There are so many real educators out there who want to get better at what they do so that they can always do what is best for kids. By opening up your own learning to the world, you will be surprised not only how your knowledge elevates, but how your passion for teaching and learning will benefit as well.
From a Department of Education 1995 forum, some panelists contended that rather than debating the connections between technology-based instruction and test scores, schools should focus on the most obvious and compelling reason form implementing technology-namely, that students need strong technology skills to succeed in the world of work. This section will provide you with the impact technology has on learning.
The county states that "To live, learn, and work successfully in an increasingly complex and information-rich society, students learn to use technology effectively.
This learning journey is just beginning for me. I encourage you to tap into the resources at your fingertips. Use social media to become a connected learner. Thank you to ALL those who have helped me on my learning journey.
It is incredible how social media can connect otherwise unconnectable professionals. I have experienced numerous school decisions that parents did not support and which could have benefitted from examples carried out in other schools.
M-Learning: Promises, Perils, and Challenges for K-12 Education Dr. Patricia Wallace, Ph.D. Senior Director of CTYOnline and IT at Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth With cell phone ownership expanding to more students at younger ages, the prospect of leveraging these devices for learning is generating considerable discussion and debate among educators.
Lots of great quotes in this article. I also like that it incorporates impact of learning theory on edtech: objectivism, behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism & postmodernism.
There are a lot of interesting bits of information in this article. It is interesting that the author discusses why changes in education have taken place. I haven't considered war as a driving force behind educational reform before. It is also interesting to learn that the University of Phoenix is the largest university. This article is a great find!
This is a link to a word document that details the state of Connecticut's technology plan. They have the typical mentions of leadership vision etc..., but also some other buzz words and ideas that peaked my interest. I was impressed with their mention of striving to provide all of the families with equal access to technology at home to support learning and moving more toward student directed learning as opposed to teacher directed learning among other things. If they can indeed insight these changes, they will be well on their way to integrating 21st century skills in their school systems. Good food for thought!
Well, this article couldn't be more interesting... It dates back to 1997, it is in the Journal of Technology Education by Virginia Tech. It seems that since 1990 the number of students graduating with technology education teaching degrees had plummeted notoriously and the doomsday for the tech teacher preparation programs would occur by 2005... I guess it didn't happen!
Well, Norma, I do think this is interesting and I think it might have happened. The article is specifically about "technology teachers," and there aren't that many of those anymore. Now, technology is not as much a standalone subject as it is integrated into the whole learning process. That's good, IMHO. But, at the same time, I think we've gotten away from offering computer science courses. That's bad, IMHO.
Hmmmm... That's true! I've been trying to remember how things were in Colombia a couple of years ago, and it seems the same phenomenon has happened. I remember how in college I took some technology courses for specific kinds of programs... then, they started disappearing and if I wanted a refresher I had to teach myself or find a friend. In my schools here I can see how the technology classes are used as a means to do something else through technology rather than studying technology by itself... It stopped being the object of study and became a means to achieve objectives in other areas. A clear sample of that: The technology teachers at my two schools started going to two or three schools, they are more kind of facilitators than instructors... I guess that's pretty bad for the kind of student who needs to learn formally, step by step, in a classroom setting.... For our students... well, my younger students know way more than me! And they didn't learn it form anybody! Just trial and error!
Alittle piece of the summer!! A blog entry exploring how Henrico County Schools System has adopted the TPACK model for staff development and 21st century learning. Provides examples of how to integrate technology and provides resource examples.
"Henrico County Schools System has adopted the TPACK as the Framework for professional development and 21st Century Learning in the Henrico County Schools System. Henrico County is one of the largest and earliest districts to pioneer and implement a one-to-one initiative. They have adopted this model as its conceptual framework to guide their progress towards the 21st Century Learning."
It was interesting to note the idea of differentiating the PD - I have sat in so many courses where the participants' skills varied, causing reactions of boredom through to confusion!!
Aristotle's quote struck me to the core... Maybe that's the simplest yet most comprehensive answer to the question we teachers ask so often: "Why do I have to learn to do things differently if what I have always done has always worked for me?"... Love it!
Spotsylvania County has a great Instructional Technology website. TPACK is emphasized in their professional development. Under the Resources tab, go to Professional Learning and there is a booklet called Technology Triage. It starts with a explanation of TPACK and then gives teachers help with implementation. Under the resources section there are also handouts from Instructional Technology conferences from the last three years. Most of these speak to TPACK framework.
I actually watched each of the presentations (I only bookmarked the first) because they were all so entertaining and thought-provoking. I especially like the history of technology (e.g. oral to writing to print) and the threats each was perceived to have on the previous. I wonder if showing these to teachers might introduce our county's "21st century learning" initiative and the need for the "less than willing" to embrace constantly changing technology.
This blog post highlights the lack of scaffolding to teachers. There is a great quote from Leading for Instructional Improvement that refers to "Reciprocal Accountability" describing the responsibility school leaders have to provide the same differentiated learning to their teachers as the teachers are expected to give to their students.
I can so relate to this. As a future leader, I embrace it! It will be interesting to see this acheivement gap narrow as younger teachers who were raised a healthy diet of Twitter, Facebook (that is already old-isn't it?), Skype, etc. jump into the technology whirlwind without a bump. Seriously, have you seen tweens to 20 somethings even go into a restaurant without their cell phones placed carefully beside their utensils?