Integrating Technology and Creating Change as Teacher Leaders
This is the final chapter of the book and is basically giving information on how to be the best leader in a classroom while using technology. Educators are now seeing the benefits of using technology in the classroom but are also still sticking to the basics a good median between technology and old school.
Interesting topics:
1 Stages of Technology Integration
2 Writing Grants
3 Bring Your Own Technology Programs
1.)
Here is a link to view the flow chart using Gliffy.com
2.) A struggle for many teachers is the fact that they will have limited resources to do their job. It can be a serious frustration that becomes a wall for even the best educators. Although there are ways that teachers can get funding, specifically writing grants or presenting their project to organizations that can provide funds to them. It is skill that may take some time to develop but will serve as a very valuable asset to get outside funding for almost any tool a teacher may need. Just like everything throughout this book it can be used with technology and the book calls this Crowd Funding, which is using an online website that specifically helps with raising money for classrooms the two websites provided are Kickstarter.com and PeerBacker.com. Being a good teacher requires individuals to be very passionate but more importantly adaptive even when presented with an issue that seems out of their control.
3.) An interesting topic that appears in the book concerning the participation gap between those students who come from more privileged homes and those who dont. The problem is a teacher has to move through a school year trying to give lessons that allow the same level of access to information which can be difficult. This is especially true with technology because not all students will have access to it or at least the same level of technology. There are some programs that are trying to bridge that gap and one of them is the BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology) program which is pushing for students to bring their own technology into the classroom. Now, this initially sounds like a good idea because it will definitely cuts the cost of what schools will have to spend but at the cost of still having gaps. Some aspects of it are useful but there are several flaws with this program. First, for students that have access to the highest quality of technology it may give an unfair advantage to those with older models. Also adding to the fact that the devices (phones,tablets and laptops) that students in these kinds of programs will be different. A teacher will need to know how to operate different software which will take additional time and training. This take on the participation gap may not be the solution but it isn't completely wrong because as technology becomes more and more advanced becomes more available to more people. So it may be possible one day to use this program.
References
Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
1.)
Here is a link to view the flow chart using Gliffy.com
2.) A struggle for many teachers is the fact that they will have limited resources to do their job. It can be a serious frustration that becomes a wall for even the best educators. Although there are ways that teachers can get funding, specifically writing grants or presenting their project to organizations that can provide funds to them. It is skill that may take some time to develop but will serve as a very valuable asset to get outside funding for almost any tool a teacher may need. Just like everything throughout this book it can be used with technology and the book calls this Crowd Funding, which is using an online website that specifically helps with raising money for classrooms the two websites provided are Kickstarter.com and PeerBacker.com. Being a good teacher requires individuals to be very passionate but more importantly adaptive even when presented with an issue that seems out of their control.
3.) An interesting topic that appears in the book concerning the participation gap between those students who come from more privileged homes and those who dont. The problem is a teacher has to move through a school year trying to give lessons that allow the same level of access to information which can be difficult. This is especially true with technology because not all students will have access to it or at least the same level of technology. There are some programs that are trying to bridge that gap and one of them is the BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology) program which is pushing for students to bring their own technology into the classroom. Now, this initially sounds like a good idea because it will definitely cuts the cost of what schools will have to spend but at the cost of still having gaps. Some aspects of it are useful but there are several flaws with this program. First, for students that have access to the highest quality of technology it may give an unfair advantage to those with older models. Also adding to the fact that the devices (phones,tablets and laptops) that students in these kinds of programs will be different. A teacher will need to know how to operate different software which will take additional time and training. This take on the participation gap may not be the solution but it isn't completely wrong because as technology becomes more and more advanced becomes more available to more people. So it may be possible one day to use this program.
References
Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
We have had BYOD in our school for about 2 years now and you might be surprised that the issues you mention are less problematic than discussed. Although not all students have devices, the school either supplements the classroom with some devices or even more powerful, the use of group/collaborative work to solve the problem. And, since students know their own devices, teachers don't need to! Truly, the devices are simply tools and are not the focus in the classroom. Of course, teachers need to be well-trained to effectively use BYOD in the classroom.
ReplyDelete