A few weeks ago, several of the technology coordinators from the various schools in our supervisory union (SU) spoke at our SU School Board meeting. Our purpose was to inform board members about what is happening in the various schools as well as to suggest the need for a coordinator at the SU-level to help manage and coordinate SU technology issues.
We had twenty minutes to make our presentation. We discussed in general terms various advances in technology and how they impact the classroom; one example was using the Internet to do research. Many of our schools have part-time technology staff and one school has no technology staff at all. We all have technology plans and the infrastructure to make the system function. What we lack is a solid understanding of questions like, Where are we going? How do we get there? Why are we doing what we are doing?
In the past there has been an SU-level coordinator, but last year that person left. The SU did try to hire someone. Unfortunately, there were no viable candidates and the position was not filled. We have several integrated systems,-- such as our student management system, special education database, data warehouse information system, and our email system--which are all centralized through the SU. These all have to be maintained and managed; and the individual coordinators and other staff members have been helping out with these duties. One of the reasons we lacked candidates, I believe, is that the salary is significantly less than what a system administrator would be paid in the business sector. That does not mean the salary is going to change. We don't have the money for one, not even in next year's budget.
In an attempt on the coordinators part to even-up the digital divide within our SU, we have come to an agreement that whenever possible we would work as a team to benefit our schools in terms of purchases, grants, and services. We have a core set of software programs that all of us use and we provide support services for each other. One of our schools is significantly behind the rest of the schools in terms of technology.
A group from this school is currently in the process of trying to write a grant to purchase new equipment. As a tech committee we have provided support to their members who are trying to get this started. We have asked school principals, and came to this board meeting looking for support. This SU board is comprised of board members who represent each of the SU's school district boards.
We talked about the report the Vermont Department of Labor put out about the state's economic base moved from agrarian to manufacturing over a 50-year period, and they predict this current shift from manufacturing to an information/technology base could happen in as little as 10 years. Our hope was to inform them about what was going on in all of our schools. To demonstrate that keyboarding skills was not the only advantage students gained from having technology in their school.
We had 10 minutes of questions. Most were clarification questions, but one member asked, "What does integration looked like?" We got a great opportunity to share about our place-based program where students go out to study vernal pools, bring back specimens to observe and share with the class using microscopes and digital projectors, do further research on the Internet and package it altogether in a PowerPoint presentation.
People always want to know how it went, and I always say I don't know. It is difficult to read the nonverbal cues. We presented what we hope to present and they listened, so based on that I felt it was a worthwhile effort.
Friday, March 31, 2006
Presenting to the School Board
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Information overload?
As Sara & David noted, too much online drivel can just be too much. Should we schedule time to turn it all off?
If we value the online agility of our young learners to connect to a range of resources, do we also need to help our young tech natives learn to turn the electronics off and reconnect with nature? Is this another new role for teachers?
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
How do we know when a blog is news-worthy?
While I am a traditionalist when it comes to appreciating the credibility offered by peer-reviews and editorial boards, I am non-comformist enough to really like the unfiltered aspect of blogging. If my words-of-the-day do not fall under the heading of a simple descriptor (e.g., "curriculum & instruction", "school administration", "civic education") but fall into a category that is difficult to define, are my words any less worthy for publishing? And who decides? Publishing in a peer-reviewed journal is an exercise every scholar should strive to master, but, at the same time, we need to learn to take risks,--and have those risks rewarded. The immediate gratification of typing a paragraph or two and then seeing it posted online for all the world to see at the click of a mouse could be an intoxicating incentive to continue blogging. And the possibility of a bona-fide response from a reader within moments could make blogging down-right addictive.
But when does self-expression become self-indulgence? And how do we know when we should book-mark a blogger's site for review at another time? And how does one make the A-list of blogger's worth watching? And how do we teach students about credible blogging versus just a bunch of hot-air? Or is it all credible in that any blogging allows a mechanism for unfiltered self-expression? What skills do students need to blog judiciously?
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Knowledge Construction
Inasmuch as education is accepted as the construction and reconstruction of knowledge, then blogs make a very powerful tool.
The construction of knowledge that happens in the world of blogging is a fascinating phenomena. The popularity of blogging has come from the fact that society has discovered a tool that allows them to play an active role in knowledge contruction, and also from a desire to gain a more balanced perspective of what is happening in the world around them than can be obtained from commercial media alone. Many people today include both blogs and commercial news media as part of their daily digest of "what's going on in the world".
I was offsite participating in an online chat with my students when the first plane hit the first world tower. My students at that time were making daily blog entries as part of their learning. Their blog entries that day captured their experience that day in real time.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
What is the reach of "School"?
The day-to-day experiences of many students outside the classroom necessitate promoting dialogue about the role of technologies in school settings. Students of today come to school with a range of life experiences, yet they share the commonality of ever-present influences of technology. Accessing streaming audio, manipulating digital images, instant-messaging, and retrieving limitless information through the internet seem common activities to many students. In a school setting, we can appreciate the good connections, filter the bad, and monitor technology behaviors on school computers rather easily. However, although many schools forbid the use of instant-messaging within schools, we know instant-messaging is one of the preferred methods of communication outside of school. Same goes for personal web-site/blogging postings.
So, here's the problem: When students use technology outside of school and use it inappropriately, what is the responsibility of school personnel for curbing those behaviors? For example, let's say a middle-level student posts information on one of the popular blogging sites for adolescents that could potentially be harmful, and a teacher of the student sees the post. Should the teacher intervene by speaking to the student? What about speaking to a potentially unaware parent? We know adolescents can sometimes view their world as safe and secure when in reality they are as vulnerable as any statistic we see in the paper. Should school officials step in?
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
How can blogging and wikis help kids learn critical thinking skills?
If one of the goals of public education is to develop a cadre of learners who can approach problem-solving with confidence, what are those skills that kids must play with, and potentially master? Are there ways that blogging or creating a class wiki might help?
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