Week Three- Technology Integration: Sounds Simple, Right?

When I think of technology integration, I think of using technology within the curriculum to prepare students for their futures. I believe that integrating technology means teaching students skills that they can transfer to any tool. They also need to learn to evaluate technology to determine if it suits their needs. Students need teachers to guide them and learn with them to use tools effectively. Teachers also need to describe to students how to be safe while using technology. When I picture an integrated classroom, I see technology tools being used across the curriculum. I picture students connecting and collaborating with other students in their building, in other districts, and from all over the world. I also see continually new and different uses being created for technology.

My experience with technology integration has not fit this definition. I have a SmartBoard in my classroom and I went to a training about it once. I took a lot of notes that I have yet to use. My SmartBoard doesn't work a lot of the time. It takes awhile for it to be fixed. The entire building where I work participates in Bring Your Own Device. Most parents seem to be upset that we are "expecting" their children to have such devices. Many others are too worried about security to allow their children to participate. A few are on board and ask very useful questions. I know that there is a general hype that children use technology too much. I agree with that. But some of the arguments are just not valid, in my opinion anyway.

Yes, some games and such on devices are not good for children. They're too violent and suggestive. But children can read a book on their devices. And they can bookmark selections, take notes, and look up definitions to words that they do not know. So I think parents should be happy when their kids can use technology. Personally, I have a problem when children are lost with out their devices. Go outside! Run around, climb a tree, act like children!

I suppose my vision for technology integration comes from my experience and what I think the definition is. I hope for a classroom that does not ban students' personal devices. Or teachers' for that matter! I would want a classroom where technology is balanced with hands-on activities and time outside. I would want students to be a part of coming up with ideas for the use of technology. Of course, a first step to this is a budget. We cannot get very far without more pieces of technology in the classroom and more support for all the technology. I think that a way to achieve this is through parents. They should be a part of this process anyway though.

Parents and students need to be educated about digital citizenship and the importance of learning to use technology. The biggest piece that I feel would help to achieve technology integration is professional development. That SmartBoard workshop that I mentioned early would have been ten times more helpful (at least!) if I had been provided a laptop with the Smart Notebook software on it and had been told to bring a lesson that I wanted to use. Teachers are just like the students- we learn best by doing too! If we are shown how to use a new tool during professional development and then given the opportunity to practice with someone a bit more knowledgeable there to help, I feel that we are much more likely to learn the tool and therefore implement it. And hmmm, doesn't this method sound familiar? If we learn best by this kind of professional development, then it seems logical that our students will learn best in the same way! And what's even more, where we as teachers are hesitant to learn and try (and possibly fail) with something new, kids are not!!

 I feel that truly integrating technology has just a few steps, but these steps are not as simple as they may seem. They would be worthwhile though!

Week Three- My First "AHA! I can't wait to use this!" Moment

My first thought when I went to watch this video was something along the lines of "One hour?? I better get some popcorn." It was a really interesting hour though! I enjoyed the different perspective from the "Now You Know" video and the articles. I agree with Wesch's thought about a knowledge base for students. Yes, students "catch on" surprisingly quickly to new technology, but they do not seem to know the basics. They need to learn the basics as well as digital citizenship.

I also enjoyed Wesch's presentation of a "normal" classroom. He clearly disproved everything about the old classrooms with lectures, the professor being the center point and using the internet solely as a source of information. He also justifies making a network out of the class by describing a mass as following, a hierarchy as authority and a network as participation. Having a network in such a large class sounds overwhelming to me but clearly he has a system which works for him and his students. He makes it clear that participation is important, enough that he will go through all this extra work. I think that educators at lower levels need to work toward participation as well and not just authority or following. We need to prepare students to participate in the 21st century.

The ways that Wesch's incorporates technology into his college classes are amazing. Clearly, the class is traditionally a lecture. But with both a small class and a large class he includes everyone in the learning. Obviously I could not quite understand how the simulation works, but it was fascinating. Technology is used to research and create, but in the end the students have a hands-on, in person, learning experience. The wiki that he used is also amazing. Which brings me to my new idea.



Wesch described using the Wiki as a way for the students to collaboratively take notes. For a few years I have pretended not to hear the sixth grade teachers complain at the copier that  their students do not know how to take notes. Honestly, I was never "taught" to take notes. I have no idea how teach my fifth graders to take notes. But this gave me an idea. At the end of last year, I played around with teaching Social Studies as a story. Over the summer I took a course and learned more about teaching through storytelling. I learned that "Stories are easy to comprehend. Stories are interesting. Stories are easy to remember...Story structure applies to the way you organize the material that you encourage your students to think about, not the methods you use to teach the material (Willingham, 2009). Essentially, I re-vamped my story idea to use pictures, student whiteboards, my SmartBoard and my students as actors to tell the story of American History. I was so excited to start! Now I'm even more excited!! We allow students to have Google account so they would be able to log onto a wiki and create a notes page after each part of the story is complete. My thought is that they will be able to create notes easier after an interactive "lecture" in storytelling format. I'm not going to think about teaching them to take notes in math class yet! I guess it's time for me to start playing around on a wiki!

Willingham, D. (2009). Why don't students like school?. (1 ed., pp. 69-71). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.