The Biggest Impact

I think the thing that made the biggest impact on me was how much technology there is that I didn't know about, and how much money has been spent on putting technology into education with the poor result that has followed. I was surprised at all the software and programs that I had no idea existed and I was surprised at what I didn't know! Everyone in the class seemed to be so familiar with everything we worked on and with the computer at large and I didn't know anything about anything! I thought I knew some things before I took this class, but I was wrong! That was definitely an "AHA" moment for me! Another one was when we had to do the blog. I had heard of blogs, and seen my student workers typing on them, but I had never had any personal experience with one. It seemed difficult at first, because I didn't really understand what to write, but it got easier and it is just kind of like writing in a diary, really, its just that everyone in the world gets to read it! :) Of course I had a Aha moment every time we learned some type of software, because the only things we did that I had any experience with were Microsoft Word and Excel and a little experience with desktop publishing. But most of what we did, I had never experienced. Even with Word and Excel and DTP, I learned something I'd never done before, so it was a good experience for me. It was a huge surprise to me to find out how much money has been spent by the federal and state governments on putting technology into schools with such a poor result! It is definitely time for the schools to have something to show for all those dollars that have been spent and to begin to use technology for their students. That was another Aha moment for me. It has been my experience that technology in schools is a by-stander and not anything considered important to use in the education of students. Of course, teaching to the test is what is considered most important these days in Texas schools. If they can find a way to do that with a computer, then I guess we'll use them a lot! To tell the truth, I'm not sure if I'll use this blog after this class or not. I'm guessing I probably will not use it, but you never know. I may want to go back and re-read what I've written to gain a new perspective when I'm taking the other two ETEC classes I need for my degree (which you are teaching!) in the Fall semester.

I think Romano's idea of Technology Enhanced Curriculum is realistic. It seems like an idea that would work in schools and more importantly be accepted by school districts and teachers. There is the rub, is that it has to be accepted by teachers and it has to be something that teachers will do and use and it has to be something that is easily phased into the classroom routine. It is definitely something akin to what I would come up with for using technology in my classroom or in my school. I think as far as developing my own model for using technology in my classroom, I would have to have computers in the classroom for those students who are working below grade level. I don't think Romano took those students into account and as we know, there are always those students in every grade level. Those students are not going to be able to make 90 and above, even with the tutorial on the computer. They are going to need more than just the teaching/test/tutorial that the rest of the students are getting. Having the tutorial on the computers in the classroom or having the lessons on the computer so they can listen to the lesson again and again on the computer would be something that I would add to my model. I like the idea of having a computer lab, but I feel it is important to have computers in the classrooms as well, especially for those students who are behind. I also think the expectation of 90 and above for all students is a high expectation. Some students just aren't going to be able to do that. That is a thing about Romano's model that I think is unrealistic. Yes, there are many things in life that we expect 100% out of, but it isn't realistic for us to, because quite frankly, it isn't often that we get 100% of anything. But when you are dealing with students, it just isn't realistic to expect to get 90% from every one of them because you have too many that are working too far below grade level (in most schools, that is.) Otherwise, I think my model would closely resemble Romano's, using television/video, a computer lab and then adding the computers in the classroom for those students who can't keep up for whatever reason. I really like the idea of using the television in the classroom. I think it is a medium who's use has finally come into its own. I think it has a lot to offer today's classroom if it is used in the right way.

More About Online Schools

Thanks, Mrs. W, for clearing up the book thing for me. I agree that being online makes students more susceptible to learning more. I liked the fact that VHS does not want its students sitting in front of a computer all of the time, but wants them to go out on field trips and such and then come back and write about their time away from the computer. I liked what Droste said, "You need the handshake and the hug. You need to bump into the student in the hall. You have to have that personal contact. people need to know how to act face-to-face with each other." That is one of my main concerns about online classes is that students don't get to know their teachers and their classmates. I believe they need to be in class. I'm not including college students in this which I say "students." I'm only thinking of K-12 students, because that's the business I'm in. I know college students can handle not knowing the teacher and their classmates, although I think they'd do better in the online classes if they did. At any age, there is no substitute for an onsite teacher, in my opinion. But I do believe technology has a definite place in schools and it is time for public schools to face that fact and do what they need to do to get it in place and use it.

Online Learning and Virtual Reality

Well, in Chapter 5, it discusses using television as a medium for learning, but in the assignment you asked for discussion of online learning, so I'm not quite sure what you wanted. I'll stick to what you asked for in the assignment and forget the chapter in the book. I agree that the computer is a boon to the public school setting, which is in agreement with my educational technology philosophy. I don't think it is so much teachers being stubborn or being afraid as it is them being undertrained and being expected to figure the software, etc. out on their own. At least, this has been my experience. I believe that using computers as virtual schools is going a little far, though. I don't believe you can completely do away with the teacher; you need an actual person there to make sure the students stay grounded, answer questions and generally teach the crux of the lesson. You've got to take into account your slow readers or your students who work below grade level as well. Having the computer read it to them is doing them no good because their reading level will never go up if they don't practice reading themselves.

As far as the Second Life thing goes, I don't have much of an opinion of it. I cannot see myself doing it. It seems to me to be unnecessary, really. Something else to have to master in a sea of things to have to master. I don't believe that it is something adults need to have to use to have meetings and to confer with each other. In fact, I see adults using it as kind of ridiculous except to play with it. However, I can see kids seeing it as really cool and I can see it being a really great teaching tool, but I can see it being a difficult to use as a teaching tool in that you have to take so much time to build the sets and get it ready for use in teaching a lesson and I know that a normal school district is not going to put out the $ to hire a company to build for the teachers who use it! They'd be expected to do it themselves! So, I guess I'm not as into virtual reality as some of the other people in the class are. I have a hard enough time with real reality!!!

Primary Sources

My educational technology has changed somewhat since we wrote them in September. I feel now that teachers should be more open to technology in their schools and in their classrooms and that if they were they would have the world of primary sources at their finger tips. No more running to the library to look for books! No more looking through magazines for articles! They would be able to access the databases at any library and find journal articles, magazine articles, ebooks, personal interviews, and other things they could use for primary sources for their research. They could find websites like the NARA website that give them the unlimited potential to find whatever they need!

What Teachers Do

Human progress from the Stone Age to the Information Age resulted primarily from amplifying individuals' capacity to function, first by empowering them with crude implements, then tools, then machines, and now technology. This is basic to understanding how teachers can do what they do--better.

I guess it is a basic understanding of how teachers can do what they do. In the world of technology they are many times at a loss due to now knowing what to do with it. Some teachers go for it and try to use the technology and don't know what they're doing and some just leave it alone.

All human activity is driven by information; the more demanding the activity--the greater the need for information. Thus, information can be termed the fuel that powers the teaching-learning process.

I agree with this perception 100%. The best place to get that information, of course, is from the Internet. That is where people get most of their information today and they will tell you so! The more information a teacher has the more she/he can impart on his/her students, so I agree that information can be termed the fuel that powers the teaching. A teacher with no information has nothing to teach his/her students and therefore, should not be in the position of teacher.

The master teachers of the Information Age are those who develop the capacity to navigate the worldwide oceans of information and selectively retrieve that which can provide and enriched experience for their learners.

I agree wholeheartedly with this perception. This is something I cannot do. I can look for information and usually find what I need, but I cannot "navigate the worldwide oceans of information and selectively retrieve" information. It takes a pro for that and I'm definitely not a pro. Teachers who do this for their students are, I would say, few and far between, mostly because of the time factor involved. They simply don't have that time needed to get on the Internet and practice and learn all the skills necessary to become a pro at it.

How teachers manage information has a major impact on the outcome of of he teaching-learning process. Technology facilitates and amplifies the teacher's capacity to provide learners with information of higher fidelity in an individualized, interactive mode. Thompson said that the successful teacher primarily manages information, not students.

I believe this is true. The teacher has to manage their information in such a way that it is easily accessible in order to have an impact of his/her teaching process. Students do well in an atmosphere where the technology facilitates and amplifies the teacher provides learners with information of higher fidelity in an individualized, interactive mode. I can see where the learners are doing well when they are receiving interesting, true information to use in a project if they are working alone or even if they are working with a group. It is important for the students to get high fidelity information.

Teachers plan, communicate, guide, and evaluate. Information technology can be adapted to allow the teacher to do these better and, thus, impact positively the efficiency of the teaching-learning process.

There are marvelous software packages that are written for writing lesson plans, email, and evaluation documents, such as rubrics, that are available for teachers. They definitely positively impact the efficiency of the teaching/learning process and provide more time for teachers to teach.

There is compelling evidence that learning is heightened when teachers create visually rich experiences, thus engaging the learner's entire brain--rather than only half.

This is an example of teachers providing students with high fidelity information and how the students' will react. They are using most of their senses, and so, most of their brain. This is what we as teachers want to make happen more and more.

Worst Fears and Best Hopes

The one thing that got me in reading the 3rd chapter in Romano's book were the words, "no one knows how to do it..." That is what teachers have been fighting forever! We don't necessarily not want the technology...we need to be TRAINED in and on the technology and we are not getting that training that we need. At least not enough to feel comfortable using all the wonderful software available in our classrooms!

As a teacher of 14 years and knowing a lot of other teachers, I disagree with Godfrey that teachers will perceive computers and other technology as a threat. Indeed, we would love to have it to use if only we knew what to do with it other than drill and kill with it.

Teachers' negative attitude towards technology has not been towards the technology itself but towards the administration who just expects us to KNOW what to do with it and incorporate it into our students lives with no training or knowledge, and they DO expect that. In fact the book says that a 1999 survey conducted for Education Week says that teachers are inhibited by the use of technology by lack of training.

I'll overcome my fears and use technology for empowerment by taking classes and by learning as much as I can about computers and software.

In Romano I definitely identify with number 1. It it is the main thing I identify with. Number two runs a close second. It is like getting teeth pulled to get the administration to tell you anything, let alone get them to explain something like an explanation of how technology works

What I've learned in this class has both empowered me and scared me. I feel like I've learned some things, but I feel like if I have to do some of these things out of the class I won't be successful. But all in all I have hope that I will learn many things that I have wanted to learn for a long time.

I know I will, in the future, be more collaborative. It is easier to learn and muddle your way through when you have someone else there with you. As far as shifting control, I believe I have shifted control or will soon shift control of the computer to myself. I don't like the idea of it controlling me, but it has been because I haven't known enough about it to wield control over it. But I'm learning!