Obstacles

What has slowed the use of technology in education and how can those obstacles be overcome?
I think there are three obstacles that hender more rampent use of technology in classrooms today. First, is the availability of the resources. Not all schools have equal access to the technology that is available today and too many school systems have a hard time just keeping their computers up to date with software and hardware. Secondly, teachers get frustrated with the limited access provided by the IT departments in various school systems. Too many IT directors feel it is easier to block access to Internet sites using a coded blanket as opposed to taking the time to research sites and make restrictions only when appropriate. For example, most blog sites are blocked by school districts when blogs can be a valuable tool in the classroom when used correctly. Third, and finally, even when resources are not a problem and districts are blessed with a forward thinking IT Director, the implementation of technology is slowed down by teacher fear and inadequacy. Too many teachers do not have the skills necessary to implement technology in an effective way in the classroom. Teachers must receive professional development to gain the necessary skills to teach students to be productive in the 21st Century. Will computers replace teachers?...no of course not, but teachers who use computers will replace those who do not.

The Digital Divide

The term digital divide, according to Wikipedia, refers to the gap between those with regular, effective access to digital and information technology, and those without this access. It encompasses both physical access to technology hardware and, more broadly, skills and resources which allow for its use. Does this divide still exist? Absolutely! It does not exist in all school districts but the gap is widest in rural areas. Does this create a problem for teachers who want to implement technology into their classrooms? Absolutely! The digital dive creates problems because teachers are limited to what kind of assignments they can give to students as homework. Technology based assignments have to be completed in the classroom or another location at school that provides access to computers. The second part of the definition posted on Wikipedia is probably the biggest problem I see when face with a digital divide. Because students do not have access to computers they fall behind on computer based skills so when an assignment is given in class the problem is compounded because the teacher has to spend a proportionate amount of time teaching a particular skill.
How can this problem be solved? Good question! One suggestion is encouraging the use of the public library as a resource where students can access computers. Also A wide variety of organizations and non-profit groups are also working to close the digital gap in their communities. One such group, The Computers for Schools Foundation, collects used computers, refurbishes them, and distributes them to K-12 schools in need. Since it began in 1991, the program has placed more than 80,000 computers in schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Assistive Technologies and the Special Needs Student

Assistive technologies as defined by Vicky Sharpe in Computer Education for Teachers is any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially or off the shelf, modified or customized, that increases, maintains or improves functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities. There is an ever growing list of tools that would then qualify as assistive technology. There is a list of such technologies listed at the University of Toronto's Adaptive Technology Resources Center at http://www.utoronto.ca/atrc/reference/tech/techgloss.html



At my school we do not have any students who are severely MR, blind or deaf. We do, however have a number of students who are LD. I think one of the tools listed on the above web page that would help our students is Grammatical Support tools. Most of this population in our school has a problem with reading and grammar. Tools such as Dragon Speak Easy would be useful by allowing the students to read stories along with the computer as the words are called out. Grammar support tools would also be helpful by identifying grammar errors as the students are learning to write correctly.

Some Web 2.0 Tools Explanations and Links

• hotlists-are organized lists of resources on the Internet that educators may find useful. The lists save time and provide quality online resources for classroom needs. http://www.eduhound.com/hotlist/

• scavenger hunts-a scavenger hunt focuses on a particular theme that the teacher is introducing. A science teacher may use a scavenger hunt to introduce students to Dinosaurs, for example. The difference between a scavenger hunt and a Guided Tour is that the scavenger hunt is designed to introduce students to using search engines to find information on the Internet. http://homepage.mac.com/cohora/ext/internethunts.html

• webquests-Student-centered and inquiry-based, a WebQuest challenges students to explore the web for information. Most WebQuests include the links that are appropriate for students to research as well as suggestions for further research. WebQuests are generally constructed around a scenario of interest to students. Traditionally WebQuests have an introduction, a process, a task, a list of resources, a conclusion, and an evaluation. http://webquest.org/index-resources.php

• simulation-A simulation is an imitation of some real thing, state of affairs, or process. The act of simulating something generally entails representing certain key characteristics or behaviors of a selected physical or abstract system. http://www.hazelwood.k12.mo.us/~grichert/sciweb/applets.html

• blogs-A blog is a website where entries are written in chronological order and displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

  Blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art, photographs, videos (vlog), music, or audio, and are part of a wider network of social media. http://www.blogger.com

• wikis-A wiki is a web application designed to allow multiple authors to add, remove, and edit content.The multiple author capability of wikis makes them effective tools for mass collaborative authoring. http://www.wikispaces.com/

• podcasts-A podcast is a digital media file, or a series of such files, that is distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and personal computers. A podcast is a specific type of webcast which, like 'radio', can mean either the content itself or the method by which it is syndicated; the latter is also termed podcasting. http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcasts.html

• RSS-RSS (which, in its latest format, stands for "Really Simple Syndication") is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts. An RSS document, which is called a "feed," "web feed," or "channel," contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with their favorite web sites in an automated manner that's easier than checking them manually. http://rss.softwaregarden.com/aboutrss.html

Teacher Resources

http://www.teachersupport.info/ This site lists different types of support for teachers with free internet based coaching service with a range of features to support you in both professional and personal matters.

http://newteachersupport.suite101.com/ New teachers often face great hurdles when they try to survive the first great year of teaching. This topic is designed to help the new teacher ease into the first year of teaching. Here, one will find guidance on classroom management, different learning styles and methods, improving and planning lessons and the not so easy task of assigning homework and calling parents.

http://www.4teachers.org/ 4Teachers.org works to help you integrate technology into your classroom by offering online tools and resources. This site helps teachers locate online resources such as ready-to-use Web lessons, quizzes, rubrics and classroom calendars. There are also tools for student use. Discover valuable professional development resources addressing issues such as equity, ELL, technology planning, and at-risk or special-needs students.

http://www.theteachernet.co.uk/ The Teacher Network website that puts the best the web has to offer teachers in one easy place. The teacher net aims to bring teachers the best education resources and up to the minute news every single day of the year.

http://www.unitedstreaming.com/ Discovery Education unitedstreaming is a digital video-on-demand and online teaching service to help improve students' retention and test scores; it is aligned to U.S. state and provincial standards.

Boolean Operators

The Boolean connectors AND, OR, and NOT are often used to combine keywords when searching electronic databases. Use of these operators can make your search more focused, thus yielding more precise search results. But before using the operators, it's necessary to understand how they actually work. Often students wast time looking through hits on a search engine that are not related to what they are looking for. Using Boolean operators can help broaden or narrow a search to make search engines more effective.

Breaking Down the Walls

In the past students have been confined by the walls of the classroom. The teacher and the books within the classroom were the major sources of information. To study different parts of the world all students could do was read about them. Teachers today can take a virtual sledgehammer to the walls of the classroom. That virtual sledge hammer can take the form of email, chat and instant messaging. Students can talk to anyone in the world through the use of these Web 2.0 tools. For example, my students used skype to talk to a world renown reptile expert from the National Geographic Channel, Dr. Brady Barr while he was at his home in Indiana. My students were afforded an opportunity to ask questions about reptiles to a real expert in the field. It was something those students will remember forever. Without Web 2.0 tools such as skype and others like it, my students would have never been able to talk to Dr. Barr. They would have been stuck talking to me about reptiles.

Rules of Netiquette

Darren Kuropatwa is a Math teacher in Monitoba Canada and an avid user of Web 2.0 tools in his classes. Darren is well known in the world of edubloggers. His blog can be found at... http://adifference.blogspot.com Darren and Bud The Teacher have worked together to develop a set of guidelines teachers can use in discussing etiquette before beginning blogging in your classroom. With Darrens permission I have included these guidelines below.
Blogging is a very public activity. Anything that gets posted on the internet stays there. Forever. Deleting a post simply removes it from the blog it was posted to. Copies of the post may exist scattered all over the internet. I have come across posts from my students on blogs as far away as Sweden! That is why we are being so careful to respect your privacy and using first names only. We do not use pictures of ourselves. If you really want a graphic image associated with your posting use an avatar — a picture of something that represents you but IS NOT of you. Two teachers in the U.S.A. worked with their classes last year to come up with a list of guidelines for student bloggers. One of them, Bud The Teacher, has these suggestions, among others:
1. Students using blogs are expected to treat blogspaces as classroom spaces. Speech that is inappropriate for class is not appropriate for our blog. While we encourage you to engage in debate and conversation with other bloggers, we also expect that you will conduct yourself in a manner reflective of a representative of this school.
2. Never EVER EVER give out or record personal information on our blog. Our blog exists as a public space on the Internet. Don’t share anything that you don’t want the world to know. For your safety, be careful what you say, too. Don’t give out your phone number or home address. This is particularly important to remember if you have a personal online journal or blog elsewhere.
3. Again, your blog is a public space. And if you put it on the Internet, odds are really good that it will stay on the Internet. Always. That means ten years from now when you are looking for a job, it might be possible for an employer to discover some really hateful and immature things you said when you were younger and more prone to foolish things. Be sure that anything you write you are proud of. It can come back to haunt you if you don’t.
4. Never link to something you haven’t read. While it isn’t your job to police the Internet, when you link to something, you should make sure it is something that you really want to be associated with. If a link contains material that might be creepy or make some people uncomfortable, you should probably try a different source.

Freeware

There are tons of Freeware programs out these that can be useful for teachers in the classroom. If a teacher waned to begin podcasting with students in the classroom one valuable freeware program is AUDACITY. It is a program that allows students to record right onto their computer any combination of sounds, music or verbal message. They can then mix and edit the recorded tracks, save and export as an Mp3 that can be uploaded to another free software application iTunes. With iTunes students can subscribe to podcasts and download them onto their iPods for listening at anytime. Windows Photostory 3 is another freeware program that can teachers and students can use to create a story board of any event using pictures taken and uploaded from an digital camera.

Multimedia Presentation Tips

There are lots of good tips for creating effective multimedia presentations out there. Here are 5 tips that I think are key in creating an effective presentation:
1. Always start with a plan of what it is you want to get across to your audience making sure you consider the age range of the audience.
2. Be consistent with your font size and layout.
3. Minimize the number of words used in each slide.
4. Add emphasis to the important areas of interest with color, bold font, italics music or sound.
5. Avoid unnecessary noise or animations that could be considered a distraction.

Cameras, Databases and Spreadsheets

Can digital cameras, databases and spreadsheets be used in the classroom in an effective way? The answer of course is absolutely, yes! Digital cameras can be used in so many ways in the classroom. Students can create a digital storyboard with pictures taken with a digital camera to bring to life significant events or tell a story through pictures. Images from digital cameras can also be used to create claymation animations that also describe an event or tell a story.
Databases can be used in the classroom to create mail merge lists or store data in science classroom experiments. Spreadsheets can also be used in the science classrooms to gather and analyze data that can be put into a graph, chart or table.

Improve Writing Skills Through Word Processing and Desktop Publishing

Writing is a skill that improves the more you write. Using desktop publishing or word processing in the classroom gives students more of an opportunity to improve those skills. The best assignments are creative ones that the students will find interesting or fun to do. If the students enjoy the assignment they are more likely to put a greater effort into it and actually improve their writting skills without knowing they are improving.

Documents, Templates and Forms

A Document is a piece of work created with an application, as by a word processor. Documents can be used for a variety of assignments in the classroom such as writing research papers or presenting information found in textbooks or other forms of media. A document can be created as practice for writing form letters, business letters or personal letters to friends.
A Template is a document or file having a preset format, used as a starting point for a particular application so that the format does not have to be recreated each time it is used. A template could be very useful if you create a class newsletter or journal. A template can be created the first time the newsletter is written and from that point on only the information changes while the look of the newsletter stays the same.
A Form is a document with blanks for the insertion of details or information. Forms can be used in classrooms to gather personal information from students. Tests or quizzes take the form of a Form where information is plugged into blanks within a document.

Teacher directed v. Constructivism

Teacher directed instruction versus a constructivist approach to teaching. I think inquiry based instruction not only ties content to real life but also helps to develop critical thinking skills needed in all aspects of a young persons life and can be critical to success in the future of our students. However, here is the dilemma. Teachers feel that they must teach in a behaviorist fashion because of the pressure put on them by local administration and state government. In Alabama teachers are measured by the scores of the students they teach. I am not saying that testing should not be used in assessing students, but it should not be the only thing used to measure achievement. Today teachers are encouraged to use drill and practice methods of teaching and create tests that are aligned with state standards and in so many cases those standards are the only thing taught in the classroom. The days where the teacher is the sage on the stage, the manipulator of the environment, while students are the receptacles of knowledge are no longer effective with today’s students. It has been proven that students learn best when content is tied to real life and students learn best when they work together to solve problems. The problem with this constructivist theory of teaching is that teachers may be reprimanded for not following a mandated pacing guide or curriculum map set forth by their school system. Administrators can not expect the results that can be achieved in a constructivist classroom yet bind teachers to test scores, curriculum maps and state objectives that encourage the methodologies of teacher-directed instruction.