Keeping Up With The Times
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Sunday, November 29, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
STaR Chart
Technology in school districts is a job that most view as relatively easy, but in the last 5 years, I've seen our technology director become one of the major leaders at my district. With the constant changes in technology, school districts must stay on top of the changes. One way to help technology directors or coordinators see what educators think needs improvement is by taking a survey. On designed by the state to help rate target areas is the STaR Chart.
In looking through my districts 3 years of reports, I found that the area that consistently rates as an advanced tech is area 4, Infrastructure for Technology. For this area to qualify for advanced there must be 4 or less students per computer, direct connectivity to internet in 75% of classrooms, web-based learning, LAN/WAN, and one teacher per computer. In comparing our district with the state, 57.2% of educators in the state of Texas were qualified as advanced tech for Infrastructure for Technology.
One area that I did see within key area 4 that was rated consistently low over the past 3 years was Distance Learning Capacity. Our school district does not offer any courses that could be taken online. It could be beneficial to our school districts to look into what other surrounding school are offering to their students in terms of distance education. Two areas that I did see that rated consistently high were Internet Access Connectivity Speed and Local Area Network/Wide Area Network. In the past two years, our Technology directors has been working very hard to make sure our students can connect to the internet and download important videos and/or documents very quickly. Our LAN does at times slow down, but they are quick to get it back up.
The STaR Chart does a good job at showing the district and state what schools are doing to keep up with the changing times in the technology world.
In looking through my districts 3 years of reports, I found that the area that consistently rates as an advanced tech is area 4, Infrastructure for Technology. For this area to qualify for advanced there must be 4 or less students per computer, direct connectivity to internet in 75% of classrooms, web-based learning, LAN/WAN, and one teacher per computer. In comparing our district with the state, 57.2% of educators in the state of Texas were qualified as advanced tech for Infrastructure for Technology.
One area that I did see within key area 4 that was rated consistently low over the past 3 years was Distance Learning Capacity. Our school district does not offer any courses that could be taken online. It could be beneficial to our school districts to look into what other surrounding school are offering to their students in terms of distance education. Two areas that I did see that rated consistently high were Internet Access Connectivity Speed and Local Area Network/Wide Area Network. In the past two years, our Technology directors has been working very hard to make sure our students can connect to the internet and download important videos and/or documents very quickly. Our LAN does at times slow down, but they are quick to get it back up.
The STaR Chart does a good job at showing the district and state what schools are doing to keep up with the changing times in the technology world.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Pre-K knowledge
Saturday morning TV consists of advertisement over advertisement of cereal and games for young children. But over the years, I've seen an increase in younger children toy advertisements; and what amazes me are the technological advancements they have. Leap Frog is one company that continues to amaze me. They have a pen that helps children read books, and a bike that you can ride that navigates you through a game on the television. Children younger and younger are becoming more aware and proficient with technology everyday. Another commerical that I love to see is the Windows commercial that has children creating slide shows that shows how they are a "PC".
Texas has created Pre-K technology application TEKS that help educators facilitate children's understanding of technology. Not only do these young children need to know the basic parts of a computer, they also need to know how to navigate through software programs using basic verbal and visual clues. Pre-K students also need to know how to listen to a CD on the computer. Teachers can facilitate this by having CD and tape recorders for them to play with. The child must also be able to create writings and drawings from different software. The use of different software that have audio, video, and graphics helps children build their vocabulary and phonological skills.
The main way teachers can help their students is to give them the opportunity to work with computers. In almost all of the TEKS, teachers must provide the time for students to explore and play with technology. By acquiring these computer skills early, technology will come second hand to them as they grow older.
Texas has created Pre-K technology application TEKS that help educators facilitate children's understanding of technology. Not only do these young children need to know the basic parts of a computer, they also need to know how to navigate through software programs using basic verbal and visual clues. Pre-K students also need to know how to listen to a CD on the computer. Teachers can facilitate this by having CD and tape recorders for them to play with. The child must also be able to create writings and drawings from different software. The use of different software that have audio, video, and graphics helps children build their vocabulary and phonological skills.
The main way teachers can help their students is to give them the opportunity to work with computers. In almost all of the TEKS, teachers must provide the time for students to explore and play with technology. By acquiring these computer skills early, technology will come second hand to them as they grow older.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Long Range Plan
How young is too young for cell phones? With technology changing every minute, kids younger and younger are starting to use more technology. Many grandparents must call their grandchildren to help them with problems on the computer. 21st Century students have access to so many more things than previous generations did. As educators, we must have sufficient training to help educate these students. The Long Range Plan put in place by the Texas Education Agency outlines 13 different sections that discuss the plan for integrating technology successfully in schools.
One area that really interested me was the section covering Leadership, Administration, and Instructional Support. It is important that school districts administration at the central office and on all campuses value the need and use of technology. Administrators must embrace the use of technology in daily tasks such as taking attendance, inputting grades, and researching various topics for class.
The long range plan stresses that educators must change the way they teach as to meet the needs of individual students. The "one size fits all" method is no longer working. By using technology teachers can find different ways to modify assignments and use technology to benefit the student. Distance learning also provides schools with the opportunity of offer Advanced Placement and dual credit classes to students.
If every education agency gets on board with this plan, technology in schools will help educators better prepare student for higher education and the job market. School districts can no longer ride the tail end of the education wave of technology, they must invest a greater desire to better the education of its students.
One area that really interested me was the section covering Leadership, Administration, and Instructional Support. It is important that school districts administration at the central office and on all campuses value the need and use of technology. Administrators must embrace the use of technology in daily tasks such as taking attendance, inputting grades, and researching various topics for class.
The long range plan stresses that educators must change the way they teach as to meet the needs of individual students. The "one size fits all" method is no longer working. By using technology teachers can find different ways to modify assignments and use technology to benefit the student. Distance learning also provides schools with the opportunity of offer Advanced Placement and dual credit classes to students.
If every education agency gets on board with this plan, technology in schools will help educators better prepare student for higher education and the job market. School districts can no longer ride the tail end of the education wave of technology, they must invest a greater desire to better the education of its students.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Technology savvy
In the recent past, I've considered myself to be pretty good when dealing with technology. I'm always fielding questions from my mom over the phone on how to log into her facebook page that I set up for her, and how to navigate around it. I'm able to download pictures from my digital camera to my computer, scan pictures in when I have the right equipment, and make slide presentations over power point. But when I started taking these assessments, I quickly found out that maybe I'm not so technically savvy.
According to the Technology Applications Inventory, I need the most 'updating' in the domain of Information Acquisition. Being a math teacher, I never really require my students to write research papers, so when it asked me if I knew how to verify if information could have been plagiarized, I have no clue how to do that. I do wish I knew more on how to make a movie or add sound bites to presentations, but since I've never had to do it, I've never learned.
The other assessment, SETDA, really got me thinking about how up to date my current school district is compared to other school districts. One section asked the questions if teachers and students had access to updated equipment. Our school has been constantly updating our computers and Internet access since I started (5 years ago). It seems like we can never keep up, we're always modifying of updating. The next couple of questions asked if certain sub populations of the student body had access to computers at home. This really made me think. I often times hear of teachers assigning papers to be done at home, and they must be typed. Well, what if these students don't have a computer at home because they can't afford it? It really made me conscious of the assignments we give students.
From these two informal assessments, I look at technology as an entire solar system, and I've just barely discovered a few planets. There is so much more to learn, and I'm looking forward to exploring.
According to the Technology Applications Inventory, I need the most 'updating' in the domain of Information Acquisition. Being a math teacher, I never really require my students to write research papers, so when it asked me if I knew how to verify if information could have been plagiarized, I have no clue how to do that. I do wish I knew more on how to make a movie or add sound bites to presentations, but since I've never had to do it, I've never learned.
The other assessment, SETDA, really got me thinking about how up to date my current school district is compared to other school districts. One section asked the questions if teachers and students had access to updated equipment. Our school has been constantly updating our computers and Internet access since I started (5 years ago). It seems like we can never keep up, we're always modifying of updating. The next couple of questions asked if certain sub populations of the student body had access to computers at home. This really made me think. I often times hear of teachers assigning papers to be done at home, and they must be typed. Well, what if these students don't have a computer at home because they can't afford it? It really made me conscious of the assignments we give students.
From these two informal assessments, I look at technology as an entire solar system, and I've just barely discovered a few planets. There is so much more to learn, and I'm looking forward to exploring.
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