Blog 4 - Emerging Technology that Supports Communication and Collaboration

I have always struggled with how to implement effective communication and collaborative tasks (aka group work) into my classroom. This chapter provided a lot of great information - albeit dense - on how to effectively plan, develop, and analyze the tasks.

One thing that I especially liked was the information given on planning effective projects. Since "the planning stage is the most crucial for creating a successful project," I think that this is the area that teachers should spend a considerable amount of time addressing (Egbert, 2009). Within the chapter, Egbert provides a table in which she outlines the steps for planning, developing, and analyzing"technology-supported communication" (Egbert, 2009).

During the planning stage, Egbert states that "teachers should make sure that the process and outcomes are specific, relevant, and based on goals" (2009). I think that sometimes teachers get wrapped up in creating a project, merely for the sake of doing something different from the normal routine. It's so important that we, first of all, look at the goal/objectives that we hope to address through the instruction. Then we look at creating assignments that meet these goals. Without the goal, the assignment is pointless.

When developing a project, we should "observe students and make change in the project as necessary to meet student needs and curricular goals" (Egbert, 2009). Sometimes, when a teacher has spent ample time creating a project, he/she has a blind eye to the weaknesses of the assignment. It's critical that we are able to view the project from an outsider's perspective and make changes as needed from day-to-day or even from segment-to-segment. I know that I have had to alter an assignment from one segment to the next, and I imagine that I'm not alone in this.

Finally, a point that I felt was so critical to the successful implementation of a project, is that "analysis ... should be conducted by all participants. Participants should also take part in evaluation" (Egbert, 2009). This is a critical way to give the students ownership of the assignment and their role in it. Egbert goes on to encourage teachers to wrap up the assignment through "appropriate closure" activities (2009). The closure is so often neglected once the assignment is complete. I think that putting the materials away is the idea of closure for some teachers, but it's important that we provide a summation of the activity so that our students know the "why" behind the assignment.

Egbert, J. (2009). Supporting learning with technology: essentials of classroom practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Blog 2 - Emerging Technology that Supports Content Learning

In the beginning of the chapter, I really appreciated reading about the three types of knowledge outlined for the reader: declarative, structural, and procedural. The way that Egbert described the ways in which these types of learning relate to each other and meld together made me evaluate my own teaching. I tried to focus and reflect on my own teaching to evaluate the type of knowledge that I'm helping to impart on my students.

One statement that stood out to me in the reading was that "different ways to learn and teach content might be necessary across disciplines" (Egbert, 2009). As a teacher of two contents - math and language arts - I thought about my own teaching and how I approach these very different areas in different ways. The way that I present the material in the math class is much more straightforward and procedural; however, in my language arts classroom, I tend to approach the material in a way that allows the students an opportunity to be more creative. This allows them the chance to develop their own learning through their writing and the delving into the literature. It made me realize that I should create more opportunities in my math classes for students to develop their own learning and knowledge.

After reflecting on my own teaching and the information presented in this chapter, one of the biggest ideas that I will take from the chapter is to create meaningful knowledge through the use of more advanced ways of learning rather than through lots of memorization and other means of declarative knowledge. As Egbert expressed, "instead of content knowledge being only the forebear of other types of thinking, gains in content knowledge are a result of those types of thinking" (2009).

Egbert, J. (2009). Supporting learning with technology: essentials of classroom practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Technology Implementation Programs

Fox, C. (2009). More than machines. T.H.E. Journal, 36(6), 23-26. Retrieved from EBSCO on September 8, 2009.

This article describes how two school systems utilized federal, state, and local funding to implement technology initiatives. Both school systems experienced positive results for their students and have expanded their programs to additional grade levels.

Chesterfield County Schools in South Carolina initially implemented the STEP (Student Technology and Education Proficiency) Initiative sixth grade classrooms at Plainview Elementary School and McBee Elementary School and seventh grade classrooms at McBee High School. These students were issued laptops. Students with financial needs were also provided with free installation and a special $5 monthly Internet plan at their homes. In addition to the laptops, classrooms were equipped with many digital components: cameras, interactive whiteboards, projectors, among additional resources.

The high school in Pennsylvania's Southern Columbia Area School District utilized funds through the CFF (Classrooms for the Future) Program, starting in 2006. In this program, state funds provide the school with various technologies including interactive whiteboards, laptops, printers, etc. Each math, science, social studies, and language arts classroom is provided with a laptop cart. The school chose to use their own funds to provide each special education classroom and the media center with a laptop cart to expand on the CFF program.

More importantly, both programs provided technology coaches to help them with the implementation of the technolgoy and provided resources. This seems to be the common denominator among programs that are not successful in the classroom. When they are dumped into a sea of technology, the training acts as the raft for teachers to cling to until they get the hang of it! Without this training, the technology remains unused and teachers become frustrated.

Both Chesterfield County and Southern Columbia Area's school systems saw an increase in student achievement, learning, and test scores. Chesterfield County also reported a decrease in discipline referrals. After this success, Chesterfield was issued a federal grant and the program was increased to include eighth grade students at McBee High School last year and includes all sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students in the county this school year (09-10). Southern Columbia Area has expanded their program to include seventh and eighth grade students at the middle school this year.

Through utilization of state funds and cooperation with AT&T, Chesterfield County was able further expand their program to install LCD monitors and WIFI service on all of the school busses. They use these in order to enhance field trips and also to show short videos that enhance classroom instruction and deal with issues from bullying to study skills to environmental issues. They also will be able to use the internet on their laptops while on the school bus with the WIFI capability.

One student in particular is profiled from the Chesterfield County School System - a fourth grade student with cancer who spends much of his school year in a homebound educational setting. Through the STEP program, the county was able to provide him with a digital camera and laptop. He is then able to interact with the class, follow along with his teacher's lesson in the classroom, and feel as though he is in the classroom with the other students. What a great way to utilize the technology to really help this child excell in the classroom! :-)

One struggle that both school systems are facing in the continuation of these programs is the funding. Many of the initial grants and funds have expired, and the schools are having to find the money in other places. However, they have both committed to finding additional grants and stretching the money that they do have in order to keep the programs going.