812 Reflection

As with any lesson, students learn better when they are engaged, and play an active role in the classroom. If have found this to be absolutely true with integrating technology as well. During my lesson on technology ethics, the students were not active participants throughout the entire lesson, so there were periods where they were drifting on me. However, I did structure many sections of that lesson, so that students knew exactly what was expected of them at that moment. They had specific guidelines to follow, which eliminated a lot of questions and confusion. I think that structure is important with technology integration, as it is something new. The same goes for adults. While implementing my techquest, I made sure i provided the staff with a clear outline as to what our goals were, and how we would accomplish them, along with a timeline. It was important for them to know all of the facts, and be on the same page as me.

Integrating web-based technologies had its positive moments, and its challenges. I have encountered many struggles with technology throughout the implementation of my techquest. We are currently using outdated technology and it has added extra stress in this project. So, even though technology integration seems like it is the way to go, it will not come easily. There are certain pitfalls that may occur, that will delay the process. Also, technology is not always reliable, so I have had to re-think my use of it in the classroom. I use powerpoints for a portion of my math lesson. They are found on the textbook's website, and I just download the one I need each day. The other day, the website was down, and I had no way of getting to the powerpoint. I was relying so heavily on the powerpoint, that I had never taken the time to think of a back-up. I had to make so on the spot changes and it all worked out, but it was definitely an eye-opener. Unfortunately, one of the pitfalls of technology is it can breakdown and have its moments where things do not always run as planned.

I have met many of my goals for learning about technology integration. It has been a focus of mine to study smart boards, and their different applications. Throughout my certificate classes, I have found time to focus in on that and have come across some valuable resources. I was also able to choose smartboards for my SIG project which was an excellent experience. I was able to collaborate with others that had a similar interest in the tool, and we were able to create a wikispace that serves as a reference page for smartboard lessons, ideas, troubleshooting, and professional development. During the research for that project I was able to learn a lot of neat tricks along the way, as well as diigo so sweet resources to have for the future.

In the meantime, I have also been able to accomplish some of my smaller goals, for integrating technology more frequently. I recently created an interactive review game for a math test. It was set-up similar to a game show, and each student had a role in it. We were able to utilize the smartboard, as students had to race against each other to get the right answer and write it on the board. I was able to pick up some tricks on different powerpoint features as well, as I created the game template through that program.

As far as continuing goals, I look forward to finishing my techquest project. We will continue the journey of implementing Study Island at Riley. It has been a strenuous project so far, but the end result will be worth it. We have planned for additional teacher professional development and training with the program over the summer. From there, we will launch study island in the classroom fall 2010. We look to the future, and have plans to implement another technology-based program the following school year for reading, called Read180. As far as personal goals go, I would like to continue my teacher edition of my delicious site. I have made a point to add at least one resource a week. I have quite the collection so far, and it still has plenty of room for more. I would also like to design a website for my class over the summer. I think having a website would provide another way for parents to stay on top of what we do in class, and it gives them another opportunity to stay in touch with the school and with me. I have currently only designed a site through weebly, so I am excited to look around and explore other options for my classroom website.

Project Evaluation

How would you approach another project of this type differently given what you’ve learned here?

This project has been a wonderful learning experience for me and for the other participants. The first change I would make for the future that comes to mind is the timeline. I was rather eager to get things started, and thought it would all fall in to place quickly. I did, but it didn't. We are already behind and we are only in the beginning stages. I did not allot extra time for hangups, or bumps in the road. Also, I am lucky to have had the support of the board for this project. Without it, many aspects of this project would not be possible. However, it has been very difficult to schedule times where we can all come together. They seem to think that meetings during the day are possible, forgetting we are busy at work in the classroom. Also, the last thing teachers want to do after school is attend a training session on Study Island, and talk about our progress with it. So scheduling has been a challenge.

It is unfortunate that our technology is so outdated here. This has caused such a snag in our progress. If I were to do it all over, I would definitely break this project up into smaller chunks. The first being technology inventory and updates. Only after that is taken care of should we continue progress with the Study Island program implementation.

What are the lessons learned that others might benefit from knowing about?

First and foremost, for any other beginning teachers: Make friends with your building principal, board members and superintendent ASAP! Having established relationships with these high-profile members of the district has made this project so much easier for me. Having known me for awhile, they are confident in my ability to complete this project, and allow me some leeway to share my ideas and plans for the future. With this, comes pressure to deliver the ideas I have presented, but it has made working on this project at lot easier.

Second, technology is so important in education. As education technology masters students, and classroom teachers, we need to educate our parents and community members on the importance of technology upgrades in the district. We had to really reach out and make our voices heard in order to raise funds for a technology update. Many did not realize how behind the times we were until we made it known throughout the community. Keep your community up to date with the school and their needs. This will help with improvements in the future.

In what ways will you endeavor to do the same project again, and what will you change or not do?

Even through all of our ups and downs with this project, we are thrilled with the progress we are making, and look forward to continuing with this venture. We have been using a software-based reading program called Read180 by Scholastic in some of our classrooms. We have had a lot of success with this, and are looking to branch out and utilize it in more classrooms. This will take on the same process as Study Island. We are currently working through the kinks with our technology and computers in the classroom which will benefit both Study Island and Read180. After we get Study Island up and running, we are going to look into presenting a proposal to the board for funding for purchasing more Read180 licenses. We will have to come prepared and be able to showcase the success our small group of students have shown, and how the rest of our students could benefit from the program. Much similar to my techquest proposal for this class. (Thanks to my experience with that, I will be on the Read180 proposal committee.) We look to have all of our teachers attend a Read180 conference in the summer of 2011. Scholastic holds an annual seminar/professional development for their program users that lasts 4-5 days. It includes training, and individualized breakout sessions that relate to specific program functions that you can use for different grade levels. Hopefully, if all goes according to plan, we can have Read180 up and running the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year.

The professional training will really make the difference with this program. It would have been nice to have it for Study Island as well. Also, by the time we focus on Read180 we will have the majority of our technology snags out of the way. All of the classrooms should have updated computers and the computer lab will be re-vamped as well. This will allow for us to focus on the program and get things rolling without having to worry about the other first. The upgrades have been a lengthy, tedious process, but will be well worth it in the end. I am really happy with the progress we have made so far, and look forward to the end result!