A Brave New World

           In the past, science fiction writers envisioned a world overrun with technology, where humans did little more than exist. You may wonder, as I often do, where our flying cars and transportation devices are.  However, when looking at the rapid advancement of technology it appears our world has changed in the blink of an eye. In my lifetime alone, I have seen so many innovations it is mind boggling. I can only imagine how my parents must feel. For the most part my children and the students I work with do not know what is like to live in a world without personal computers, cell phones, and hand-held devices. In the future, their world will be driven by even more technology.

My experience working in the schools has enabled me to see that promoting technology integration is not always an easy sell. I am fortunate to have the candor of my colleagues as they share with me their reasoning behind not using it. I do understand their issues with it and am empathetic to their needs. Still I believe that behind all of this resistance is a small spark of hope that all of this change is not really happening or that it will come to a standstill. In the protective bubble of our classroom it is very easy to be lulled into this sense. That is why it is imperative to keep abreast of what is being developed by scientists and researchers. In order to provide the best education for our students we need to be cognizant of what they will need to be a productive adult in our society and actually enable them to use these tools as they learn. It is no longer about a basic set of technology skills but a different way of thinking. Their technology use is an extension of self, not just a means to an end.

I think it is easier to illustrate this shift through two short videos that demonstrate emerging technologies and what is currently in development. This does not even encompass all that is out there. If you are interested in what is possible at this time you may want to do some further research (or Google) nanotechnology, invisibility cloaks, teleportation devices, and the physics of both Star Trek and Star Wars. Institutions such as Duke University and MIT are currently working on researching how to make “science fiction” based ideas a reality. I hope that this inspires you to try something new in your classroom.

Sixth Sense Technology: Has already been created, if you go to his website through MIT it gives you directions for building your own.

Microsoft's Vision for the Future: Already in Development

Backchanneling: Giving Students a Voice...Just Not a Loud One

A few years back I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a presentation given by Alan November. During this session, he literally wowed us with ideas for integrating technology into the classroom. I believe it is the first and possibly the only time I have had chills during a professional development activity. Since then I have been working towards incorporating these ideas into my own practice and encouraging their use amongst teachers.

One of the concepts that intrigued me the most at the time was backchanneling. Backchanneling allows students to discuss and ask questions about the concepts they are learning in real time during their class. Backchanneling, from my understanding, started as a way for professors to handle the many questions they would have during lectures. They would assign a student as a “scribe” who would be responsible for monitoring the chat and either responding to questions or posing questions/responses to the professor that had been posted and would be beneficial to the group. It has since grown to encompass K-12 schools also.

With the integration of mobile devices and BYOT throughout our school system, students could easily participate in these kind of discussions. It would give students who have not felt comfortable discussing their thoughts in front of the class an opportunity to share in a safe environment. I have posted several links that describe this in more detail and how to set-up a backchannel in your classroom. I also have listed a few sites that you could use to easily facilitate this.

Backchanneling in the Classroom Resources:

http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7057.pdf

http://derekbruff.com/teachingwithcrs/?p=472

http://backchanneling.wikispaces.com/

http://integratingtech.wikispaces.com/Classroom+Backchannels

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/13/education/13social.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

http://langwitches.org/blog/2011/01/09/backchanneling-movie-watching-note-taking-information-scribes/

Sites to use for Backchanneling:

http://www.todaysmeet.com

http://www.twitter.com

http://www.neatchat.com/

http://backnoise.com/

The Importance of Edline

  When I first started teaching there were many school-based policies in place to ensure that I and my students had a successful year. At the time, I didn’t necessarily understand their true value, since they added to my new teacher workload. Prior to the start of the school year we would call the families of all the students in our homeroom to welcome them to our classroom. Every week we sent out a newsletter to inform parents of what was going on in our class. We would sign the agendas of all of our students to indicate whether they had homework for that night and if so, what it was. Our school year was jam packed with phone calls and conferences. Not to mention the many times that we had to update parents with a paper copy of their child’s grades. Upon reflection and with continued classroom experience, I saw the importance of our requirements. They definitely helped to improve my school/community communication and thus shaped my teaching practices in a positive manner.

     Edline serves a similar purpose. It enables us to highlight the value and importance of a child’s education. It provides for much needed communication between our classroom and the community at large. Even though it sometimes seems that it is extra work, it has actually decreased our workload. Instead of creating a newsletter, signing agendas, and making multiple copies to distribute to my classes, I can easily and quickly post the same information to all of my classes. Parents and students can access a current grade report prior to interim or before the quarterly grade goes out. This could potentially improve academic success for our students as it builds ownership. When a phone call is not needed, we can send out an e-mail to individual families or globally if applicable. The ability to post assignment information and resources is also an invaluable tool. I recall how time consuming it was for me in the past to have to recopy documents that the students had lost. Granted I still believe it is important to provide hard copies if needed. Edline gives you  backup and support so that you can minimize the amount of extra work you do on a daily basis. It also helps to ease the amount of questions you may have regarding assignments and student performance.

Here’s to Careful Planning or How to Decrease Your Odds of Something Going Wrong

      As teachers we have certain expectations for technology. It must be fast and work 100% of the time. We often forget that it is merely a machine. For us, it takes on the personification of a surly adolescent, brooding and oblivious to our plaintive calls.  In a perfect world, everything would work all of the time in the manner intended. However, with the constant changes in technology it is always a race to keep up and stay current.

Despite our best intentions, we cannot predict or foresee what every upgrade or change may do to our current system. To help alleviate the stress associated with this uncertainty I propose rethinking how we utilize technology in the classroom. Instead of trying to do whole group, lab based games, why not allow the students to work in cooperative groups to do project based learning. Yes, it may take a little longer and require a little more planning but it will provide for a richer educational experience.  You would also need fewer devices which would allow you more flexibility if issues arise. Having students bring in their own devices is another way to assuage the need for resources.

If you haven’t tried out our handheld devices yet, you may want to give them a shot. We even have adapters which allow several students to listen to the same resource on one device. Our iPods and iPads are Internet ready and able to perform a variety of tasks. Students can work in pairs or small groups to access resources and complete assignments. 

There are many ways to tackle this problem. I have named only a few. If you would like some more help in planning and developing activities please let me know. I recently came across the following article that will hopefully remind you of the power of technology utilization in the classroom.

http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-introduction

Connecting with other Educators

     Technology is ever changing. As new innovations become available, older ones become obsolete. This can be daunting for the classroom teacher. There is rarely enough time in the day to complete the tasks that need to be done, much less research new ideas. In our convocation this year, Dr.s Harry and Rosemary Wong encouraged us to share ideas with each other and freely use any that we may find. Fortunately for us, the Internet provides endless possibilities to achieve this.
    With the advent of social networking, opportunites to interact with and learn from other educators, globally, has become more prevalent. There are a myriad of groups, blogs, nings, wikis etc. for one to choose from. This can be an excellent means of testing out new ideas, gathering resources or simply getting feedback from other teachers. Most of these sites are free and open to educators. Many require verification that you are a teacher, which helps to cut down on erroneous information. If you are interested, I've listed a few that you may wish to check out.

• Classroom 2.0: Social Network for those interested in Web 2.0 and Social Media in Education
• ePals: Largest K-12 Social Learning Network
• Educational Networking Wiki: Provides a very detailed, organized list of different ed tech networks.
• diigo: Educators: Great place to share information and resources (social bookmarking tool).

Welcome Everyone!

Hello and welcome to my newest blog dedicated to the technology learning communities at Tabb High School. We are getting ready to start our new adventures in gaining expertise in a variety of devices/software. I am very excited to be assisting you in your journey and helping to support you in your classrooms. If you have any questions or need some extra help please let me know.