Dream Tech for Every Classroom

Technology	Why it is important and how it will be used
Promethean Interactive Board, with activotes	Allows for collaboration among students, acts as a form of ongoing assessment, motivates students, increases interest, allows for integration of video, pictures, and stuff.
Mac Laptop carts w/ Macbook pros	Allows for everyday use of computers, writing, research, typing, increase of general comfort of technology, easy access.
Ipads, one for each student and for the teacher	Easy access for Voicethread, research, interactive communication, draw and explain thinking, save work for assessment. Recording availability. A lot of academic apps available.
Elmo	Presents student work, good for whole group instruction
Mounted projector	For connecting to ipads and elmo, showing films etc.
Digital Microscopes (4)	Delving into detail with science, used for close up looks for life and physical science.
Headsets with microphone, one for each student	For listening stations, recording digital stories on Ipads or computers.
G4 teacher computer and mac book pro for teacher	For teacher use at school and at home.
Front Row Microphone	Useful for hearing impaired students, used for quiet students to present. Getting attention - all students can hear teacher.
Salinity Tester	For physical science and life science, studying the oceans.
Digital video cameras (5)	For digital story telling and documenting classroom life and presentations.
Digital cameras (Canon Elfs) (10)	Digital stories, documenting fieldtrips
Sound system and stereo	For playing music, video
Wireless internet	To be used with laptops
IPhone	For teacher use: instant communication with parents.
Tripods (5)	For video cameras
Color laser Printer and Xerox machine (with unlimited ink)	Use for teachers and printers – used all the time!

Software	Why?
Microsoft Office for Macs	Word processing (Word), graphing data (Excel), presentation (Powerpoint)
Kidspiration	Graphic organizers, create and inspirational brainstorming and outlining.
Study Island	Math practice, instantaneous summative assessment
Reading Eggs	Phonics work for students, can be used at home as well. Motivational.
Unlimited budget to amazon.com for audio books	Fluency, differentiation, and motivation.
Voicethread for the school	Voicethread account for the entire school, all students can have their own account to make comments, create digital stories.
Adobe Addition	Editing for podcasts
Unlimited academic app budget	For purchasing academic apps as they arise.
Lightroom	Editing and organizing photos
Membership to NCTM, NCSS, NCTS	Teacher professional development, lesson plans

Educational Value of Podcasts

        Podcasts or webcasts are being more widely used in elementary classrooms as an instructional tool and hands-on technology experience for students.  Podcasts are digital medial fillies (audio or video), which are stored online and can be shared.  Podcasts can be subscribed to by listeners and broadcasted around the world (Freyer, 2007)

            Westly Freyer is an advocate for using Podcasts in his elementary school in Oklahoma.  In a Podcast, discussing the benefits of technology integration he said, “Compelling reasons to think about Podcasting in your classroom are to provide a virtual window into your classroom and information for parents or others that have a connection to learners.”

            Diana Oblinger speaks of the educational impacts of Podcasts as student learning activities and assessment, titled Podcasting in the Classroom.  Oblinger said that students are motivated to create their best work when creating media projects.  She said that creating final media projects (such as Podasts) allows for unlimited integration of subjects and requires students to apply a wide range of critical thinking skills (Oblinger, 2006).  By keeping current with Podcast postings, students are additionally motivated to keep current with their learning. 

            Librarian Ester EachKrider discusses the two reasons to integrate Podcasts into the classroom.  She said, “There are two basic types of podcast use, each valid in the K–12 library (or classroom) setting: to retrieve information (accessing podcasts created by others) and to disseminate information (creating and sharing podcasts),” (EashKrieder, 2011).  By exposing students to Podcasts they are exposed to thoughts of the world.  Most importantly, students are able to share their thoughts and learning experiences.

Fryer, Westly. (2007). EdTech Talk. Podcast179:Podcasting in the ElementaryClassroom. Retrienved from:http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2007/08/13/podcast179-podcasting-in-the-elementary-   classroom-a-conversation-on-edtechtalk/

Oblinger, Diana G. (2006). EDUCAUSE. Podcasting in the Classroom. Retrieved from:             http://www.educause.edu/blog/dianao/PodcastingintheClassroomEDUCAU/1655 31

EashKreider, Ester. (2011). Information Today, Inc. Podcasting 101 for K-12 Librarians.             Retrieved from: http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/apr06/Eash.shtml

Technology Innovations in Elementary Schools

     Technology innovations have been in elementary schools for a long time. As technology progresses, our definition of innovations change. Because of this, what was once new and exciting when we were kids (TV’s, overhead projectors, typing software) is now considered stone-age to our students. Entering the educational field I must be aware of not only current technology, but also where technology is leading instruction.

     Incorporating technology into the classroom will be more beneficial to student’s learning if started with the standards. Teachers must use technology to enhance learning content—not the other way around. Technology is less effective if used just for technology’s sake (Rubenstein, 2010).

     One way innovative technology has changed classroom instruction is by using interactive whiteboards. Interactive whiteboards put the tools in kid’s hands. Teachers can present information and students can collaborate by touching the boards to solve math problems, play games, or write and edit text. Interactive whiteboards also have remote clickers, which allow students to answer questions and provide the teachers with instant assessment (Rubenstein, 2010).

     Innovative technology today is all about communicating and collaborating. Teachers can use class websites, blogs, podcasts, or twitter to communicate with parents and share the learning (Nadine, 2011). Students are also provided with a live audience for their work. When student’s work is available for a wide audience to see they are naturally motivated to produce their very best work. Digital story telling also gives students another creative outlet to express their ideas.

     Having new technology easily accessible for the students to use is critical for technology integration to produce sustainable learning. Innovative classrooms are more commonly having iPads or iTouches integrated into their classrooms. Such technological devices offer countless educational apps, which make learning fun. They also have microphones and students can record themselves reading aloud and reading along with audio books. When students are able to hear their selves read and match it to a proficient modeled reader, they are able to make gains in their reading fluency. The opportunities for iPad and iTouch integration are numerous and guaranteed to increase.

References:

Mitchell, Larry. (2011). Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYLirypK_Yo

Wimmer, Nadine. (2011). Education Nation: Technology and Innovation Enhancing Utah Education.   Retrieved from: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=17461339

Rubenstein, Grace. (2010). Edutopia. Technology Integration for Elementary Schools. Retrieved from://www.edutopia.org/stw-differentiated-instruction-technology-integration

Bookmarked educational websites

http://delicious.com/rosie_milligan_ak1/

Boolean Searches

Instructions: Using a search engine that supports Boolean searches, try each of these special search keys.

Name: R Milligan Searching for chocolate wine

-Search Keys

-Purpose of limiter

-What did you find when you tried it? How many hits? Was this limiter effective?

AND- To only bring up sites that have both chocolate and wine (not one or the other) I found it was helpful because it did not bring up things with only one or the other. 231,000,000 hits. Very effective

OR- Brought up sites with chocolate or wine 237,000,000 hits. Effective in bringing up all sites with either chocolate or wine

NOT To only bring up sites with chocolate that do not have wine associated 525,000,000 hits. Not effective because it brought up sites with both wine and chocolate

“ “ To bring up pages that had chocolate wine stated as one item, not just pages that had one or the other. 461,000 hits. Sort of effective, but not great. First few pages were sites with chocolate wine in the title and after that it brought up random pages with both

* To bring up all pages that have chocolate wine in lower and upper case and plural and singular 680,000,000 hits. Effective because it brought up more results (not being specific choosing results)

+(plus) To only bring up sites that have both chocolate and wine (not one or the other) 233,000,000 hits. Almost the same as using AND.

-(minus) To only bring up sites with chocolate that do not have anything about wine in them 787,000,000 hits. Very effective for finding sites with chocolate, but not with wine

5 Others You’ve Found:

-Title search (chocolate wine) 233,000,000 hits. Not sure this was effective, as the results brought up sites with anything with chocolate and wine

-Chocolate wine -recipes 183,000,000 very effective as it did not bring up all the recipe sites.

-chocolate wine recipes "I love chocolate "1,080,000 hits. Effective as it limited the results

-chocolate wine "I dont want to taste the wine" 1 hit. Very, very effective because it was so limited it only brought up one hit.

-chocolate wine -food -alcohol 43,700,000 hits. Effective because it did not bring up any wine, mainly food dishes.

VoiceThread Reflection

        VoiceThread is a way to share multimedia information online. After simply uploading pictures, voice comments can be made to describe and communicate the photo. Users can also doodle on their photos to highlight significant details. VoiceThread easily lends itself to collaboration as comments can be made in multiple ways. Voice clips, text, and video (via web cam) can record comments from people that are shared the link to the VoiceThread.

      I especially enjoyed using VoiceThread because it was user friendly and required no installation of software or fees. VoiceThread allows users to upload photos from other online storage sites, such as Flickr or Facebook. After organizing a few photos from my classroom, and adding a few from my Flickr account, I was able to arrange them in a sequence for my slideshow. Next, I recorded my voice using a built in microphone in my Mac. It’s easy to edit photos once uploaded, so the editing process is simple.

      After completing my VoiceThread I found it easy to share and post it to my blog. My classmates and I were then able to collaborate by leaving comments on each other’s VoiceThreads.

In my fourth grade internship class we use VoiceThread to collaborate with our pen pals in Barrow. My students took pictures during a science field trip. Then we uploaded and arranged the photos. The students wrote sentences of what they wanted to share in their photos. Next, they added their audio clips to their photos. We sent the VoiceThread to our friends in Barrow and a few days later they had left comments on our photos.

       This experience was very exciting to my fourth grade students. Being able to share voices and photos is very personal for them. They feel they have a connection to their audience by their responses. Also important, in our photos we compare different parts of Alaska. Fourth grade students study Alaska regions and its important for the students they have a personal connection with places outside of Juneau.

       I have had two positive experiences with VoiceThread. I look forward to responding back to our friends in Barrow. I also look forward to starting a new project with the students. The only negative thing is that I have to organize and upload the photos before we comment on them. I just have to know ahead of time. I will be using VoiceThread again soon with my fourth graders. They are inspired to write and share about the place they live.

Online Collaboration

            Digital collaboration is an important part of how we communicate.  Teachers, students, parents, and administrators should be encouraged to communicate with each other through easy to use online collaboration documents.

            Google provides one of the most common, user friendly, collaboration sites.  When you sign up for a free Google email account, you have access to Google Docs, Google Calendar, and several more significant features. Google Calendar is an online-based calendar, which can be shared with countless users.  Users can create tasks, events, and important memos.  This makes scheduling available to every party.  Harborview Elementary uses Google Calendar to schedule the laptop cart between all the teachers.  The MAT program uses Google Calendar to schedule our classes, important events, travel dates, and assignment due dates.

            Google Docs is in an online-based word document, which every user can see, edit, and collaborate on at the same time.  Students can edit each other’s work.  Teachers can plan together.  My mentor teacher and I use Google Docs to do our weekly planning, keep student grading information and countless other administrative tasks.  We also use it to share information with parents and some parents who assist in our classroom can contribute to logging student information.  Using these features allows for easy access for every involved party.  Planning is simplified by the ability to collaborate from multiple locations.

            Another online collaboration tool is Elluminate. Elluminate is software provided through the university that allows online interaction.  This can be used to hold meetings or classes.  Collaborators are provided with the means to speak, listen, write, type, and see each other’s ideas through the interactive screen.

            Dropbox is an online-based site, which allows users to share information easily from laptops, desktops, and phones.  It’s a site that allows back up of all digital files.  These files can be easily shared with others and accessed at any time from any location online.

            These online collaboration sites are a brief example of the available resources for educators to communicate with each other.  Communication between students and teachers should be ongoing and constant to effectively share ideas, feedback, and the logistics of education.

References:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Leuvce3v5BM&NR=1

http://www.delicious.com/junowyatt/week-four

http://www.uasonine.alaska.edu

https://www.dropbox.com/

In what ways is technology currently used in elementary school instruction?

           Technology should be a major part in elementary teacher’s curriculum planning.  However, some teachers do not take advantaged of incorporating technology.  As educational standards are being updated, the standard for technology education is being raised. The Juneau School District states their philosophy statement of education with their curriculum goals and standards.  “In the Juneau School District students use technology to seek new knowledge, solve problems, and collaborate in a global society.  The use of technology by staff and students supports the mission of the District and helps students achieve the Alaska standards in all content areas (JSD 2011).”

            Incorporating technology provides students with global resources for learning.  Through technology students are exposed to global access of information and can communicate instantaneously with people all around the world.  Advances in technology have changed education (Arends & Kilcher 2010).

            Technology has three main types of application in classrooms.  First, teachers use technology to present their instruction and plan their curriculum.  Second, students use technology as a resource for research, exploration, practice, and as a tool.  Third, the educational system uses technology to record assessments, organize data, and complete management tasks (Slavin 2009).  All three applications should be used daily in schools.

            One dilemma for schools is whether to invest in a computer lab or distributing computers among classrooms.  By having a computer lab classes can all work together on a project but scheduling is difficult.  By having computers in classrooms teachers can more easily integrate technology, but not every student can work on a computer at the same time (Slavin).

            Technology is also used as a motivational strategy in classrooms to encourage students to get excited about their lessons (Slavin 2009). “The most common--and in fact, nearly universal--teacher-reported effect on students was an increase in motivation (Technology and Education Reform 2011).”

            Education should be preparing students for the future they are going to live in and this will clearly be a future where success integrates technology

References:

Juneau School District. (2011). Elementary Technology CORE/GLD:k-5. Retrieved from                               http://www.juneauschools.org/district/instructional_services/curriculum

Arends, R., & Kilcher, A. (2010). Teaching for student learning: Becoming an accomplished teacher. New York: Routledge.

Slavin, R. (2009). Educational psychology: theory and practice, (9th Ed.), Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson.

Technology and Education Reform. (2011). Effects of Technology on Classrooms and Students. Retrieved from: http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech/effectsstudents.html#increased

Foo Foo Fairy Tale

Interview with Tom McKenna, Tech Guru

            Mr. Tom McKenna is a strong believer in the integration of technology in his fourth grade class at Harborview Elementary.  He has been integrating technology since 1991, when he started teaching.  McKenna said he thinks that technology is an important way to connect students to outside sources. “I was teaching in rural Alaska and I wanted an audience for my kids beyond the Aleutians," he said while remembering his initial reasons for integrating technology.  "It (technology) gives kids an audience for their work beyond me.”

            This year McKenna’s fourth graders are corresponding with another fourth grade class in Barrow, Alaska.  Fourth graders in Alaska learn about Alaska’s regions and ecosystems.  By communicating with students in Barrow they are learning about another Alaskan environment.  Their letters included information about themselves, Juneau, and questions about what it is like to live in Barrow.  After scanning and emailing the letters, the students put together a Voice Thread.  They posted it on the Internet for their pen pals to see.  The VoiceThread is slide show of the students, their school, and a field-trip they took for water monitoring.   The slide show has audio clips from the students explaining the photos and interactive drawings highlighting significant features.  Using technology allowed the students to share information in a way not possible without using technology to communicate.
            McKenna said the first time he used technology for his students in Unalaska to communicate, they were inspired by the responses they received.  “They felt like they had a voice by having these people respond to them,” he said.

            McKenna uses technology in his instruction and his students use it in completing their work most every day. McKenna uses his Elmo to present visual information to the students.  The students are also encouraged to share their work with each other via the document camera.  Three computers are permanently in the classroom.  Alphasmarts are also available for students to type their work.  A laptop cart lives in his classroom (available to the whole school) and students type all their final writing.  McKenna also publishes student’s writing by recording their oral reading of their pieces and posting the MP3 files to the class website.  He assigns Study Island as weekly math homework, which is accessible on the Internet.  Students also have an online reading log, accessible on the class website.

            This year McKenna received six I Touches for a mini-grant he wrote.  The I Touches are primarily being introduced to the class to increase reading fluency (I Touches can record student’s voices and allow them to listen to stories on MP3 files).  However, when they are available to the students, they will be used to take photos, play Words With Friends, and be another classroom resource for students.

            Integrating technology is a motivating factor for his students learning, however, McKenna said it is important to keep the learning goals clear.  If the objectives are not solid for students they have the potential to get off task.  He said, “the trick is to keep the quality high (curriculum) while the motivation of the new tools draws them (students) in.”  McKenna said, that when used correctly, students can increase their problem solving and independence opportunities with technology. 

            Another important way McKenna uses technology is for communication with parents.  Parents are encouraged to participate in their student’s education by seeing what the class is doing on the website.  There is a weekly slide show illustrating what the class has been doing each week.  Brief photos with captions communicate to parents the highlights of the week.  Important documents, information, newsletters, and calendar dates are also posted to the site.  McKenna encourages parent volunteers on the site, with a survey asking parents to contribute their talents or help with classroom tasks.  Parents help grade spelling tests and multiplication quizzes and can simply “share” the Google Document to keep all records safe.  In this way, technology encourages the parent’s involvement in the class.

            Students that don’t have Internet access at home are encouraged to finish their online homework during class time.  McKenna does still make some paper copies of the weekly newsletter, but he said it is getting to be fewer each year.

Approximate Technology Inventory at Harborview:

Building level purchases:

- 32 G4 Apple desktops in computer lab

- 8 G4 Apple desktops in library

- 2 laptop carts with 20 Apple laptops (roving)

- 4-3 Apple desktops or laptops in each classroom (teacher’s choice)

- Software—Study Island (available on internet), Reading Eggs, Pages, Mavis Beacon,             Inspiration, Safari, Microsoft Office, Powerschool 

- Wireless Internet

- Elmo/Document Camera/Projector—In every classroom

- Front Row Microphone—Available to every teacher

- Interactive Smart Board—Available to every classroom (not in use due to lack of tech             support)

- Smart board—In computer lab (donation for teacher of the year)

- TV—In half of the classrooms (available on demand)

- Printers—one B&W in each class, one color printer in staff lounge, office printers             (wireless printing)

- Copy Machines—2 in school

- Headphones— 4 sets for each class

- Video Cameras—2 in library available to checkout

Individual Classroom’s Technology:

- 4 I-Pads (Steve Byers mini-grant)

- 6 I-Touches (Tom McKenna mini-grant)

- 30 Alphasmarts (technology grant dollars) in classrooms

- Projector, Large screen, Stereo with surround sound (gym)

Check out students in Alaska integrating technology!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYLirypK_Yo

Check out our fourth grade class website

http://sites.google.com/site/mckenna4th/

School-of-One logistics

What do you think of the concept of a “School-of-one” and Kahn Academies? How will this approach to technology shape the classroom of the future?

            I believe that the concept of a “School-of-One” is a natural innovation of education reform in our society today.  The concept of a school-of-one is that every child has different needs and abilities and it is expected their individual profiles be meet in our schools to maximize their learning. The obvious issue arrived from this concept is that teachers have too many students in one class to individualize their learning plans.

            Kahn Academics recommends technology as a logical solution to meeting every child’s needs and providing teachers with the resources to do it.  Kahn Academics provides a self-paced supplemental math curriculum that allows students to listen to lectures, practice concepts, and provide teachers with immediate assessment. Their website gives students video lectures to watch at home, and do “homework” in the classroom with the teacher available to help.  Kahn Academics says this is an alternative to lecturing the whole class of students with different needs, “By removing the one size fits all lecture from the classroom and letting students have a self-paced lecture at home, they come back to class and work on problems with peers.  Teachers have used technology to humanize the classroom.  Students are coming back to interact with each other.”

            Although this sounds great in theory, I wonder how effective it would be in practice?  In my fourth grade internship class students have a regular homework routine to help practice skills learned in the class.  One month in to the year, only about two-thirds of the class actually does their homework.  We have several students who rarely get parent signatures and we know what goes home with them rarely makes it back to the class. So, how can we expect to assign the instruction part of the lesson for homework?  Our students that don’t have access to the Internet at home would be shut-out from instruction. 

         In Freakonomics podcasts, How is a Bad Radio Station Like the Public School System, critics compare public school to a generic radio station.  A generic, “bad” radio station plays music they think most everyone will like.  The music is generally agreeable, however, not planned to an individuals taste.  Because of this it may seem just OK to the generally public, but not great to very many individuals.  Freakonomics says, “so that’s how a classroom is like the radio: a factory model.  A beg fat effort to pitch right down the middle.  But things are changing in schools”.

            The podcasts then discusses the movement in education with concepts such as the school-of-one and how technology is the driving force making such individual plans possible in education.  “A future with something like School-of-one will be different.  Very different. Technology, instead of being discouraged in schools, would move to the head of the class, Teachers would have to be trained differently,” advised Freakonomics.

            I believe in the theory behind giving every student their personal education and how technology may be the key to enacting such a demand.  However, I feel there are still logistical issues.  I look forward to learning about how to practically implement such teaching practices in the future.

            References:

Stephen J. Dubner (2010, May 12). Freakonomics. How is a bad radio station like the                        puclic stustem. Podcast retrieved from:                                                                                    http://www.freakonomics.com/2010/05/12/freakonomics-radio-how-is-a-bad-                        radio-station-like-the-public-school-system/

School-of-one. Retrieved from: http://schoolofone.org/concept.html

Khan Academy. Retrieved from: http://www.khanacademy.org/

TED. Salman Khan video. Retrieved From :             http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/salman_khan_let_s_use_video_to_reinvent_ed            ucation.html

mind map