them to correctly complete the problems. Challenge based learning gives students the opportunity to discover solutions on their own and thus being able to take ownership on their learning.

I can foresee using Challenge Based Learning in my classroom. I have already experimented a few years ago using a Geometry curriculum from Carnegie Melon which was similar to the Challenge Based Learning. The students needed quite a bit of guidance at the beginning because they were not used to this type of learning, but I do believe that if they had been exposed to it before and were exposed to it afterwards they would have an easier time of it. The advantage of this type of learning is that students can work at their own pace. There was a computer program that went along with the curriculum that presented different problems to the students for them to solve. They responded very well to the program, in some cases even competing with their friends to see who could complete a unit the fastest. It did require some preplanning because I had to be familiar with the problems in their textbook as well as the computer program.

I agree with his observations both in my classroom and my school. Students are exposed to enormous amounts of technology, and expect it to be used in their daily instruction. They do not understand why, especially in mathematics, they must learn how to solve problems both by hand and using technology, usually a calculator. They want the calculator to do all of the work for them. But, as teachers we are expected to show them both ways. I make every effort to incorporate technology into my daily teaching. But there are limitations since you have to demonstrate how to use software before students can use it, which can take a lot of time. If every student had a computer with them for daily instruction, it would make incorporating them much easier. In addition, they could have all of their textbooks stored on their computer. I am hoping to learn some different ways to incorporate technology into my classroom.