Schools Open Doors to Student's Mobile Devices

This article brought up a hot topic of discussion in many local districts. Cell phones can be used for many inappropriate things and can be a distraction in a classroom, so they are commonly banned. Budget cuts have severely limited purchases of technology devices. But, school districts are required by law to ensure students are technologically literate. Why not use the cheap, hand held devices that 75% of students bring to school?

Crossing the street can be dangerous. Do we forbid students to never cross a street? No, we teach them how to do it safely and responsibly. It is no different for cell phones and internet use. In fact, one the the NET standards school districts are required to address is digital citizenship. School districts need to start having conversations about changing policy and using resources students bring with them regularly. Studies show 2/3 of kids ages 8 to 18 own cell phones- what a culture shift!

Cell phones could enhance learning in many different ways. A few presented in the article include: give real time feedback to a lecture, take pictures during a science field trip, and answer teacher prompts with online polling. One way some districts have dealt with some of the issues regarding cell phones was to allow teachers to dictate how they would be used during class. Students are only allowed to use their phones at their discretion during break times. I am confident that districts could find a safe way to utilize this handy technology. It's going to require opening minds and engaging in conversations, but I feel confident that after taking Willamette's Ed Tech class I will be able to be a strong voice and catalyst for change!

Head Start Proposal Aims to Turn Up Heat on Lagging Programs

There are some new, proposed rules for Head Start Programs coming from the US Department of Health and Human services. Low performing programs may soon have to compete for funding. The goal is to get the message out that "programs need to increase their quality and grantees will be held accountable." Head Start is a program for low income students, to give them access to resources and instruction before kindergarten so that they will be on track with their more well off peers. The program is designed to increase equity in education. The new proposed rules make sense when you examine the goal of the program. If a program is not adequately preparing students for school, then it is not effectively creating equity. I could foresee these proposed rules becoming official soon, since the executive director of the Head Start advocacy group hails the rules as, "tough but fair." 

This article was personally relevant to me for two reasons. First, I have a daughter in Head Start, and as a parent I am happy to see that these programs are closely monitored. I would like my child to learn academic skills that will prepare her for kindergarten. If the Head Start program she attends couldn't provide her with those skills, then it should compete for funding and create an improvement plan.

Secondly, I currently work as part of a team managing a federally funded 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant. There has been discussions about also making  these grants competitive in the future. I agree competitive grants drive programs toward improvement and growth, but I fear it would create more work for those who run the programs. I wouldn't want to spend less time with my students and more time preparing for a grant application process. I also wonder if a competitive process would make it more difficult for small districts with high poverty to compete. There would need to be different scales for measuring success based upon student enrollment and a multitude of other issues.

U.S. Found to Recruit Fewer Teachers From Top Ranks

Wow, this Ed Week article was interesting and pointed out many of the reasons I chose not to get my Bachelor's degree in education. America's educational system does have many flaws and I had hoped to be a part of the change mechanism, which is why I majored in public policy. It's much harder to create change when you are a teacher in the system that needs improvement. However, I have also learned that it is hard to know what changes would be most effective in the system with out having the experience of a teacher's perspective. It doesn't surprise me at all to see the statistic that only 23% of teachers come from the top third of college graduates. I think many of the top students are intelligent enough to see that teaching is a relatively low paying job, the profession is not as admired by society as it used to be, and it requires putting in many hours outside of the school day. Students entering this profession must be passionate about why they want to teach. I agree with two main statements in this article:

1)   There needs to be stricter standards for students accepted into Ed programs. Teaching should not be viewed as a fall back profession that anyone can do. When you make the training for educators more competitive, you will get candidates more committed to being effective teachers. 

2)   I am in favor of all the "cost-effective" approaches presented out in the McKinsey report:

• subsidizing teacher preparation (cost of college)
• improving working conditions
• providing performance bonuses

My only concern is with the performance bonuses. They would have to find a way to either not make them based on assessment scores or find a way to equally distribute students in special education programs.

Often parents request the best teachers for their high achieving academic students. If districts allowed all these requests, then basing teacher performance on student assessment would not be fair. I can say  from what I have observed so far this year, there are some classrooms with many high need students and some classrooms with very few. I admire and would be in favor of rewarding the teacher who worked closely with all the high need students, even though I 'm sure test scores in that room would be lower. I guess the bottom line is, there needs to be more factors to base teacher performance on besides assessment.

Some major changes in the US educational system will need to be made if we are going to keep up in the global society- both staff and students. I think open discussion is the first step in finding out what changes need to be made first and the best method to do it. I hope dialogue in these areas continues.

 

Michelle Rhee Resigns as D.C. Schools Chancellor

I read in an Ed Week blog that Michelle Rhee has resigned. It was a testament to how changes in educational policy ebb and flow based on politics. Ms. Rhee seemed confident that some of the changes she fought for, namely the new teacher contract and evaluation plans would continue on in her absence. Unfortunately, she will most likely be remembered for the negative publicity associated with her controversial actions targeted at improving the schools in Washington D.C.

Analyzing Student Data in a Spreadsheet

I was given student test data for 10 tests in a google spreadsheet document. In an effort to analyze students who fell below average test scores I sorted student data and compiled it into two graphs, as seen below.



When reviewing the graphs I noticed that all students made progress and increased their scores between tests 6 and 10. Some students had ups and downs, which could be attributed to misunderstanding a test question or having a bad day. Their overall progress shows me as an educator that students are retaining what is being taught and improving over time. My greater concern is for the disparity between the highest and lowest performers in the class. I might take the time to do a comprehensive review in the form of a game or critical thinking exercise and pair up the high and low performers. Or, depending on the grade level, might send home supplemental activites for the low end students that could be done on a voluntary basis.

Using google spreadsheets made calculating student averages and sorting students in to groups, quick and easy. I think it would be a great way to track and calculate student grades. Another advantage to the program being internet based is that students and parents could have access to view a student's progress and missing assignments.

Reflection of Ed Tech Standards

Goals of CIP, NET, OET and New Oregon Diploma-

• increasing student understanding of technology
• creating students who can be successful  and competitive in 21st century
• teach students digital citizenship
• teach students how to increase their productivity through technology

Ways to Implement Technology at the Elementary Level to Address the 6 OET Standards:

1. CREATIVITY & INNOVATION- Introduce students to Google Drawing, Record student presentations and replay for the class, Use Skype to talk to pen pals across the world.
2. COMMUNICATION & COLLABORATION- Students can type letter or create a card for their parents. Students could collaborate on a google document.
3. RESEARCH & INFORMATION FLUENCY- Introduce students to the internet. Research a topic as a group using the internet.
4. CRITICAL THINKING, PROBLEM SOLVING, & DECISION MAKING- Create projects for students where they have to use different forms of technology to solve the problem.
5. DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP- Discuss with students copyright infringement and appropriate ways to surf the web.
6. TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS & CONCEPTS-Discuss different forms of technology that exist and their purpose. Let students experiment and create their own ideas of how they can use technology to benefit their life.

ULTIMATE GOAL: to open students' minds to the possibilities of what technology can do in their lives. Students should be able to use technology to learn, live and work!

WEB 2.0 and Emerging Technologies

Web 2.0- Web 2.0 applications are designed allow information sharing. These applications give users the opportunity to interact with each other in social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter. They are designed to increase interaction, collaboration and personal productivity.

Drop Box- This application is an organizational systerm. It allows all your documents to be stored in one central place, which can be accessed from any computer you use. It creates a folder on your desktop which you can drag and drop documents into. The program then copies those documents to the same file on all you other computers. The program will also store all your files on the internet, so that if your computer should crash, you will automatically have a backup copy.

Drop Box has the potential to assist me with increasing my personal productivity by saving me time in searching for documents. I have my personal computer, a school laptop, and a work laptop all with different documents saved on them. I try to remember to copy everything to my flash drive, but I often forget. It's frustrating to need a document saved at home when I am at work and vice versa. This program could also be very beneficial to students for the same reason. They will have no more excuses for late documents when they can access their assignments from the internet!




Tokbox- is a video conferencing application that is similar to skype, but has many more features and options. This program is a great tool for getting people together for a face to face meeting even when you are miles apart. I was impressed that this program allows you to share media clips while conferencing. You could share a You Tube or Flickr clip during a meeting. It will also allow you to add your contacts you already have stored in other messaging programs such as AIM.

I think this application would be great for high school students who need to collaborate on a project but aren't able to physically get together to meet. It could also be used for elementary students to give them an opportunity to meet and chat with pen pals around the world. I could forsee using Tokbox for a video conference or webinar to allow more personal interaction with the instructor or colleagues.

Google Documents- Drawing

I was eager to learn more about Google Drawing because I thought there may be many ways for me to apply it in an elementary classroom. I would define Google Drawing as a document you can use to create a picture that can be plugged into presentations or as an interactive tool that can be used to present a topic and allow hands on practice.

I am most intrigued about the concept of using this application to actively engage students in a classroom. For example, in an Algebra class, students can actually interact with formulas using various math symbols. In an elementary math class I could import pictures of coins and have students move them around in the document to achieve different goals. This tool could be used to create many visuals for any age level.

The learning curve for me on this assignment was fairly low. The Google Drawing application was very user friendly and was easy to navigate. I learned more when I had to take my creation and apply it to other documents or to the web. I can now say that I know how to embed the URL in a blog, and save the file as a pdf, jpeg, or png document.

In the drawing you see below, I actively worked in creating the text boxes and input the headings in each box. We worked as a team to make sure all our viewpoints were presented under each of these topics. I also experimented with font and color changes, but our group worked so well as a team we all experimented in these areas.

After having the opportunity to experiment with the Google Drawing tool I feel fairly comfortable using this tool in a variety of formats and can't wait to use it in a classroom setting. My next goal for myself is to see how I can use this application in conjunction with a smart board!