As we come to the end of our internships, we realize that our educational technology exploration will be continuing as we prepare our students for post-secondary educations and a competitive workforce. We have researched many STEM tools and applications to which our students have been so receptive to include in their learning experiences. Our hope is that we have helped ignite their desire to learn about new tools to which they will be exposed as they plan their futures.
Many thanks to the Mebane Foundation for providing the opportunity for us to learn about new resources and tools that will benefit our 21st Century students and our peers!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Educational Technology Exploration Continues!
This week we are completing our policy creation for the distribution of Kindles.
We have spent a good deal of time researching the pros and cons of Kindles. In particular, blogs have been very helpful to reveal the perspectives of current Kindle users so that we know what to expect and are better prepared as we begin using this new tool with our students.
We also have explored free resources offered by Amazon that could enable schools to maximize the economic advantage of using Kindles rather than traditional texts. We also figured that a system can buy 30 Kindle titles for $45 as opposed to 30 paper copies for $270.
We also have begun brainstorming lesson ideas that take advantage of the capabilities of the Kindle. (For example, the Kindle lends itself well to vocabulary development; teachers can broadcast information to their students through the Notes App .) We have decided that since classic titles are already abundant in our existing collections, we would select a Young Adult Literature title to design our initial lesson.
Recently, we met with Smart Technologies trainers. They provided a demonstration of new Smart Response Clickers that are capable of free response with math editing. This really excites our Math Department at DHS! Smart Response Clickers offer us, as teachers, quick assessment, but more importantly, students receive immediate feedback and can self-assess themselves, giving students more control of their own learning. The Representative also mentioned getting a set of the Smart Response Clickers to us to explore in our classrooms.
Our students will soon be designing digital lessons to be viewed by their peers to teach certain objectives. Students will design their own assessments for their peers. Students will use cameras, Flip cameras, airliners and Smart Notebook to create, design and deliver their products.
We have decided, too, that we would really like for our students to have experience with on-line assessments. We discussed with our Tech Facilitator reserving labs for sessions each Friday. We plan to use ClassScape, an on-line assessment tool developed and supported by NC State. This will give students on-line testing experience and will help in preparing them for on-line EOC assessments at the end of the semester. In addition, we are reviewing other open source assessment options.
We have spent a good deal of time researching the pros and cons of Kindles. In particular, blogs have been very helpful to reveal the perspectives of current Kindle users so that we know what to expect and are better prepared as we begin using this new tool with our students.
We also have explored free resources offered by Amazon that could enable schools to maximize the economic advantage of using Kindles rather than traditional texts. We also figured that a system can buy 30 Kindle titles for $45 as opposed to 30 paper copies for $270.
We also have begun brainstorming lesson ideas that take advantage of the capabilities of the Kindle. (For example, the Kindle lends itself well to vocabulary development; teachers can broadcast information to their students through the Notes App .) We have decided that since classic titles are already abundant in our existing collections, we would select a Young Adult Literature title to design our initial lesson.
Recently, we met with Smart Technologies trainers. They provided a demonstration of new Smart Response Clickers that are capable of free response with math editing. This really excites our Math Department at DHS! Smart Response Clickers offer us, as teachers, quick assessment, but more importantly, students receive immediate feedback and can self-assess themselves, giving students more control of their own learning. The Representative also mentioned getting a set of the Smart Response Clickers to us to explore in our classrooms.
Our students will soon be designing digital lessons to be viewed by their peers to teach certain objectives. Students will design their own assessments for their peers. Students will use cameras, Flip cameras, airliners and Smart Notebook to create, design and deliver their products.
We have decided, too, that we would really like for our students to have experience with on-line assessments. We discussed with our Tech Facilitator reserving labs for sessions each Friday. We plan to use ClassScape, an on-line assessment tool developed and supported by NC State. This will give students on-line testing experience and will help in preparing them for on-line EOC assessments at the end of the semester. In addition, we are reviewing other open source assessment options.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Internship Update
We have allowed students to use Flip cameras several times this week in our classrooms with great success. We have utilized Davie County’s Onfizz website to post helpful tutorials created by students and for students. The number of views indicates that students are using this site and technology in this manner as an invaluable resource in their learning. Algebra 2 students have also started a data analysis unit incorporating graphing calculators as well as a free open source graphing tool in which they will create a product comprised of different function families as opposed to as a written formal assessment.
We have also worked on policy and legal issues involving the purchasing and distribution of the Kindles. We uncovered several serious issues to consider before students have access to the Kindle and have researched how other systems are dealing with them. Our goal is to provide a powerful one to one learning tool while maintaining the protection of our students and the investment of our school system. We plan to contact the officials at Clearwater High School in Florida next week as part of our research and problem solving as we write Davie County Policy.
We have also worked on policy and legal issues involving the purchasing and distribution of the Kindles. We uncovered several serious issues to consider before students have access to the Kindle and have researched how other systems are dealing with them. Our goal is to provide a powerful one to one learning tool while maintaining the protection of our students and the investment of our school system. We plan to contact the officials at Clearwater High School in Florida next week as part of our research and problem solving as we write Davie County Policy.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Educational Technology Exploration
We have met with our technology department and are very excited about implementing Kindles and tablets in our classrooms. We consider it important to research the feasibility of certain tools before those tools are purchased. We are researching other systems that share similar experiences.
We are planning lessons and activities to empower students to use these resources as they learn objectives and become producers rather than consumers of knowledge. We are striving to match curriculum content with appropriate technologies. We also desire student-centered learning opportunities where students learn to create and collaborate.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Introduction
Mebane Masters Donna Dunn, Regina London, Yvette Shore and Denise Absher will be looking at various instructional technologies. We will research and develop pros and cons of each type of device and determine to which curriculum areas each device may best be suited. We will study laptops, tablets, IPods, Kindles, interactive video conferencing (IVC) and cell phones. Finally, we will focus on sustainability and return on investment issues.
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