Unit VII - What strategies can be adopted for interested educators to face the

It is true that there are not many available programs to help in the  professional skill building of the teachers to be equipped with the use of modern technology in school curriculum. However, I am sure with time we will have better professional training programs that will build enough confidence among the school teachers to start using technology with ease. Though the power of internet with its vast source of knowledge and training tools can help teachers to become tech savvy by self help, but it may not be enough for them to adopt it.

One solution would be to arrange for comprehensive training by the technology vendor with follow-up professional development by the school district. Catch-up sessions at regular intervals would be definitely required in line with software enhancements and upgrades. Lack of proper support and guidance can quickly result in negative perception on technology, which can permanaently turn off the support for its introduction. There should also be peer-to-peer mentoring sessions where teachers who are experts on a specific application can assist other teachers as needed. Video tapes could be created in the classroom for those teachers who are proficient in using technology and that could be used as an artifact in demonstrating successful use of technology.These would be cost-effective tactics to create awareness and should result in positive interactions among the teaching community. Of course, school systems can create an incentive structure to reward teachers for adopting technology as another direct way to encourage teachers.

Like in any other professional community, there will always be a few early adopters of technology and there will be those who cautiously steps in one toe at a time. The key is to let the excitement of the small group of early enthusiasts spread. Their motivation and word-of- mouth feedback can build a viral effect in a bigger community of teachers who can begin to explore the possibilities of new ways of learning.

Unit VI I- What causes this resistance to technology in classroom? How do we connect with educators that resist change in practice?

It is true that even today, when powerful educational technology tools like interactive whiteboards, electronic archives, remote conferencing systems are improving the classroom experience of students all over the world, there are still a few in the teaching community who are unwilling to adopt the innovations. Its not always easy to understand the reluctance in embracing technology but the more natural reason would be the tendency of people to resist widespread changes in their profession. The march of technology in our daily lives, specifically the pervasive use of computers and internet has moved at a rapid pace over the last decade to the point where it could be a quite overwhelming for some educators to contemplate changing from their traditional way of teaching.

Even though technology itself cannot present a solution by itself, but realization of its potential by the educational community is the only way to change the traditional mindset of teachers and to make them accept the tools of modern world. Teaching is an exceptionally difficult job even for a driven person and technology tools can definitely improve classroom experience for both teachers and students. However, if teachers believe they are being forced into using it, they will resist, especially if its not properly demonstrated what specific value it will bring to their classroom. When it is imposed it becomes another compliance exercise rather than being a way to enhance learning. Technology integration in classroom should be a gradual process and shouldn't appear as another burden on the teacher's tasklist. The correct way of introducing it would be to probably position it as a critical means to improve the student's experience. Once the teachers and school administrators realize that its going to make a significant difference for students, they will endure the challenge and take the path to change the existing traditional methods.

Unit VI - How do student performances demonstrate understanding?

Performance in class tests, quizzes and projects are the traditional ways in which students demonstrate understanding. These days, however as instructors are adopting new methods of assessment to deal with changing needs of the classroom. For example, learning outcomes such as knowing how to operate a machine or run a lab experiment are not well suited to paper-and-pencil tests anymore. Today students’ skill level and understanding are measured through real world challenges (e.g. Collaborative projects) where their performance shows how much or what they have really understood. The other factor related with students’ understanding is their prior knowledge, which can bring some new light in the classroom and shows if the student can relate and make sense of the new information on that subject.

Uniy VI - How do we assess collaborative problem solving?

My personal experience centers on pre-K to elementary/middle and in that level, I would definitely like to stress that individual performance is the most important (and straightforward) way of assessing a student’s understanding. In the context of collaborative learning, the instructor needs to have a clear understanding of each student’s role in a group project to make a fair assessment. Collaborative projects help the class cover a lot of ground in exploring the depth of the subjects since the students in a group can individually pursue their areas of interest and contribute to the project. However, that increases the work on assessment as the instructor has to weigh each individual’s work on a different yardstick based on their specific choice of problem areas. For example, if a few students work together to study a specific problem (e.g. increasing school dropouts in their state) towards proposing a solution then there will be a division of labor in the group. Someone would work on gathering data and interpreting them while someone will try to meaningfully explain the correlation between various data sets and someone else might focus on editing the multiple solutions at hand to create the final presentation. Everyone should be assessed individually based on what they specifically achieved through the course of the project and there should be a reasonable percent of the assessment based on the final product. That would be fair in my opinion to grade individual contributions as well as to measure their effectiveness while working in a team.

Unit V- What are the affordances and constraints of Web 2.0 communication tools in helping facilitate communication, collaboration, and/or community in various educational contexts?

Technology is human development and is the outlet for our creative process. The world without technological advancements would not be as productive as it is today. We are moving from linear, point-to-point communication patterns to a web of networked interactions, where individual two-way dialogues are linked with wider groups.

Web 2.0 is the new term for interactive user friendly websites. I am still discovering and experiencing the vastness of it and sometime it’s a bumpy ride. However, I should admit that the possibilities are endless and we all are brushed by it in some way or the other.

Gmail with a 7.2 GB storage space is one of the best free email service I have used so far. With a vast array of features and collaborative tools Google Apps stands out as one of my favorite interactive communication tool for long distant education program. It has a few unique features that make it stand out among other similar products. The spam and custom filter, the instant msg. conversations (chat and email from the same page) the single thread email, the colored labels, all makes it so efficient and useful.

The power of the Wiki brings together multiple perspectives and ideas on common themes. I was pleasantly surprised with the ability to add and embed almost anything you can imagine. I have yet to come across any restrictions in terms of the amount or types of content you can link to, embed or post on a Wikispace. Wikispace has given away over 30,000 wikis to educators in the last few years and still presents endless potential to the web community.

Flickr is a great site for sharing your photos online. What attracts me is its user-friendly interface which allows me to upload endless amounts of photos. I like the tag feature which makes photo finding an easy process. One more issue that I have with other sites is the one-to-one photo upload which is very time consuming. Flickr has great tools that make batch uploading quick and easy. It uses AJAX-technology extensively, so no page reloading occurs. Last but not the least is its ability to keep track of my friend list. Even with its basic free membership limitations, it is well worth it to have a Flickr account.

Del.icio.us (del.icio.us)
Bought by Yahoo! in 2005, Del.icio.us is the “original” social bookmarking site that has been used by many. I didn’t really used it until now and I think I like some of its features that makes it easy to have a single set of bookmarks synced between my computers. The bookmark sharing features seems very promising and I think it can be a useful tool in distant education. The Tag feature seems very useful in the long run. I am still exploring the site and is probably yet to discover its full potential.

Discussion Board being the asynchronous communication tool (like the one we use here) is definitely an effective tool to communicate and collaborate in a distant learning program. I prefer discussion board for easy communication where I can easily follow a thread of conversation focused on a particular topic. The shared experience and opinion among the group encourages all the members to think and to clearly make their points. The poverty anchors seem a bit confusing at times and visually stressing to go through the whole list with too many sub divisions in one page. However, I liked the fact that the interactions could be grouped efficiently between the multiple sub-topics which works as an well-organized reference.

I would like to suggest another interactive tool for collaborative learning. If we can see come online video of a classroom in progress or take part in a virtual classroom it will be more meaningful. Streaming video, rich media conferencing (interactive multimedia) and tele-presence make live distance learning situations interactive. The content is more dynamic when students can talk to the instructors, ask questions and offer their own insights. I think this may help create a more engaging learning environment.

In summary, Web 2.0 tools hold endless potential it for us. The information overload can sometimes be distracting as President Obama aptly reflects as “… information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation.”
(http://www.dailytech.com/Obama+Hurls+Criticism+of+Xbox+360+iPad+at+College+Graduation+Ceremony/article18332.htm)

However, I feel that the only downside is that the available technology is not used enough. People talk about the Internet being convenient, but it is not the case in many parts of the world. You need to go to a cyber café or you have to dial up a telephone line or use a slow broadband connection. Whereas in the US, 150 million households have broadband access all around the clock. When you have such a situation you can do social networking, and try out as many Web 2.0 tools and get full benefit out of them but that is not happening at an acceptable pace in under developed countries.

Unit V- How might technology-infused collaborative activities facilitate or hinder student understanding?

Not too long ago, PowerPoint was considered cutting edge technology in Higher Education. Today, Web 2.0 tools are making serious in-roads into Higher Education to help create a social and collaborative learning environment. Schools are continually challenged to provide the best education for today's youth. "What worked for us" isn't necessarily good enough for our children because society is continually changing. We call our vision for the future the "learner-active, technology-infused classroom".

Technology provides opportunities never before available and therefore should transform the learning environment for all school community members. Technology tools have come a long way. Schools do not need to spend as much time teaching about computers as they did a decade ago. Instead, teachers and students can now take advantage of all variety of tools and software to offer in the learning process. Technology and the Internet provide access to information around the world; they allow students to explore topics such as space travel and oceanography through sounds, images, and video; they allow students to easily graph and analyze numeric data; they allow students to present and receive information in "real time" from others; and much more. By placing computers right in the classrooms and designing curriculum tasks that allow students to use computers in the course of their learning, students are thoroughly appreciating the value of the technology tools.

In addition to learning the basic skills, students need time to work on open-ended problems to apply those skills. These types of problems are best attacked as a group. A relevant example would be the current project for one of our group where they need to propose a curriculum plan to help Marvin create collaborative mentoring model for his new website (creating the "felt-need" to learn about Filipino education system in question). Working well in a global group does not come easily without the development of a set of skills, such as communicating ideas, sharing responsibility, listening, taking turns, etc. These skills can only be developed, maintained, and refined if they are used consistently and collaboratively.

As for hindering students understanding due to the use of various Web 2.0 tools, I personally cannot find a good instance. In my experience as a teacher, I found that these tools and modern apps helped my students learn faster and gave them a more interactive experience. I think as long as we know how to take advantage of all these useful technology and possess the skill set to manage them efficiently, we should try to infuse them in our education system.

In conclusion, learning technology of today is being shaped with the help of Web 2.0 tools to create a social, highly collaborative and personalized environment. Educators, management and administrators who are proactive in embracing this trend with the help of the right technology partner, are in a position to create significant competitive advantages. This includes not just an enhanced learning paradigm but also efficient economies of scale for the educational organization to meet the growing demand of classrooms.

Concept Map - Highlighting Technology in School Education

You can view my concept map here:
http://www.mywebspiration.com/view/887035a2c468


“I so wish I had a time machine and be a 2 years old just to use all the awesome educational software and tools that makes learning so much more fun, interactive and meaningful for today’s kids.” –Debarati

In my concept map, I highlighted the technology tools that I felt had the potential to improve teaching in classrooms. I grouped the products on the basis of the curriculum and primarily focused on the Pre-K and Elementary sections as I feel that there's immense potential of using technology for the youngest learners. So, what can technology actually accomplish in the classroom and what are the challenges that are presented while we introduce it in the curriculum? That's the theme that I explored through my readings and in the due creation of the concept map.

Technology in classroom stimulates students by making learning fun. Internet allows students and teachers alike in exploring primary concepts and diverse ideas in real time. There's hardly any subject that cannot benefit from the ocean of resources available on the web. In addition, modern software tools can help students to rehearse; self evaluate and improve on subjects where proficiency could be only gained by practice. Tirelessly, the software tools help students to create baseline, track progress and focus in self improvement. Communication tools like emails, web meetings and blogs benefits everyone in the academic community by enabling instantaneous exchange of ideas. The tools that I have discussed in the following sections bring unique value to the classroom by means of the creative ideas that went behind their implementation. However, use of technology alone cannot make an impact unless its intervention is directed by proficient teachers who have the necessary skills and the motivation to use these tools to make a
difference in the classroom.

Preschool-Kindergarten is an amazing period when a child starts taking those newly found steps in his quest to learning. With his mind and faculties in early development stage, he is a bundle of energy trying to make sense of the world around him. This is the time when parents should carefully consider introducing computers. Using a word processing tool would familiarize the child with numbers and alphabets and will also help them to understand the idea of basic sentence formation. There are a variety of software products that could be used in the classroom to enhance the basic skills that they will need as they get ready to read. Dr. Seuss ABC teaches alphabets in a delightful manner with a wealth of animations and outstanding illustrations. Children can click on individual letters, words and phrases to bring them to life. There's also a large set of activities, musical routines and humorous puns that makes learning an amusing experience and does a complete justice to the legacy of Theodor Seuss, the original author of the series.

Among the other software products available at this level, Mickey’s Preschool from Disney deserves a special mention. Children learn alphabets, shapes and blocks while interacting with Mickey and friends and they get a lot of cheerful encouragement as they navigate through individual levels. However, the application that most impressed me is the iWriteWords on iPad. It is a handwriting game that makes the most effective use of the touch screen by letting the kids trace alphabets, numbers and entire words on the iPad screen with their fingers. High quality graphics, multimedia sounds and a combination of eye-pleasing colors makes the challenging experience of learning to write both natural and entertaining.

Technology in Elementary schools should include software that can augment reading skills. Among the products that I audited, I found that ClickN’ READ Phonics is a well-organized and interactive system. It stands out among others due to its ease of use. Every section is accompanied by animated instruction set that makes navigation easy for young students while they can seamlessly progress through successive chapters without much supervision. Most of the learning is through interaction with animated characters that introduces letter sounds, syllables and new words. The package attempts to improve reading efficiently by means of prompt visual recognition. The exercises stress on proper pronunciation and also teach students as how the same letter can sound differently depending on how it is placed within a word. It covers the school curriculum for kindergarten to third grade and can be also accessed over the internet.

As we get to middle school and higher grades, the role of technology shifts. From being a driver of cognitive learning, it switches to a being a productivity agent that guides students and makes them more efficient in their quest of learning. The choice of the products, their maintenance and upgrades and their deployment in classroom demands experience and foresight from educators in the schools systems. Since the procurement of these systems need major capital commitment, the decision to invest in a particular technology must be made with the careful consideration of the school’s learning goals. Software evaluation for a classroom should involve detailed steps including but not limited to auditing a trial version, reviewing documentation, analysis of features and available customizations and a maintenance plan. The evaluation plan can involve forming control groups of students who could give a trial runs and deliver feedbacks on
all aspects of the products.

Among the products that I reviewed for middle school, Destination Math came across as a popular suite of learning package that could be used in home or schools. It is quite comprehensive in coverage and its primary strength lies in its simulations of mathematical concepts that allow students to learn by investigation. Pre-Algebra World is a similar application designed to improve mathematics skills and it also could be quite useful in classrooms and labs. The tool attempts to connect students to mathematical concepts using real-world themes. The relevance of subjects can go a long way in attracting attention and motivating the struggling learners.

Finally, I would like to talk about software systems that can build curriculum for students with special needs. This is one area where technology is almost indispensible and its use in teaching makes a ground breaking difference. Educational technology companies have a wide range of assistive software and other solutions that work with students with varied types of learning disorders. It’s the very existence of these tools that has enabled families and institutions to offer viable options for these special learners. Learning videos play an important role in learning and United Streaming is a video-on-demand service that covers an almost unlimited number of academic subjects. Mind mapping software products provide a visual way of organizing information and is frequently used to train the difficult process of knitting together ideas into paragraphs and chapters. InspirationὉ and KidinspirationὉ help learners to understand relation between words and pictures and shapes their mind for higher level thinking. The Time4Learning website provides an wealth of resources for special need learners including multimedia lessons, text-to-speech capabilities and on-board writing tools. It covers Maths, Arts, Science and Social Studies and is exhaustive in its scope and design. These tools and many others have made assistive technology affordable for special needs students and set a perfect example of how the use of technology can bring the gift of education to the ones who most needs it.