posted by Jennie O'Kelley @ 6:10 PM
5 comments
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Session 3
I found the technology hierarchy theory to be very interesting and it organized the information in a way I wouldn't have thought to put it in. At my particular school site- even though we consider ourselves to be pretty tech-savvy, we still have all of these levels that Dr. Newberry was discussing in his podcast. I would say that we probably have less teachers on the adjunct/peripheral level because our school operates completely on the computer. We are a paperless school, so I know that every teacher is on the computers and using them on a daily basis. However, I can contest that more than half of our teachers are most likely between the levels of the teacher who uses it as a tool, and the teacher that doesn't incorporate it out to students. Most of our teachers do their grades on the computer, parent contact through email, newsletters, flyers, homework packets, and any other basic management function. I don't see as many teachers as I would hope, having the students use the computer as a learning tool. I am an upper grade teacher, and I am not sure if it is because we (teachers) are all tech savvy people ourselves or if it is the age of the students, but we all teach computers to our students. We teach them everything from the basic functions of the computer to how to research, and then how to create their own learning tool. I get the comment a lot from other teachers that their students are too immature to learn the computer, or they are too young. It doesn't matter how many teacher trainings we conduct each year to show the teachers that they and their students of any age can use technology as a learning tool, they still use it mostly as a management tool. However, I have to say I am happy to see that I am not at a school that is surrounded with teachers that won't even turn the computer on.
If I were to create a technology hierarchy to level off each teacher at my school site, this is how I would categorize it:
Level 1- They have old computers in their room that don't work, but they don't bother to inform anyone.
Level 2- They have perfectly working computers, but it takes too much time to learn any of the programs besides how to do attendance and email.
Level 3- They use the computer until one day they get an error message and then from that day forward they are too scared to use it- in fear that they may break it again.
Level 4- Teachers use it primarily for their use... Make their class newsletters, homework packets, email, parent communication- management level. They have attended teacher training, but still they use it for their own use.
Level 5- They use it for management purposes and allow the students to use it as a reward.
Level 6- (Level 5) plus, they begin to show the students how to use the computer to type up a paper, or research the internet. Teaches them the basic functions.
Level 7- (Levels 5 &6) -Final level- they also have the students use the computer as a learning tool to better assist them with a concept that they are learning.
Activity Log:
This week I spoke with Dr. Newberry regarding the projects for this class, to make sure that I was on the right track with them. He sent me back a very detailed email to help me see exactly what I had to do.
I spoke with James to see what he was doing for his projects and I bounced some ideas off him. He gave me some good insight as to what he thought would be good.
I went to three teachers at my school, asking them the questions for the projects to see how they would approach each project. The teachers were able to provide me with some help and ideas that are available at my school site.
I listened to the podcast in between my parent conferences this week. I read and commented on several classmates blogs.
I posted my blog and my focus projects.
I found the technology hierarchy theory to be very interesting and it organized the information in a way I wouldn't have thought to put it in. At my particular school site- even though we consider ourselves to be pretty tech-savvy, we still have all of these levels that Dr. Newberry was discussing in his podcast. I would say that we probably have less teachers on the adjunct/peripheral level because our school operates completely on the computer. We are a paperless school, so I know that every teacher is on the computers and using them on a daily basis. However, I can contest that more than half of our teachers are most likely between the levels of the teacher who uses it as a tool, and the teacher that doesn't incorporate it out to students. Most of our teachers do their grades on the computer, parent contact through email, newsletters, flyers, homework packets, and any other basic management function. I don't see as many teachers as I would hope, having the students use the computer as a learning tool. I am an upper grade teacher, and I am not sure if it is because we (teachers) are all tech savvy people ourselves or if it is the age of the students, but we all teach computers to our students. We teach them everything from the basic functions of the computer to how to research, and then how to create their own learning tool. I get the comment a lot from other teachers that their students are too immature to learn the computer, or they are too young. It doesn't matter how many teacher trainings we conduct each year to show the teachers that they and their students of any age can use technology as a learning tool, they still use it mostly as a management tool. However, I have to say I am happy to see that I am not at a school that is surrounded with teachers that won't even turn the computer on.
If I were to create a technology hierarchy to level off each teacher at my school site, this is how I would categorize it:
Level 1- They have old computers in their room that don't work, but they don't bother to inform anyone.
Level 2- They have perfectly working computers, but it takes too much time to learn any of the programs besides how to do attendance and email.
Level 3- They use the computer until one day they get an error message and then from that day forward they are too scared to use it- in fear that they may break it again.
Level 4- Teachers use it primarily for their use... Make their class newsletters, homework packets, email, parent communication- management level. They have attended teacher training, but still they use it for their own use.
Level 5- They use it for management purposes and allow the students to use it as a reward.
Level 6- (Level 5) plus, they begin to show the students how to use the computer to type up a paper, or research the internet. Teaches them the basic functions.
Level 7- (Levels 5 &6) -Final level- they also have the students use the computer as a learning tool to better assist them with a concept that they are learning.
Activity Log:
This week I spoke with Dr. Newberry regarding the projects for this class, to make sure that I was on the right track with them. He sent me back a very detailed email to help me see exactly what I had to do.
I spoke with James to see what he was doing for his projects and I bounced some ideas off him. He gave me some good insight as to what he thought would be good.
I went to three teachers at my school, asking them the questions for the projects to see how they would approach each project. The teachers were able to provide me with some help and ideas that are available at my school site.
I listened to the podcast in between my parent conferences this week. I read and commented on several classmates blogs.
I posted my blog and my focus projects.
posted by Jennie O'Kelley @ 11:21 AM
6 comments
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Session 2 Management vs. Leadership
After listening to Dr. Newberrys podcast, I was able to see the difference between someone of management and someone of leadership. At my particular school site, we consider ourselves to be a rather tech savy school. By this I mean, more than half of our teachers are using some form of technology in the classroom on a daily basis. At the school, we have a technology committee which I am apart of and within our committee, each of hold a certain positions. Some of us take on a more leadership role, where the others are more management. However, with the two positions... we have create a strong and reliable committee.
One of the teachers in the committee demonstrates a more management role above anyone else. He is in charge of all the equipment, the server room, cables, school site usernames and passwords and also the school website. He is the person that the teachers call on first from the committee to get their computers repaired. However, he doesn't teach the teachers how to correct their problems or give the access to any of the schools technology equipment with out permission. He is the person that holds the committee together and he has all the benefits in mind to making our school more advanced in technology as well as meeting our personal goals for the school. As Dr. Newberry stated, he handles more of the paperwork, ordering, IT issues, district office and administration. For the rest of us in the committee, we are the leaders for the staff. We set a goal each year to raise funds to buy more technology for the school. The teachers got together with some of the parents at the school and decided to host a "Dads Club" that would do events throughout the year in order to raise the money needed. Last year alone, Dads Club raised over $4,000. for the school. We purchased two LCD projectors, one of which was mounted to the ceiling in the computer lab. We also purchased new computer software for the students as well as the teachers. This club has shown to be a success, and by working directly with the tech committee, we are able to increase our goal each year.
We (the leaders- including myself), also host several teacher training through the year to help get the rest of our teachers on board with the technology. At the same time we are also training the teachers on any new technology that we received. All of us in the committee would love to see that the technology that we are purchasing and the all the training we have, are being put to use in the classrooms. The overall goal we have is to get all the classrooms up-to-date and with the most advanced software available. Even though we are already more technological than some other schools in the area, we still want to grow and become stronger.
Working together with the leaders and the management, our vision and goals will be reached. Each year is a new journey and I don't think that we as a committee will ever get to the point where we will want to stop researching the technology out there.
Activity Log:
I finally found out what was causing me to not be able to leave comments on some of your blog pages. Thanks to my friend James :) I am also refining my proposal that is due next week, and I will be contacting Dr. Newberry on my ideas. I left several comments on peoples blogs. I also began researching ideas for my Masters Project.
After listening to Dr. Newberrys podcast, I was able to see the difference between someone of management and someone of leadership. At my particular school site, we consider ourselves to be a rather tech savy school. By this I mean, more than half of our teachers are using some form of technology in the classroom on a daily basis. At the school, we have a technology committee which I am apart of and within our committee, each of hold a certain positions. Some of us take on a more leadership role, where the others are more management. However, with the two positions... we have create a strong and reliable committee.
One of the teachers in the committee demonstrates a more management role above anyone else. He is in charge of all the equipment, the server room, cables, school site usernames and passwords and also the school website. He is the person that the teachers call on first from the committee to get their computers repaired. However, he doesn't teach the teachers how to correct their problems or give the access to any of the schools technology equipment with out permission. He is the person that holds the committee together and he has all the benefits in mind to making our school more advanced in technology as well as meeting our personal goals for the school. As Dr. Newberry stated, he handles more of the paperwork, ordering, IT issues, district office and administration. For the rest of us in the committee, we are the leaders for the staff. We set a goal each year to raise funds to buy more technology for the school. The teachers got together with some of the parents at the school and decided to host a "Dads Club" that would do events throughout the year in order to raise the money needed. Last year alone, Dads Club raised over $4,000. for the school. We purchased two LCD projectors, one of which was mounted to the ceiling in the computer lab. We also purchased new computer software for the students as well as the teachers. This club has shown to be a success, and by working directly with the tech committee, we are able to increase our goal each year.
We (the leaders- including myself), also host several teacher training through the year to help get the rest of our teachers on board with the technology. At the same time we are also training the teachers on any new technology that we received. All of us in the committee would love to see that the technology that we are purchasing and the all the training we have, are being put to use in the classrooms. The overall goal we have is to get all the classrooms up-to-date and with the most advanced software available. Even though we are already more technological than some other schools in the area, we still want to grow and become stronger.
Working together with the leaders and the management, our vision and goals will be reached. Each year is a new journey and I don't think that we as a committee will ever get to the point where we will want to stop researching the technology out there.
Activity Log:
I finally found out what was causing me to not be able to leave comments on some of your blog pages. Thanks to my friend James :) I am also refining my proposal that is due next week, and I will be contacting Dr. Newberry on my ideas. I left several comments on peoples blogs. I also began researching ideas for my Masters Project.
posted by Jennie O'Kelley @ 1:24 PM
6 comments
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Session 1
Technology use:
One of the reasons that I chose to get a Masters in IT was due to the fact that I love using technology and I want to learn more about it so I can improve my skills. I use technology everday of my life and if I don't have access to a computer or I am too busy to get on the computer, I feel lost the entire day. When I first started out as a teacher, I use to do all my grades in the old fashion way of paper and pencil with one of those books with the little squares. Oh, can I tell you come report card time, my eyes would cross looking at those little squares and trying to average grades. Not to mention the hours of flipping pages to compose all the grades. That was when I said, "there has got to be a better way." That is about the time that I started looking into computer programs that can help me in this situation. I found a program called Easy Grader Pro. I loved it, it averages your grade whenever you put in a new grade and just made my life that much easier. About that time, I met my finacee and he being a Network Engineer, taught me more about computers and how they operate. This was my turning point from old fashion teacher to new and improved, tech teacher. Now I use my laptop on a daily basis from home, work, and school and I have added some new items to my technology to my list over the years. Such as a LCD projector that I use all the time in my classroom, digital photography and digital video (movie making), I have also began teaching my students Windows and how to surf the internet safely. All of these things have inspried me to teach, learn and operate with computers. In 2004 I became an educator for the Discovery Network, where I attend conferences hosted by Discovery Channel to learn more about using teachnology in the classroom.
Supporting technology
Now that I have become so much more involved in the world of technology, I have been able to expand my wings to help other fellow teachers at my school site. I am a member of the tech commitee where we are constantly raising money to purchase the most up to date software and equipment. We service the entire staff and faculty with any computer related issues as well as audio and visual problems. Each of us has a specality that we bring to the group. Some are more troubleshooting experts where others, like my self are more program and software experts. We really try to teach to the teachers how to fix their own problems so that way they get a better understanding of how to use the computer and to not be so afraid of it. We also host several teacher trainings through out the year where we open up the computer lab to teach the teachers how to use the computers in the classrooms. I really enjoy working with this team and I have learn so much from all of our collaborations.
Communication with others
My Masters project focus is going to be about improving the communicaiton barriers from the teacher, parent and student. Many of the complaints that teachers hear from parents is that they didn't know that their student was having troubles in the class. I have created a webpage using Frontpage and Dreamweaver to help improve my communication with my parents. Of couse there is always that comment, " not all students have computers at home." I see it this way, the price of computers has decreased so much over the past few years, that they are nearly the same cost as an X-box, iPod, Wii...you name it. Now, ask your students how many of them have those? With the growing trend in these types of technology, we will begin to see an signigficant increase in the purchasing of computers for the home. Until then, I continue to make phone calls to those parents. I would rather know that there are only four parents in my class that if there is something that I need to discuss with them, I have to call. Four is alot more helpful than thirty-four. I use my computers all the time at work, so a parent can email me and right away that day I can get back with them with a reply email. Where as, if they were to call I would get a note in my box, that note would probably sit on my desk for a couple of days and then I would call and they wouldn't be home and the cycle continues.
This is why I am always looking for more effective ways of communication between my parents and my students. For my students (and parents), I have a grades posting page, where each child has recieved an username and password that they can use to go on and check out their current grade standing. They can view the assignments that they are missings and the ones that they need to redo. My students use this page everyday. I update the grades once a week and send out an email to all parents letting them know that they have been updated. I have found that using this feature, less students are likely to fail when they know that that their parents are looking at their grades on a weekly basis either from home or work. I have also set up a BLOG page on my website titled "Lets talk," where I post a question to my students (non-acedmic) and they get the chance to reply back with their comments. Sometimes I will tie it to a subject that we were discussing in class where I had so many students that wanted to say something but couldn't due to time. This allows them to still share to the class their opinion or thoughts of the matter.
Learning Contract
I will be doing all 3 projects because I really want the A. I am not sure how I am going to come at these projects yet, but I am sure that come proposal time, I will know.
Session 1 Activity Log
I made my blog and gave a little speel about myself. I tried to post comments on everyones page, but I need to see what is wrong with my java script. Sorry if you didn't get a comment this week. I am working on it. Take care and I hope to get to know all of you more. If you would like to check out my webpage, here it is... www.msokelley.com
Technology use:
One of the reasons that I chose to get a Masters in IT was due to the fact that I love using technology and I want to learn more about it so I can improve my skills. I use technology everday of my life and if I don't have access to a computer or I am too busy to get on the computer, I feel lost the entire day. When I first started out as a teacher, I use to do all my grades in the old fashion way of paper and pencil with one of those books with the little squares. Oh, can I tell you come report card time, my eyes would cross looking at those little squares and trying to average grades. Not to mention the hours of flipping pages to compose all the grades. That was when I said, "there has got to be a better way." That is about the time that I started looking into computer programs that can help me in this situation. I found a program called Easy Grader Pro. I loved it, it averages your grade whenever you put in a new grade and just made my life that much easier. About that time, I met my finacee and he being a Network Engineer, taught me more about computers and how they operate. This was my turning point from old fashion teacher to new and improved, tech teacher. Now I use my laptop on a daily basis from home, work, and school and I have added some new items to my technology to my list over the years. Such as a LCD projector that I use all the time in my classroom, digital photography and digital video (movie making), I have also began teaching my students Windows and how to surf the internet safely. All of these things have inspried me to teach, learn and operate with computers. In 2004 I became an educator for the Discovery Network, where I attend conferences hosted by Discovery Channel to learn more about using teachnology in the classroom.
Supporting technology
Now that I have become so much more involved in the world of technology, I have been able to expand my wings to help other fellow teachers at my school site. I am a member of the tech commitee where we are constantly raising money to purchase the most up to date software and equipment. We service the entire staff and faculty with any computer related issues as well as audio and visual problems. Each of us has a specality that we bring to the group. Some are more troubleshooting experts where others, like my self are more program and software experts. We really try to teach to the teachers how to fix their own problems so that way they get a better understanding of how to use the computer and to not be so afraid of it. We also host several teacher trainings through out the year where we open up the computer lab to teach the teachers how to use the computers in the classrooms. I really enjoy working with this team and I have learn so much from all of our collaborations.
Communication with others
My Masters project focus is going to be about improving the communicaiton barriers from the teacher, parent and student. Many of the complaints that teachers hear from parents is that they didn't know that their student was having troubles in the class. I have created a webpage using Frontpage and Dreamweaver to help improve my communication with my parents. Of couse there is always that comment, " not all students have computers at home." I see it this way, the price of computers has decreased so much over the past few years, that they are nearly the same cost as an X-box, iPod, Wii...you name it. Now, ask your students how many of them have those? With the growing trend in these types of technology, we will begin to see an signigficant increase in the purchasing of computers for the home. Until then, I continue to make phone calls to those parents. I would rather know that there are only four parents in my class that if there is something that I need to discuss with them, I have to call. Four is alot more helpful than thirty-four. I use my computers all the time at work, so a parent can email me and right away that day I can get back with them with a reply email. Where as, if they were to call I would get a note in my box, that note would probably sit on my desk for a couple of days and then I would call and they wouldn't be home and the cycle continues.
This is why I am always looking for more effective ways of communication between my parents and my students. For my students (and parents), I have a grades posting page, where each child has recieved an username and password that they can use to go on and check out their current grade standing. They can view the assignments that they are missings and the ones that they need to redo. My students use this page everyday. I update the grades once a week and send out an email to all parents letting them know that they have been updated. I have found that using this feature, less students are likely to fail when they know that that their parents are looking at their grades on a weekly basis either from home or work. I have also set up a BLOG page on my website titled "Lets talk," where I post a question to my students (non-acedmic) and they get the chance to reply back with their comments. Sometimes I will tie it to a subject that we were discussing in class where I had so many students that wanted to say something but couldn't due to time. This allows them to still share to the class their opinion or thoughts of the matter.
Learning Contract
I will be doing all 3 projects because I really want the A. I am not sure how I am going to come at these projects yet, but I am sure that come proposal time, I will know.
Session 1 Activity Log
I made my blog and gave a little speel about myself. I tried to post comments on everyones page, but I need to see what is wrong with my java script. Sorry if you didn't get a comment this week. I am working on it. Take care and I hope to get to know all of you more. If you would like to check out my webpage, here it is... www.msokelley.com
posted by Jennie O'Kelley @ 8:02 PM
15 comments
