Blog Post 4

     It is a given reality that use of technology in schools has the potential to stimulate student engagement, skill acquisition and retention, and prepare the learner for career success.  Factors that widen the gap between ‘e-learning’ and traditional paper and book learning are teacher confidence, cost to the district, equitable student access to the web at home, and network sharing within and between districts.  How to lessen the gap is the goal of educators and librarians across the nation.  Librarians in particular have an increasingly significant role in integrating technology throughout their schools and across the curriculum.  The real-world application of technology is the inevitable future of student learners in our society (AASL, 2007).  Differentiation of instruction tailored to an individual learners’ learning style and needs is appropriately suited to technology-based instruction in classrooms.  Increasingly diverse populations are more dependent on diverse learning resources than in years past.

               Librarians are especially able and willing to collaborate, share, and instruct the use of device technology, instructional technology, social technology, and Web2.0 resources that will bridge the gap between learner and outcome.  Collaborative technologies, such as BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) programs has allowed students with different personal devices to work together in learning with device-agnostic, web-based tools (Raths, 2013).  Librarians are also instrumental in helping student teachers begin their careers on the technology platform by modeling teaching through technology in their libraries and through collaboration with teachers.  Young beginning teachers are crucial to transforming classrooms into 21^st century learning environments through building lesson plans and implementing lessons that incorporate web-based technology tools (Smith & Green, 2013).

               Teacher-librarians will find that onsite enablers and barriers at their campuses will determine the pace of their program of technology integration (Johnston, 2012). Some enablers are librarians’ professional organizations, district level administrators’ support, and the perceived role of librarian-as-technologist.  Barriers included the competition between librarian and district technology specialists, administrative support at the campus level, and ambiguity of the role of the librarian as a technology-integrator.  Despite this, teacher-librarians deserve a major role in leading students to the technological success they must achieve in order to successfully participate in productive citizenship.

 

References

American Library Association (ALA) American Association of School Librarians (AASL).

     (2007).  Standards for the 21st century learner. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/

     aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/

 

Johnston, M. (2012). School librarians as technology integration leaders:  Enablers and

      barriers to leadership enactment. School Library Research, 15, 10-33.  Retrieved

      from http://www.ala.org/aasl/Slr/volume15/Johnston

Raths, D. ( 2013). Crossing the device divide. THE Journal, 40(5), 9-13.  Retrieved from

      http://thejournal.realviewdigital.com/"88d=89207#folio=9      

 

Smith, J., & Greene, H. (2013). Pre-service teachers use e-learning technologies to

      enhance their learning.  Journal of Information Technology Education: 

      Research, 12. 121-140.  Retrieved from http://www.jite.org/documents/Vol12/

      JITEv12ResearchP121-140Smith1223.pdf

Blog Post 3

Does technology really transform education? This question presents challenges to a dedicated program of technology use in the classroom or library.  Using the American Association of School Librarians (AASL)Best Websites for Teaching and Learning and the SAMR model (Substitution Augmentation Modification Redefinition), created by Ruben R. Puentedura, investigators conclude that mobile apps, technology, and websites are now more equitably accessible in libraries and classrooms. 

The SAMR model allows scaffolding of skillsets as students initiate web-based learning.  For example, for a book report students could use a digital camera to substitute for a paper and pencil report.  To augment it, students could use Zooburst.com to make 3-D pop-up books.  Librarians could guide these students through Animoto to make a slide show for book night in the library.  This is the modification level.  To redefine the activity, the students could use Touchcast, an augmented reality app, to create interactive videos.

The AASL websites are vetted for quality, productivity, access, skill enhancement, and student engagement.  There are 125 on the list now.  AASL is now looking at adding more sites that address mobile technology, specifically applications, to enhance access to more students.

In my classroom, I will use Gaggle.com for the first time. It is a cloud-based learning platform. It started out as just a student email provider, but is now able to offer digital lockers, discussion boards, instant messaging, blogs, class pages, assignments, calendars, a social learning wall, GaggleTube.  I think the students will be stimulated to participate in this site daily and I will monitor and assess their involvement each day.

A second strategy is to extend their computer class instruction in slide presentations to my own math/science classes by allowing them to group and use p\Powerpoints, Prezi’s, or other presentation tools for their group science reports.  They have practiced this in their enrichment class so this year they should be prepared to apply their learning in their content class.

Jacobs-Israel, M., & Moorefield-Lang, H. (2013).  Redefining technology in    

     libraries and schools. Teacher Librarian, 41(3), 16-18.  Retrieved from

     https://libproxy.library.unt.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/

     docview/1470785965?accountid=7113

Blog Post 2

    

A study of middle school students whose teachers used cell phones to teach math concepts showed a high level of student engagement in the instructional activities, increased motivation, greater understanding of concepts, and increased innovation in problem-solving. 

First, student learners were able to and encouraged communicate collaboratively via the cell phones and the appropriate applets that enabled the math skills to be practiced and mastered.  This communication and collaboration took place in a setting (outdoors) that made the experience entirely out-of-classroom and re-framed the whole learning experience in unique ways.  Appealing to young people’s learning styles, these activities’ successes resulted from unique and stimulating context.

Second, students used their cell phone cameras to observe in new ways the objects they were asked to measure.  They used the cameras to capture angles and perspectives that in-classroom instruction would not have afforded them.  The complex nature of some of the mathematical tasks were possible only because the students were able to photograph, zoom, observe, study, measure, and record data that would have, otherwise, been unavailable to them.  Their observational skills were stimulated and practiced to higher levels than in typical classroom settings with pencil and worksheets.

Third, the relationship between learning skills and applying the skills in real-world contexts is always a difficult one to establish.  The question of ‘why are we having to learn this?’ takes on a whole new meaning when one is actively using a desired technology to find answers to problems they are standing in the midst of.  The applets used by the cell phones required active problem-solving and creative strategies to reach successful conclusions in a real-world setting.  The knowledge becomes useful and not just more data to store in their mind-banks until test time.

Teachers were able to bring the students closer to their learning goals by giving the guided instruction and practice in the classroom and then transferring the class to the independent learning classroom outdoors armed with their cellphones and applets.  Concepts such as length, height, point, coordinate system, linear function, etc. were all specific concepts learned in different modes:  the traditional low-tech classroom and the untraditional outdoor high-tech classroom.  Students even showed that they changed their learning habits through the use of their cellphones.  Attention to detail, not skipping steps in a multi-step problem-solving strategy, better listening of peer contributions to the problem-solving process, and anticipating the next problem set were all skills and habits honed through cellphone use.

Daher, W. & Baya'a, N. (2012). Characteristics of middle school students learning actions 

     in outdoor mathematical activities with the cellular phone. Teaching Mathematics and 

     Its Applications, 31, 133-152. doi:10.1093/teamat/hrr018
   

Blog Post 1

• Strengths
• Domain 1 (Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity) Performance Indicator A is definitely one of my strengths.  I think most teachers who are 'called' to teach feel like they have the inspired motivation and ability to reach students through their gifts.  Creative thinking and problem-solving is the basis of my lesson cycle each day.
• Domain 3 (Model digital age work and learning) Performance Indicator C.  Through experimentation and exploration, I have reached a comfort level with technology where I can present workshops, lead parent involvement activities, and share 'cool' techniques with peers via digital media.
• Weaknesses
• Domain 4 (Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility) Performance Indicator B is going to be a challenge for me in the setting in which I am presently employed.  Equitable access continues to be a challenge for a majority of our students whose only access to the web is at school or the public library.  Therefore flipped lessons, independent research, homework, parental guidance, exposure to internet/global settings are all limited in scope. 
• Domain 5 (Engage in professional growth and leadership) Domain C.  Time, energy, and resources are always limited for teachers to evaluate and reflect on research regarding emerging digital tools.  Often I find myself experimenting with something I 'ran across' instead of proactively searching for effective tools best suited to my purposes.
  

     Since I am a great teacher (no applause please!) and an inspired problem-solver, I can use these strengths to provide structure and purpose to share my knowledge and expertise with students and peers. 

     Our small district is just now able to provide 4th and 5th graders with mini-laptops.  So providing equitable access for this small population of the elementary school has quadrupled since.  However, I want to find ways to teach the parents how important it is to make home internet access available to their children so they can be participating members of the digital era.

     I truly believe 'there is nothing new under the sun' EXCEPT when it comes to technology and the internet!!  I borrow what I find (with appropriate and legal credit, of course) and share what I know.  I pick brains and websites.  I listen with all ears to teenagers, geeks, teachers, and students.  I take as many professional development workshops as I am able.  I enroll in instructional media courses at UNT.

     I am fascinated with the usefulness of wikis to replace facetime meetings.  I think they are more purposeful, efficient, and collaborative.  I want to learn all I can to persuade my teacher-team to use these for collaborative planning and communication prior to dumping meeting minutes into Eduphoria at the last minute.

Class Projects