1.
Recognize the related legislatures and regulations to
support the needs from your institution.
Some of the needs that I feel my district needs
are teacher computer troubleshooting training and graphic and web design.
Giving
teachers some simple technology training to help with trouble shooting will
give more knowledge to teachers and allow them to feel more confident in their
abilities. “Current Texas educators are expected to be technology literate as a
part of No Child Left Behind (The Texas Education Agency, 2006-2020).” One great resource
that I found that I feel might help teachers to learn in technology trouble
shooting is from Net Results. This site gives some great simple trouble shooting
tips and will allow teachers to get more involved in using technology in their
lessons (Moore, 2012).
Sometimes teachers are reluctant to use technology in their lessons because if
something goes wrong, they will be at a loss. If they knew more simple trouble
shooting tips they would feel more confident and possibly use it more in the
classroom.
“The Texas STaR
Chart is designed to help campuses and districts gauge progress in meeting
federal requirements for technology literate teachers, librarians, and
administrators (The Texas Education Agency, 2006-2020).” This STaR Chart is
another tool that our district needs to look into to make sure that we are
addressing all the needs of our teachers.
2.
Develop the objectives for the school technology plan
based on the needs from your institution.
There were a few different needs in our district
in the technology department. Here are objectives that could be put into
practice for our district.
a.
Teachers will be trained in simple troubleshooting tips
for everyday computer use in order to leave more time for technology workers to
focus more on large scale technology problems (Target population is all general
ed teachers).
b.
Trainings will be offered according to teacher
requests. Part of funding for professional development shall be withheld so
teachers would be able to request technology trainings according to their needs
(Target population is all general ed teachers).
3.
Identify the objective for each area of Technology,
Funding, and Management. Provide the needed elements for each objective to make
sure that it’s measurable.
a.
For this objective, the funding would really not be to
terribly expensive. The iTech workers or technicians would be a great
management for this type of professional development. They have seen the most
common problems and would be able to give teachers the simple steps to solve
them. They could demonstrate the troubleshooting and even give them a handout
so that they could have it easily accessible in times of need. I think that is
the problem with most professional development; that once they leave the
training they forget what they learned. If there was a reference sheet to help
them with their problems, teachers would use it more frequently and they would
be able to do it eventually without the sheet. After a certain amount of time,
teachers would be able to do a mach problem solving to see if they learned the
information. With a test like that, a score of 70% would be a measureable goal.
b.
A survey will be given to all teachers at the beginning
of the year to see what type of technology and trainings they would like to go
to. The campus coordinator could then investigate to find the types of
trainings that will help the teachers in the districts and also will be ones
that they can afford in the budget.
Bibliography
Moore, B. (2012). Net Results LLC. Retrieved
February 26, 2012 , from Computer Training and Troubleshooting:
http://www.mooreresults.com/
The Texas
Education Agency. (2006-2020).
Retrieved February 26, 2012, from 2010 Progress Report on the Long-Range Plan
for Technology:
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=5082&menu_id=2147483665
Bridget, please elaborate more for each question.
ReplyDeleteQuestion 1: Based on the needs and weaknesses you indentified in your Report I, please list the standards from the STaR and No Child Left Behind to direct your proposed technology plan.
Question 2 & 3: Each objective should include a minimum of 3 elements - targeted population, objective, and the measuring methods. Please refer to the writing format for the objective in CSTE5337. The objectives you proposed in question 2 & 3 should match with the direction of required standards in Question 1.
Please let us know if you need some clarification for writing the objectives.
Bridget,
ReplyDeleteI consider your objective about training teachers in simple troubleshooting tips for everyday computer use is crucial to increase productivity and effectively in the classrooms.
The majority of classroom computer problems have simple solutions that can be sorted out in less than five minutes or could have been avoided in the first place by the application of commonsense guidelines. Teachers need to understand basic troubleshooting procedures to be able to fix many of the problems they are having in their classroom which will result in less downtime of computers and a more effective use of the technology. The following website is an example of how we can create a troubleshooting guide to help our teachers: http://webpage.pace.edu/ms16182p/troubleshooting/home.html
Sirico, M., Silviotti, M., Yi Suh, D. & Loprieno, J. (n.d.) Computer troubleshooting for teachers and students. Retrieved February 28, 2012 from http://webpage.pace.edu/ms16182p/troubleshooting/home.html
Bridget,
DeleteIn your previous questions you stated that Giving teachers some simple technology training to help with trouble shooting will give more knowledge to teachers and allow them to feel more confident in their abilities. “Current Texas educators are expected to be technology literate as a part of No Child Left Behind (The Texas Education Agency, 2006-2020" do you think that your teacher will take advantage of this training?
The Texas Education Agency. (2006-2020). Retrieved February 27, 2012, from 2010 Progress Report on the Long-Range Plan for Technology: http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=5082&menu_id=2147483665
I believe so because I know sometimes it is a hassel waiting for technology to be able and come and fix your machines. I think it would also free up more time for technology specialists to focus on the big problems and more involved ones.
DeleteI noticed you mentioned using the Texas STaR chart as a tool for assessment for teachers within your district. “Electronic data acquisition technology expands our ability to gather information. Traditionally, assessment and evaluation information has been acquired in three ways—by observing people or things, by listening to people talk as individuals or as participants in a group, or by completing a paper and pencil assessment or evaluation instrument. The next generation of assessment and evaluation experts also will observe, listen, and write, but they will not be using technology merely to acquire data more quickly and efficiently; the nature of the information acquired will change as well.” (Hanson, 1997, p. 33) What is the procedure for your completion of the STaR chart? Are they completed at the beginning of the year during in-service days or do you just have to complete them by the ends of the year?
ReplyDeleteHanson, G. R. (1997). Using technology in assesment and evaluation. New Directions For Student Services, (78), 31.
We complete them at the beginning of the year during in-service days. I think it is good because you can reflect on the past year and put into practice any changes that you wish to make in the upcoming year. I think if you filled it out at the end of the year you may forget what you wanted to do in the classroom by the time the next year comes around.
DeleteMy school district uses the STAR chart. The STAR chart is used for The NCLB Technology Reporting System will be used to collect the data on the progress of districts receiving funds from No Child Left Behind, Title II, Part D. I, feel that teachers should advanced always in technology, if they are getting the trainning then they should be using the technology.
ReplyDelete"Texas STaR Chart." Texas STaR Chart. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Feb. 2012. .
I definitely agree that if teachers are lucky enough to have the technology they should be using it everyday! Some schools are not able to even get the technology so therefore, any schools that are able to provide the technology, teachers should definitely be using it!
DeleteBridget,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in that teachers are hesitant in using technology because of the fear of equipment failure. I think that with the proper reference guides and training guides they could increase their use. I found a couple of good checklists to help troubleshoot some of the common technologies used in classrooms.
This documents is an excellent guide for troubleshooting promethean boards:
www.comancheisd.net/docs/5-PrometheanTroubleshooting.pdf
Here's a great link for iPad troubleshooting:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3274
However, there are other concerns out there for why teachers do not want to use technology. Some fear that there will be a shift in money that will go from teacher salaries to purchasing technology (Ritchell, 2012). Other objections include that computers don't teach children to think critically where a teacher does (Ritchell, 2012). Finally, other teachers feel that there is lack of support in integrating technology in the curriculum to see an improvement in student learning (Ritchell, 2012).
Ritchell, M. (2012). Idaho Teachers Fight a Reliance. Retrieved on February 29, 2012 from the New York Times website at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/04/technology/idaho-teachers-fight-a-reliance-on-computers.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=gradingthedigitalschool
I definitely agree that teachers worrying more about money going to technology than salaries. These days, teachers do not have the job stability that was promised to us many years ago. It does seem like everything is turning more towards the technology side of things. However, I hope that technology will never be able to replace the care and concern of a teacher.
Delete