Classroom Newsletter - NETS I, III

I created this newsletter using Microsoft Word, integrating clipart and multiple graphics tools, including a scanned image of a drawing, text wrapping, borders, formatting adjustments to the contrast and brightness of images, and placing images behind text. Scribd was used to embed the newsletter onto my blog. This artifact models creative thinking and innovative use of technology tools. Students can use this as a reference for their own learning to create a newsletter of their own.

NewsletterKMS_bdr_3

Journal 2 Grounded Tech Integration - NETS-T V

Harris, J., & Hofer, M. (2009). Grounded Tech Integration. Learning and Leading with Technology, 37(2). Retrieved on September 21, 2009 from http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=September_October_No_2_3&Template=MembersOnly.cfm&NavMenuID=4381&ContentID-24179&DirectListComboInd=D

This article is the first of a seven-part series of articles that redefines the components of successful technology integration into the K-12 classroom experience. Each content-specific article will discuss types of learning associated with each major standards-based content area of the K-12 curriculum and will illustrate each concept with classroom-tested examples.

In the "grounded" approach to technology integration, goals based on content standards are the primary focus for teacher planning of desirable student outcomes. The teacher first selects learning and assessment activities to achieve appropriate student outcomes. Only then is technology given serious consideration as one of many tools and resources to articulate the teaching and learning plan.

Harris and Hofer suggest a five-step process that is basic to many different instructional planning models. The five steps are:
1) set goals based on curriculum content standards
2) make teaching decisions based upon continua of eight experiential learning parameters
3) determine learning activity types to combine
4) choose both formative and summative assessments of learning
5) lastly, select appropriate technology tools to enhance and facilitate the teaching plan.

The six succeeding articles in the series will describe six different teacher's approaches to planning and integrating technology, each in a different course content area.

I found the use of words like "redux" and "taxonomy" to be a bit pretentious, but like the idea of putting technology last in the order of teacher planning. The authors imply that as teachers and students become more proficient with technology, the more influence technology will have on the planning process and the more effectively technology can be integrated into the curriculum.

Who has time for this sort of comprehensive planning?
There seem to be so many constrictions on lesson planning that the content area is nearly lost in the process. In many schools where I have observed, substituted, or taught, teachers meet in grade-level groups for long-range instructional planning. In this collaborative approach to planning, everyone benefits from everyone else's expertise. Most schools have a technology expert on staff who can advise teachers on specific technology tools available to them, and how best to use the tools in their classrooms.

How do students benefit from the use of technology in the classroom?
Using technology in the classroom helps students meet the NETS standards. It also provides an engaging and innovative look at a subject content area from many different perspectives.

Journal 1 e-Learning programs come in all shapes and sizes - NETS-T V

Coyle, S., Jones, T., & Pickle, S.K. (2009). e-Learning programs come in all shapes and sizes. Learning and Leading with Technology, 37(2). Retrieved on September 15, 2009 from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Publications/LL/LLIssues/Volume3720092010/SeptemberOctoberNo2/e_Learning_Programs_Come_in_All_Shapes_a.htm

The e-Learning programs article describes the motivation for developing three innovative online learning programs in three very different settings. All three programs were developed in response to specific student learning needs.

Alaska's Yukon-Koyukuk School District (YKSD) developed a program in response to a need for "highly qualified" teachers under the No Child Left Behind Act. Because students in remote interior regions of YKSD were technologically proficient, direct virtual instruction, including videoconferencing, became the learning delivery system of choice. A one-to-one laptop program also provided online learning to independent learners. The YKSD currently delivers a continuous standards-based curriculum to all students, including online learning of the ancient native culture of the region.

In the sprawling urban school district of Baltimore, Maryland, the Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) developed an online learning program to expand course offerings and provide more equitable learning opportunities to inner city students. Advanced placement and high level math and science courses were offered to students who might otherwise not have had access to these courses. As part of the online learning experience, students become conversant with 21st-century technologies, and they become proficient with online communications, such as email, discussion forums, Internet research, and virtual classrooms. Face-to-face support is provided by an onsite mentor teacher assigned to each student. One goal of online learning is to encourage students to become lifelong learners. To sample the user-friendly system that BCPS developed, visit their website at www.bcps.org/students/online_learning.

The Arkansas State Department of Education developed a Distance Learning Center to assist schools statewide in providing more flexible scheduling for students with teachers who meet the "highly qualified" requirements set by NCLB. All state-required units, with the exception of music and PE, are offered in an online learning format. In support of the virtual online classroom instruction, learning modules were created to further assist those students who needed extra support in a particular course content area. Teachers travel to meet face-to-face with students at venues that provide "real life experiences" in the course content area. With a 95% pass rate, the program has successfully helped more students graduate, taking advanced and specialized courses, and has helped provide students with the technological acumen they require to compete in the 21st century.

What type of student benefits from online learning?
Students targeted for online learning in both the Alaskan and Maryland schools were all highly motivated, independent learners who would otherwise not have had access to advanced placement and specialized course instruction. While the Arkansas DOE seemed to target a broader profile of student, when Pickle outlined the successes of the program, including a 95% pass rate, she also referred to more equitable opportunities for students to complete their graduation requirements and to take advanced and specialized coursework. In all three of these programs, then, students were highly motivated, independent learners.

What long-term effects will online learning have on the teaching profession?
In all three instances of e-Learning, fewer teachers were required to provide access to online coursework for more students. Ostensibly, it would seem that this would result in downsizing teaching positions and opportunities, and I'm sure it has this outcome to some extent. However, onsite mentor teachers are needed to facilitate the online instruction programs, and to continue teaching those students for whom the online method of instruction may not be effective. In the end, technology is a tool for people to use. It's not going to disappear anytime soon, and as painful as it may be for some of us to manage, it is definitely a major part of our lives, our society and our teaching environment.

kms
9/15/2009

Introductory Letter to Kathleen Sand (EDUC 422-05)

My name is Kathleen Sand and I live in Poway with my husband, daughter who attends UCSD, and our two cats. I was born in Dubuque, Iowa, and attended K-8 elementary and high school there. I've attended colleges and universities in Iowa, Minnesota, California and Wisconsin. I received a BA in Music from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and recently received an MM in Music from Silver Lake College in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. I have also taken certification courses in both Orff and Kodaly methodologies as well as in children's choral music.

My experience with technology is limited to email, searching the Internet with Mozilla Firefox, using word processing applications [Microsoft Office 2003 on a Dell laptop PC], and working with Finale 2008 for music software applications. In the music teaching positions I've held, I was lucky to have access to an overhead transparency projector and a xerox copy machine. In recent substitute teaching, I've used a Mac on a very limited basis, following specific instructions for a specific use. I love how the doc cams, computers, DVD's and CD's, and computer blackboard applications can all be integrated in the classroom, but don't have a clue as to how to accomplish that. I hope to become a bit more conversant and facile with at least some of these applications this semester. I am a PC person by access and experience, and would describe myself as technologically challenged (perhaps in some part due to the fact that I am a PC person and not a MAC person).

I believe that educational equity and collaborative learning can transform public education and our social systems to become havens of social justice for all. This sentiment in the CSUSM mission statement attracted me to this teaching credential program. As for life-long learning, we all need to KEEP ON GOING!