Campus S Ta R Chart
View more presentations from dtannert.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
Educator Preparation and Development
In this domain of the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology, Educator Preparation and Development, guidelines and criteria are presented to enable teachers to fully integrate appropriate technology into the curriculum and instruction in their classrooms.
We need education preparation programs that model current technologies in instructional practices. We need future teachers that exit the universities and colleges knowing how to use technology in the teaching and learning process. We need beginning teachers that can develop new learning environments that utilize technology.
On the Campus Statewide Summary in this area, it states that 74.2% of teachers are in the Developing Tech level of progress. This level of progress indicates that teacher use of technology is for administrative tasks and classroom management. There is use of online resources and 40% of educators meet SBEC standards. Administrators expect teachers to use technology and 6-24% of technology budget is allocated for professional development.
On the Texas Campus STaR Chart for my school we are also in the Developing Tech level of progress in this domain. Our lowest rated indicator in this area is in Access to Professional Development.
I believe we will need to improve teachers' access to professional development in the area of technology standards to see progress in this domain. I'm sure time will always be a factor for teachers. There just aren't enough hours in the day to learn all there is to learn about incorporating technology. We will need to investigate short online help sessions or presentations that focus on one idea or one instructional tool so teachers will feel less intimidated about jumping in and trying something new incorporating technology into their curriculum and instruction.
We need education preparation programs that model current technologies in instructional practices. We need future teachers that exit the universities and colleges knowing how to use technology in the teaching and learning process. We need beginning teachers that can develop new learning environments that utilize technology.
On the Campus Statewide Summary in this area, it states that 74.2% of teachers are in the Developing Tech level of progress. This level of progress indicates that teacher use of technology is for administrative tasks and classroom management. There is use of online resources and 40% of educators meet SBEC standards. Administrators expect teachers to use technology and 6-24% of technology budget is allocated for professional development.
On the Texas Campus STaR Chart for my school we are also in the Developing Tech level of progress in this domain. Our lowest rated indicator in this area is in Access to Professional Development.
I believe we will need to improve teachers' access to professional development in the area of technology standards to see progress in this domain. I'm sure time will always be a factor for teachers. There just aren't enough hours in the day to learn all there is to learn about incorporating technology. We will need to investigate short online help sessions or presentations that focus on one idea or one instructional tool so teachers will feel less intimidated about jumping in and trying something new incorporating technology into their curriculum and instruction.
Summary of Pre-K Technology TEKS
The Pre-K TEKS lay the foundation for student performance in technology use in future grades.
In Pre-K, student expand their ability to acquire information, solve problems and communicate with others. These are the recurring in the Technology TEKS PK-12. Allowing access to a variety of technologies will be critical in the development of the 21 century skills. This is also reflected in the Long Range Plan for Technology.
Pre-K students will need to navigate through software programs as part of their curriculum. They will need to use a variety of computer input devices and be able to operate voice/sound recorders and touch screens. (I'm not sure many of our schools have touch screen devices, but that would really be nice if they did. )The student will use software to create and express their own ideas. The students will also learn that they can acquire new information through interaction with technology.
In the Information Acquistion domain, the spiraling curriculum throughout PreK-12 is evident. Students begin in PreK learning that they can use technology to acquire information. In elementary school students use a variety of strategies to acquire and evaluate new information. And in high school students use those skills to apply their technology skills in a variety of projects and products.
In Pre-K, student expand their ability to acquire information, solve problems and communicate with others. These are the recurring in the Technology TEKS PK-12. Allowing access to a variety of technologies will be critical in the development of the 21 century skills. This is also reflected in the Long Range Plan for Technology.
Pre-K students will need to navigate through software programs as part of their curriculum. They will need to use a variety of computer input devices and be able to operate voice/sound recorders and touch screens. (I'm not sure many of our schools have touch screen devices, but that would really be nice if they did. )The student will use software to create and express their own ideas. The students will also learn that they can acquire new information through interaction with technology.
In the Information Acquistion domain, the spiraling curriculum throughout PreK-12 is evident. Students begin in PreK learning that they can use technology to acquire information. In elementary school students use a variety of strategies to acquire and evaluate new information. And in high school students use those skills to apply their technology skills in a variety of projects and products.
In my analysis of the Long Range Plan for Technology, I agree with the Vision section of this document. The Vision contains components for 4 audiences: Students, Parents, Educators and Community. The Long Range Plan defines a need for change including transformation of our economy and new business skill requirements. We know that students are tech savvy and that we will need to keep them engaged in learning through the use of technology that they are currently familiar with using in their everyday communications. Teachers will need to find ways to incorporate the new technology into the curriuclum and instruction and not view this as an added thing to teach. Our teacher preparation programs are going to need to model current technology in the the teaching/learning process. Our school leaders should encourage flexibility and innovation so teachers will want to embrace new ideas in technology. We will need to establish a funding model to maintain the technology infrastructure in our schools.
This new learning will impact me as an instructional leader in our district. I think that the integration of technology into the Fine Arts curriculum is currently behind other subject areas. We will need to find ways to engage the students in our music and art classes utilizing the new digital tools and software available to us. The students are already manipulating audio and video files for entertainment. We will need to find ways to incorporate those skills into the TEKS based learning in our classes.
This new learning will impact me as an instructional leader in our district. I think that the integration of technology into the Fine Arts curriculum is currently behind other subject areas. We will need to find ways to engage the students in our music and art classes utilizing the new digital tools and software available to us. The students are already manipulating audio and video files for entertainment. We will need to find ways to incorporate those skills into the TEKS based learning in our classes.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
The second Technology Assessment from the State Educational Technology Directors Association was not as useful in defining the technology knowledge and skills. Many of the questions were about collecting data to see if technology is impacting student achievement in my content area. Because I teach elementary music, there isn't really much data being collected or analyzed. Certainly, to some extent, we could work on this, but I will need to research some options.
My students will get to create a podcast this year by creating a piece of music in Garage Band that reflects a piece of abstract art. They will post their podcast on Posterous so that students and their parents can view the artwork and hear the composition at home.
Our Technology Committee has created a set of expectations for students at each grade level, but with little to no teacher training, I don't really see the students accomplishing these goals schoolwide. The teachers that are comfortable with technology are doing more with their students of course, but little staff development time has been given to helping the others.
We do have electronic gradebooks in our district to help manage student assessment data. Through this graduate school work, I have learned about discussion boards and blogs. I had never participated in these forums for communication.
Our school has just gone wireless, so access to the Internet has improved greatly. We do have a school server to use as a shared storage area as well.
As far as I know, our district/school has not collected data on different groups of students' access to tech equipment, software and technology uses. It would be interesting to see some informal data on students from low socio-economic backgrounds, girls, students from historically disadvantaged racial or ethnic backgrounds and students with special learning needs.
My students will get to create a podcast this year by creating a piece of music in Garage Band that reflects a piece of abstract art. They will post their podcast on Posterous so that students and their parents can view the artwork and hear the composition at home.
Our Technology Committee has created a set of expectations for students at each grade level, but with little to no teacher training, I don't really see the students accomplishing these goals schoolwide. The teachers that are comfortable with technology are doing more with their students of course, but little staff development time has been given to helping the others.
We do have electronic gradebooks in our district to help manage student assessment data. Through this graduate school work, I have learned about discussion boards and blogs. I had never participated in these forums for communication.
Our school has just gone wireless, so access to the Internet has improved greatly. We do have a school server to use as a shared storage area as well.
As far as I know, our district/school has not collected data on different groups of students' access to tech equipment, software and technology uses. It would be interesting to see some informal data on students from low socio-economic backgrounds, girls, students from historically disadvantaged racial or ethnic backgrounds and students with special learning needs.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
I took the Technology Applications Inventory today. It has four domains: Foundations, Information Acquisition, Solving Problems with Technology Tools and Communication.
I found I have strengths in the Foundations Domain such as understanding the differences between primary memory and secondary storage, being able to perform basic software application functions, using a variety of input devices and being familiar with Acceptable Use Procedures.
However, I will need to continue my professional development in the areas of use of scanners and digital cameras. I would like to learn more about how to use these when they become more widely accessible in our school.
I found I have strengths in the Information Acquisition domain such us understanding the difference between vector graphic files and bit-mapped graphic files. I am proficient in identifying the source, location, media type, relevance, and content validity of available information.
However, I had never seen the term "Boolean search strategies". When I get a few moments, I'll Google that one for sure.
In the Solving Problems with Technology Tools domain I have strengths in planning, creating and editing documents created with a word processor and using graphic tools and software such as Adobe Illustrator.
I have not done much work using databases and mail merge so will need to acquire skills in these areas. I am also interested in learning more about implementing procedures to track trends, set timelines and review/evaluate progress in process and product. I know our district provides training opportunities in many technology areas so I will look for something like this on the ecampus site.
In the area of Communication, I feel confident with my skills in creating effective document files but could certainly use more training in creating multimedia presentations including audio, video, text,and graphics.
I found I have strengths in the Foundations Domain such as understanding the differences between primary memory and secondary storage, being able to perform basic software application functions, using a variety of input devices and being familiar with Acceptable Use Procedures.
However, I will need to continue my professional development in the areas of use of scanners and digital cameras. I would like to learn more about how to use these when they become more widely accessible in our school.
I found I have strengths in the Information Acquisition domain such us understanding the difference between vector graphic files and bit-mapped graphic files. I am proficient in identifying the source, location, media type, relevance, and content validity of available information.
However, I had never seen the term "Boolean search strategies". When I get a few moments, I'll Google that one for sure.
In the Solving Problems with Technology Tools domain I have strengths in planning, creating and editing documents created with a word processor and using graphic tools and software such as Adobe Illustrator.
I have not done much work using databases and mail merge so will need to acquire skills in these areas. I am also interested in learning more about implementing procedures to track trends, set timelines and review/evaluate progress in process and product. I know our district provides training opportunities in many technology areas so I will look for something like this on the ecampus site.
In the area of Communication, I feel confident with my skills in creating effective document files but could certainly use more training in creating multimedia presentations including audio, video, text,and graphics.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)