Reflection on Technology Integration
Edutopia is such a motivating and informative resource for teachers! I have enjoyed their website, magazine and even their Facebook page. It was enjoyable to use the Edutopia link from Dr. Hunt to explore more about where I am personally in my techno-journey. Most of the time, I only have my colleagues with whom I share a building with which to collaborate, create and compare technology integration. Through that lens, I often feel as though I am ahead of the curve and as a result am often in a position of daily trouble shooting and teaching staff classes on technology. In our school, we are so fortunate to have an abundance of technology at our fingertips. Four years ago, I piloted the Smart Board program at my school with a small group of colleagues. By the end of the year before last, our foundation made it possible for nearly every classroom to have mounted projectors and Smart Boards. This year, we have been given the iRespond student clicker system and it has most definitely been a welcome addition to my classroom.
As I said, I sometimes feel a bit ahead of the curve, but when I spend time exploring all of the amazing project based learning that is going on around the country, I feel worlds behind! When filling out the Technology Matrix on my teaching, I felt that I fell somewhere between Adaptation to Infusion of technology. At this point, technology is most definitely a regular part of every day and every subject area in my classroom- to the point of crisis mode kicking in when the network is down or computers aren’t functioning properly! In looking at the “Whats and Whys” provided by Edutopia, I felt as though I had fully embraced the Whys and had a good grasp on most Whats, but still had a ways to go. For example, these are the areas that I felt most strong in the “What” category:
• Access to up-to-date, primary source material
• Methods of collecting and recording data;
• Ways to collaborate with students, teachers, and experts around the world
• Opportunities for expressing understanding via images, sound, and text
• Learning that is relevant and assessment that is authentic
• Training for publishing and presenting their new knowledge.
My students are fully engaged in technology in meaningful ways on a daily basis, but I feel as though I have not gotten them to the level of collaboration, be it with other students (unless you include presentations) or experts. One part of the reason for this is one that is becoming more of a hindrance every day it seems- and that is what the county will allow us to do with our computers. Since collaboration and data collection have been two of my recent goals, I have found excellent tools (many through Lesley) that I have wanted to use with the kids. But every time I try to install software or get to an unknown site, I am blocked due to insufficient administration privileges! As of late, I’ve gotten a Flip video camera and a cool microscope with a USB for the kids and now we cannot use them because the software has been blocked. Then I tried to install both Pho0to Story and Smilebox to no avail. It’s so frustrating!
Despite the challenges, I do feel fortunate to have all of the tools available that I do possess. I feel that in order to move forward, it may just require a little more tenacity and creativity, as well as know-how. And that is a big part of the reason I because part of this program!
