Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Instructional Technology Update - January 2005

Every month, my colleague, Barbara Berk, and I assemble an electronic newsletter. In the newsletter we usually highlight two ‘features’ and then include links to several projects we have been working on or will be working on. The idea is for teachers within the district to hear about what others are doing, and to gain some quick snippet of information about technology. Actually, both Barbara and I think very few read it. Not sure why, since it is so short anyway. Any thoughts?

This month I decided to use my piece on the Flow of Information and how the requirement for new skills in the 21st century is changing how we acquire, process and present information. The second feature presents some commonly requested sites: those on grammar, images on the web, math and science, and the MarcoPolo site.

Projects that I decided to include: PowerPoint game shows, a 10th grade digital video project, an update on the impact of technology on students in the new technology enhanced wing, and a preview of the ISTE Institute conference a team of us will be attending later this month. Here is a link to this month’s newsletter:

Instructional Technology Update - January 2005

Posted by Randy on 01/04 at 02:50 PM
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Monday, January 03, 2005

Leadership and Vision

I’ve recently been looking around the Web for information on electronic assessments. In the process I’ve run across several interesting articles:

The Top Ten Technology Districts

Although this article from District Administration Magazine is nearly 2 years old, there are some predictable themes that one can pull from the descriptions of what they consider to be the top ten technology-using school districts. Many of the districts were working in the area of one-to-one computing, providing certain sectors of the school population with laptops, even tablet PC’s in some cases. The importance of professional development is mentioned in every district summary.

From Advice to Other Districts:

Careful planning is important, but don’t be afraid to take a risk occasionally, says Edinger. “It’s crucial that there’s enough support personnel, both in the building and at the district level. In technology, the key words are staff development, staff development, staff development.”

“Our children can’t wait and the future is now,” Edwards says. “We need to be preparing them for a future that few of us can even visualize.”

“You can buy all the technology you want, but you need training, support and coaching. The human being, not the technology, is what you invest in,” says King.

Fast Forward Into the Future - technology savvy Joe Kitchens, superintendent for Western Heights Public Schools

This article is a brief bio of the Superintendent of the Western Heights Public Schools. It demonstrates the importance of vision and leadership. At the same time, it also shows that you don’t have to be an ‘expert’ to have that vision or leadership.

Case Studies: Western Heights School District

Vision is necessary to work out the solutions to problems in our schools. Technology can play a part in that solution. What advice does Superintendent Joe Kitchens have for other districts?

Learn all you can about the technology out there and what it can do for your school. Educate your staff. Western Height’s staff went from being almost totally computer-illiterate to being technology pros. But it took some work. Teachers have volunteered for an average of 60 hours of training annually on everything from videoconferencing to using Microsoft Office. Engage the public. Western Heights schools aggressively cultivate public support of the JetNet program. They even offer training for parents to help them learn how to use the same technology their kids are using. This opens the door to parents’ participation in their kids’ education. Parents will soon be able to log on to the Internet and find out what their kids studied in school that day, what their homework assignments are, and what’s going to be on next Friday’s test. Implement the most advanced technology you can afford. Technology moves fast, so put in the latest, greatest gear today in anticipation of tomorrow’s needs.

The importance of vision and leadership cannot be overstated! Vision for what? Is it a vision just for technology, or is it a vision for learning and technology?

Posted by Randy on 01/03 at 04:08 PM
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Sunday, January 02, 2005

Flow of Information

Over vacation I was putting my portfolio together and wanted to include some artifacts from the classes that I’ve taken at Columbia University, Teachers College toward my MA in Computing and Education. Putting the portfolio together was a good experience because I was able to revisit many of the thought-provoking, interesting bits of information you so often get in graduate classes. The Flow of Information model was something that we worked with in Howard Budin’s Computers and Uses of Information in Education class. So I will credit him with these ideas.

The underlying premise is that information technology is changing education. We clearly have much more information available to us with the Internet. We have new tools for presentation and publication. There are new skills involved in getting and processing information.

Finding information - What do I need? How do I find it? What do I use to find it? Do I need any new skills to find what I need?

Evaluating information - Is the information correct? How do I know?

Acquiring information - What skills do I need to ‘capture’ the information I find (text, graphics, sound, video)? How do I manipulate these into a format that is usable?

Analyzing information - What am I going to do with this information beyond copy/paste? Do I need to use other technology tools, such as a spreadsheet, to analyze the information?

Presenting information - What kind of presentation will I have? Do I have the skill to assemble and deliver an effective presentation?

Attributing information - Do I clearly understand which information is mine and which is someone else’s? Do I know how to give other authors credit?

With the need for new skills, we now have to think about these areas differently than we have in the past. They are all important, but when using technology, the analysis stage is often left out. Technology integration is not the world of copy/paste. Student must gather information, and then be led in ways that encourage them to think about the information they have gathered and what new information they can create from it. They must be engaged in meaningful activity, not simply finding information and putting it into a web page or PowerPoint.

Posted by Randy on 01/02 at 02:38 PM
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