School Evaluation Summary

Before completing this survey, I was already aware that my school, SCH, has some very strong strengths, but primarily some very concerning weaknesses. We have the access to technology, but a very reluctant staff. Although my school and charter network are moving in the right direction, we have a VERY long way to go. Staff behavior and thinking needs to be refined to create a more accepting and adapting learning environment so the students can have access to 21st century problems. As a 7th grade teacher, I have students who are so unfamiliar with technology that they didn't even know how to search Google when they entered my classroom. Teachers need to consistently use technology so that students will not be discouraged upon entering high school, college, and even the global work force.

Below are the links for my School Evaluation Survey and Summary. The Summary gives a glimpse at how my school lacks in the technology realm and how we may even be better than some other schools. A lot of the problem occurs not with the technology itself, but the implementation of it.


SCH School Evaluation Survey

SCH School Evaluation Summary

Technology Use Planning Overview

Definition:

As with all major revolutionary overhauls in education and teaching, there needs to be a plan. A technology use plan is a way to hold teachers and educators accountable for implementing proven technological advances within the walls of their classrooms (or at home if possible). Without a vision of what ultimately needs to happen for an endeavor of this size to take place, nothing will get done. Just as teachers make lesson plans to plot what needs to be done and guide instruction on how to get there, educational professionals need to plot a course on how to make this idea take shape. 

National Educational Technology Plan 2010 as a resource:

The National Educational Technology Plan 2010 can be used as an overarching vision of what technology could ultimately become. Not every school in every district across the world will be able to use this plan as an effective resource in the same ways. As with all programs and resources introduced into mainstream education, they need to fine tuned and adapted by the districts themselves to be used in a way that will best support the needs of the schools. If utilized to its full potential, the National Educational Technology Plan 2010 can be seen as a powerful resource. When planning to implement a full scale technology overhaul, there needs to be a guide that is strong and unwavering. If a school district has the means to make the plan possible, that it can be the most powerful guide to creating the ultimate technological powerhouse of a school.

Short term VS long term plans:

John See, a Technological Integration Specialist for the Minnesota Department of Education, believes that long term technology plan are not ideal for schools to adapt because, "Technology is changing so fast that it is almost impossible to plan what type of technology will be available for use five years from now." I think school districts need to have a vision of what their technology will ultimately look like in a long term plan that should not exceed five years. If you think back within the past five years, technology such as tablets and laptops that transform into tablets have become common. In another five years, who knows what else will exist. Although a long term idea should be in place, the most important part of any plan is the short term steps to achieve that long term goal. Short term goals can be adapted and changed based on the need of the situation. If schools and districts can build stepping stone short term implementation goals, it will not be a problem to change the plan if a change is necessary. Schools should not just create a short term plan without a long term vision, though. With sporadic, short term goals, there can be a loss of cohesion within the technological processes. All the different short term projects may even counter one another and cause more chaos than successes in the classroom.

Applications, not technology:

As with any other technology or product, it's not the product itself that means anything, it's how the product is being used. For example, a school could have the most up-to-date and expensive technology known to man, but not putting up the scores it should be getting. How is this possible? Well, just like some people use a normal laptop for writing papers or watching music videos, other people use the same laptop to record multi-million dollar songs. We are using the same technology as it was designed, we are just all using it in different ways. A truly effective technology plan will focus more on how that technology is going to be used universally among their staff and students to optimize the technology. 

My technology use planning experiences:

At my school, within our weekly lesson plans, there is a section where we need to specify exactly what technology is being used and how it is going to shape our lessons. Whenever I start a new unit, I give a pre-test on one of our adaptive learning software to get a general assessment of what my students know and which students need more of an intervention than the others. With technology like this, I can group students based on their needs and shape my lesson content and the class itself to teach specifically what it is that my students need to know. Of course, students don't always take these assessments seriously so I need to remain flexible and change groups at the spur of the moment if necessary. I will also assess students at the half way mark of a unit and at the end to determine which students need an even more intense intervention and which students can move on to the next level. 

Digital Inequality

After reading about digital inequality and that divide that exists, I have confirmed what I have been observing in my classroom for year. Having previously taught in a more wealthy school district in New Jersey, I have seen the academic potential of the students whose parents can afford to supply them with the technology to success. Now, teaching in an area of increasing poverty in New Orleans, I see what little technology can be afforded by those who struggle financially. I have seen with my own eyes the differences in technological advancement between students of different Socioeconomic Statuses. I was surprised at how many articles are written that present ideas on how to close that gap and allow my under served students to obtain an education equal to the students I used to teach. I look forward to continuing my search for ways to level the playing field with technology in education.

For my Digital Inequality presentation, click here.

Tech Trends

After viewing the 2013 Horizon Report, I have been able to really see how far the typical classroom design has progressed since I was in Middle School. Although I am just as up on technology as my students are (maybe not), my students just have a knack of learning anything technological instantly. The most intriguing part of the 2013 Horizon Report was the section on mobile learning. If I read this information to my students, they would look at me like I'm speaking Ancient Egyptian because they just know how technology works. I have students that can navigate an iPhone in about 3 seconds flat while struggling to read a text that is 5 grade levels below their current grade. How does that happen? Within my review of the Horizon Report, I try to use this mobile learning technology to encourage and support my students enough to give them a boost in their reading levels.

My Tech Trends review of the 2013 Horizon Report can be viewed here.

EDTECH Research

Researching a program (Accelerated Reader) that I already use in my school was an interesting process. I was surprised at how many negative articles there were though. Actually, I found more negative articles than positive articles. For my benefit, I found some good articles that would motivate my students to read more books to use the program more often.

As far as using APA format is concerned, I did need some refreshing since it has been a few years since I've used it last in undergrad courses. After looking at many different databases, I've seen that most sites have the ability to cite it for you right on the webpage. That's very convenient for someone who doesn't have a clue about citing. I know enough and was able to tweak that citing information to suit what I needed it to look like.

The Google Doc with my research can be seen here.

RSS in Education

Education Professors in every college class I have been in have always told me I need to work SMARTER, not HARDER. For some, teaching students and guardians how to use an RSS feed site such as Feedly may be working harder. For a very minimal amount of effort, students who get their homework and assignments from an RSS feed created by the teacher will enter the classroom more prepared for leaning with more background knowledge on what needs to be taught. Students can stay up-to-date on educational happenings as well as breaking news and innovations that can thoroughly enrich a classroom environment. With some careful planning and talking to the right people in my school district, this is something I can foresee making its way into my classroom and Middle School.

Click here to see my Clarify-it presentation.