Find more videos like this on K12 Online Conference
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Monday, November 09, 2009
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Post
Data driven decision making,acuity,
Smart board, prometh, activsoftware inspire edition,polyvision eno,learning.com(aha!sciencewhiteboardedition),interactive desktops,averpen interactive collaborative learning solution,
Delicious (my account)
Prezi
Lesson planning (curriki)
Synchroneyes
Jing
Skype
Online teacher discussion board
CoPs
What is web 2.0?
Internet safety: www.wenetok.com
Fuelourfuturenow.com
www.4029tv.com/video/18712497/index.html
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed
Smart board, prometh, activsoftware inspire edition,polyvision eno,learning.com(aha!sciencewhiteboardedition),interactive desktops,averpen interactive collaborative learning solution,
Delicious (my account)
Prezi
Lesson planning (curriki)
Synchroneyes
Jing
Skype
Online teacher discussion board
CoPs
What is web 2.0?
Internet safety: www.wenetok.com
Fuelourfuturenow.com
www.4029tv.com/video/18712497/index.html
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed
Data driven decision making,acuity,
Smartboard, prometh, activsoftware inspire edition,polyvision eno,learning.com(aha!sciencewhiteboardedition),interactive des
Smartboard, prometh, activsoftware inspire edition,polyvision eno,learning.com(aha!sciencewhiteboardedition),interactive des
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Example Content Exploration Blog Post
I reviewed BrainPop, specifically for English education. I plan to teach English as a Second Language. BrainPop is a fun and easy way to get the content across to students with limited language capabilities. The visualizations help students understand the context of what they are talking about thus enhancing the students' understanding of the content, even if they don't necessarily understand all of the words. In addition, BrainPop has recently created a BrainPop ESL version.
In particular, I could use this to help my students understand blogs. This video provides information on what is a blog, how to set it up, and the history of blogs. It also includes some helpful hints.
Other teachers have used this resource to inspire students to explore their own content by creating their own Tim and Moby adventures.
Although it primarily presents information, and thus would be considered a reference tool, there are quizzes available so it could also be considered a tutorial.
Monday, September 28, 2009
NCTM Illuminations
A long-time favorite of mine when it comes to tech tools is the set of "Illuminations" from the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Illuminations are manipulatable java applets that bring abstract mathematical concepts to life. The catalog of tools is available at http://illuminations.nctm.org/, with lessons and all.
Illuminations benefit teachers in students in countless ways. From a teacher's standpoint, these are fantastic, ready made tools and lessons that save you tons of time. Creating manipulative-based lessons, as we all know, can really take forever. The benefits for efficiency here are huge.
But illuminations don't just save time- they offer bang for the buck. They make concrete concepts that have never been concrete before, allowing students an unprecedented learning experience. Students have a lesson truly enhanced by technology, able to do thing as never before and understand them in new and great ways.
Illuminations benefit teachers in students in countless ways. From a teacher's standpoint, these are fantastic, ready made tools and lessons that save you tons of time. Creating manipulative-based lessons, as we all know, can really take forever. The benefits for efficiency here are huge.
But illuminations don't just save time- they offer bang for the buck. They make concrete concepts that have never been concrete before, allowing students an unprecedented learning experience. Students have a lesson truly enhanced by technology, able to do thing as never before and understand them in new and great ways.
Prezi
A great new tool I just discovered is a presentation tool called "Prezi" (www.prezi.com) that puts PowerPoint to shame. Prezi lets you make dymanic presentations that viewers can follow while still maintaining an idea of the "big picture." Watch a demonstration of Prezi here. Once you've been wowed by the demo, click here for a tutorial on how to make your own.
Prezi would make for a highly effective teaching tool. Typical presentation tools like PowerPoint only allow you to create linear presentations, but not all topics are linear! Students especially often lose track of "where they are" in a long presentation; they can't figure out how the current slide fits into the whole of the topic. They lose perspective. A presentation made with Prezi, that kept students perspective on the whole instead of the parts, would be effective in promoting retention of presented information.
Prezi would make for a highly effective teaching tool. Typical presentation tools like PowerPoint only allow you to create linear presentations, but not all topics are linear! Students especially often lose track of "where they are" in a long presentation; they can't figure out how the current slide fits into the whole of the topic. They lose perspective. A presentation made with Prezi, that kept students perspective on the whole instead of the parts, would be effective in promoting retention of presented information.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Week 5, Technology Integration Decisions
Overall, today went well. I felt like there was good interaction with the students. They were able to answer questions and interact with me and each other. All the lecture worksheets questions were designed to deliver in groups. This seemed to promote good student interaction. I will try to incorporate more group questions. I'm not sure that individual questions every really worked well.
Interestingly enough, I can hear students complaining about the readings and how they had no clue where the readings were before. However, they think that with the test review, everything should be OK. We shall see. The more I see about their knowledge of applying standards and objectives, the more nervous I get. We need to make sure that we have multiple copies of the standards. I like this, but we need to have WAY more explanation about this. I'm almost thinking about dropping the objectives section.
We definitely need to have a good/bad objective slides. Games that ask students to select what they would do, what's wrong, etc...
I spent too much time on the students slide. Also, I think we should eliminate objectives and stick with students and environment. The first one,
The video from YouTube is terrible. It had a dirty name for the intro. I missed this. But it provided a laugh.
Perhaps we need a whole section on the objectives. Or at least a tutorial. We will need to talk about how critical this actually is.
Interestingly enough, I can hear students complaining about the readings and how they had no clue where the readings were before. However, they think that with the test review, everything should be OK. We shall see. The more I see about their knowledge of applying standards and objectives, the more nervous I get. We need to make sure that we have multiple copies of the standards. I like this, but we need to have WAY more explanation about this. I'm almost thinking about dropping the objectives section.
We definitely need to have a good/bad objective slides. Games that ask students to select what they would do, what's wrong, etc...
I spent too much time on the students slide. Also, I think we should eliminate objectives and stick with students and environment. The first one,
The video from YouTube is terrible. It had a dirty name for the intro. I missed this. But it provided a laugh.
Perhaps we need a whole section on the objectives. Or at least a tutorial. We will need to talk about how critical this actually is.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Things to add
Podcast study sessions
Edited versions of the PD principal movie with Principal Ottenbreit
Watching other people do the same lecture or review the same content as you gives you some great ideas. As I'm watching Doug present, I really liked a couple of things he did. First of all, he posted a fun article for students to read as they came into class. This gave students something to look at during those few minutes before class. Great idea. I'm planning on doing this in the rest of my lectures. Perhaps even using videos that way. Also, I liked how he drew on specific points from the video. I actually wanted to pause the first video to make comments - but I'm not sure how halting this would be and how much it would disrupt the flow.
Monday, September 08, 2008
Week2 Lecture, Introduction to the Course
Today went well. I started with an introduction to the course. The Simponize characters went over well. After a brief review of the course, I had students get into groups based on their content areas. It took me some time to reorganize them once they were in the correct spots. The TAL learners kind of mixed things up in the 1st lecture and so now all the TAL folks are up at the top in one small corner. I will try to move them a little. They had a mission to create a collage of their pictures and names. I didn't care how they did it, but they needed to get this to me by Monday at 8:00. I already have one team that sent theirs to me. A little more time was dedicated to this assignment since they all seemed so energized about it. I will try to give them more problems to solve. I really liked this approach and it seemed to energize them.
Next I discussed some aspects of globalization and the flat world and how it's impacting our students. I think this gave them more of an appreciation of how our world is expanding. However, some of the stories and short quips need to be worked on. I think perhaps watching Thomas Friedman's MIT video and then finding a PPT or video on how this concept applies to K-12 education would be helpful. That's my note on professional development.
I had some good videos, but unfortunately, the sound didn't work too well on the students' description of why to use technology. These should be deleted or checked back on to see if the audio is audible next semester.
Overall, I felt like there was a good energy in the room and students really talked to one another about the questions. I think the first two questions are a little drull, but probably need to be asked (about globalization). Perhaps there is a way to spice this up. The second two questions were interesting, but I need to find a way to make students expand on the questions and to get more excited or engaging with the content. By changing the content area to the group section, they could circle it there and have more space to write. Or perhaps I make these all 2 sided or have all the questions at the top and have them number their responses below.
Overall, I'd like to think of more ways to involve them in discussions with their subject area group in the lecture. This is important because it is probably the majority of interaction they will have in their subject area. Think-Pair-Share is always a great possibility. I'll have to think of some more ways to increase interaction in a large lecture hall. I could always ask one person in each group to bring their laptop in. Hmmm.....
I would like to find more videos that show the amazing ways technology is being used. The Hamilton High video, Shift Happens, and A Vision of Students Today were all great. However, the new tech high page was dull, as was the Evansville page and perhaps even the Kokomo movie (although the later part of this movie was well done.
So for next week, I'm looking at standards, electronic portfolios, and I have less information in that presentation that I need to cover (this lecture had a LOT of videos).
Next I discussed some aspects of globalization and the flat world and how it's impacting our students. I think this gave them more of an appreciation of how our world is expanding. However, some of the stories and short quips need to be worked on. I think perhaps watching Thomas Friedman's MIT video and then finding a PPT or video on how this concept applies to K-12 education would be helpful. That's my note on professional development.
I had some good videos, but unfortunately, the sound didn't work too well on the students' description of why to use technology. These should be deleted or checked back on to see if the audio is audible next semester.
Overall, I felt like there was a good energy in the room and students really talked to one another about the questions. I think the first two questions are a little drull, but probably need to be asked (about globalization). Perhaps there is a way to spice this up. The second two questions were interesting, but I need to find a way to make students expand on the questions and to get more excited or engaging with the content. By changing the content area to the group section, they could circle it there and have more space to write. Or perhaps I make these all 2 sided or have all the questions at the top and have them number their responses below.
Overall, I'd like to think of more ways to involve them in discussions with their subject area group in the lecture. This is important because it is probably the majority of interaction they will have in their subject area. Think-Pair-Share is always a great possibility. I'll have to think of some more ways to increase interaction in a large lecture hall. I could always ask one person in each group to bring their laptop in. Hmmm.....
I would like to find more videos that show the amazing ways technology is being used. The Hamilton High video, Shift Happens, and A Vision of Students Today were all great. However, the new tech high page was dull, as was the Evansville page and perhaps even the Kokomo movie (although the later part of this movie was well done.
So for next week, I'm looking at standards, electronic portfolios, and I have less information in that presentation that I need to cover (this lecture had a LOT of videos).
Friday, April 18, 2008
Random Indiana Earthquake
So I woke up this morning to go for a run and at 5:37am, I felt a huge gust of wind shaking the house - like a washing machine off-kilter gone crazy! I thought the house was done for. This lasted for only about 5 seconds, but I could still feel a less significant shaking for about 10-15 seconds. My running buddy (who's from the West coast) called me and asked - "Did you just feel that? That was an earthquake!" I was completely shocked! An earthquake? In Indiana? But it's true. Evidently, we're on a fault line. The USGS Earthquake Hazards website keeps a record of the earthquakes recently reported in this area.
My parents (who live in the Detroit area) said they did not feel it themselves, but they were outside with their dog who ran back to the porch at that exact time like something horrible had happened. Now he won't set foot on the grass outside.
The interesting thing is I tried to fit this within my own schema. I attributed it to a strong wind, or the fact that I had taken cold medicine the night before and my head could have been a bit foggy. I never even thought of an earthquake until my friend called me. Even though I know about earthquakes from a geological perspective, it never crossed my mind as a possibility for this area. This instance shows me that we need to keep reminding ourselves to push the envelope of thinking...to look beyond the typical explainations we are comfortable with and find the truth. Hmmmm.... How does this relate to research? :)
My parents (who live in the Detroit area) said they did not feel it themselves, but they were outside with their dog who ran back to the porch at that exact time like something horrible had happened. Now he won't set foot on the grass outside.
The interesting thing is I tried to fit this within my own schema. I attributed it to a strong wind, or the fact that I had taken cold medicine the night before and my head could have been a bit foggy. I never even thought of an earthquake until my friend called me. Even though I know about earthquakes from a geological perspective, it never crossed my mind as a possibility for this area. This instance shows me that we need to keep reminding ourselves to push the envelope of thinking...to look beyond the typical explainations we are comfortable with and find the truth. Hmmmm.... How does this relate to research? :)
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Leveraging Educational Technology to Keep America Competitive
In October 2007, I was part of the Indiana University team with the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy (CEEP) that received a 3.1 million dollar contract from the Office of Education Technology in the Department of Education titled Leveraging Educational Technology to Keep America Competitive. This project focuses on examining how current and emerging technologies are being used in classrooms and how to prepare new teachers to best use these tools. Myself and Dr. Tom Brush are working on two main areas. The first area is a national study of preservice teacher education programs studying how they to prepare their gradautes use technology in their future K-12 classrooms. We are employing a three-phase mixed-methods study to answer the following questions:
We have been documenting our efforts on our Levergaing Technology website. You can also visit AECT's Teacher Education Division Blog to listen to our discussion of the project online. Please note that there have been several changes in our research plan, but it might be interesting to see how it has evolved with all the feedback from experts and the Department of Education Ofice of Educational Technology. Before we begin our study, we need to get OMB approval. This takes at least 4 months so we plan on launching our study in September.
The second aspect of this contract is A Parent's Guide to the Internet. We are still working on this and I'll post a recent version of this in my next post. This project will be updating the 1997 version as quite a bit has changed since then...
- What technology experiences are included in pre-service teacher education programs, and how do these compare to technology experiences supported by the research literature?
- What technology experiences do teachers (a) find relevant and meaningful to their teaching and learning practices, and (b) integrate into their teaching and learning practices?
- What are the similarities and differences between the technology experiences included in teacher education programs and the technology experiences teachers (a) find relevant and meaningful to their teaching and learning practices, and (b) integrate into their teaching and learning practices?
We have been documenting our efforts on our Levergaing Technology website. You can also visit AECT's Teacher Education Division Blog to listen to our discussion of the project online. Please note that there have been several changes in our research plan, but it might be interesting to see how it has evolved with all the feedback from experts and the Department of Education Ofice of Educational Technology. Before we begin our study, we need to get OMB approval. This takes at least 4 months so we plan on launching our study in September.
The second aspect of this contract is A Parent's Guide to the Internet. We are still working on this and I'll post a recent version of this in my next post. This project will be updating the 1997 version as quite a bit has changed since then...
Friday, May 04, 2007
New Thoughts on Learning Contracts
After participating in a new faculty meet-n-greet two days ago, I reflected more on the notion of learning contracts. I think this is a prime method for encouraging self-directed and self-regulated learning in our students. Especially as teachers, students will need to engage in active reflection and life-long learning to improve their professional practice. I think that with learning contracts, we could better facilitate this process and it would be a scaffolding tool for now that would hopefully carry on into their future careers as a teacher. I still believe there needs to be an electronic tool that diagnoses and facilitates this entire idea. I have a paper prepared from my dissertation on this. I also plan to blog about my dissertation and results another day. Perhaps later on this week. For resources, I've been looking at WPI's Teaching with Technology Collaborator's site on Learning Contracts and About.com has some interesting information and links for Learning Contracts as well.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Preservice Technology Integration
So, I've been thinking a lot more about my technology integration course. What exactly are the objectives? What do I want my preservice teachers to be able to accomplish by time they leave the course. At IU, we have an interesting set-up of technology integration courses for teachers.
First, our students start out with the typical technology skills course (1 credit hour - w201), then move onto the technology integration course (1 credit hour - w301) which is coupled with their methods field experience course and then finally move onto the technology integration capstone course (1 credit hour - w401) which is coupled with their final field experience before they go into student teaching. This is a great approach because it builds up technology skills, then focuses on integration where they have a venue to try out ideas and talk about integration on a level that is more educationally and pedagogically aware.
We also have an Advanced Technology Integration Focus for our preservice teachers where they take w210 (Survey of Computer-Based Education - 3 credit hours) and w310 (Computer-Based Teaching Methods - 3 credit hours) and end with an online course w435 (Technology LEadership in K-12 - 3 credit hours). I taught w210 this past semester (http://www.indiana.edu/~cel/w210) and had some good and bad reactions.
One student commented in his blog that
First, our students start out with the typical technology skills course (1 credit hour - w201), then move onto the technology integration course (1 credit hour - w301) which is coupled with their methods field experience course and then finally move onto the technology integration capstone course (1 credit hour - w401) which is coupled with their final field experience before they go into student teaching. This is a great approach because it builds up technology skills, then focuses on integration where they have a venue to try out ideas and talk about integration on a level that is more educationally and pedagogically aware.
We also have an Advanced Technology Integration Focus for our preservice teachers where they take w210 (Survey of Computer-Based Education - 3 credit hours) and w310 (Computer-Based Teaching Methods - 3 credit hours) and end with an online course w435 (Technology LEadership in K-12 - 3 credit hours). I taught w210 this past semester (http://www.indiana.edu/~cel/w210) and had some good and bad reactions.
One student commented in his blog that
"I was expecting more of a lesson of how to incoporate technology into the
classroom. But I feel odd about that subject because I feel as if the class
did not expose me to that subject; but you certainly showed up podcasts and
blogs and other stuff. So I feel like you did your job perfectly. But the
problem is, I think I already knew how to incorporate that type of stuff
into a class. Perhaps it was because of other classes in the School of Ed I
have taken. I also understand that this is the 1st course in a series and I
am looking forward to using these methods in the future." (http://pseib.blogspot.com/)
I guess I'm still confused on exactly what their notion is of integrating technology into a classroom. I had originally set-up this class to have them define their own notion of meaningful technology integration. I did not want to impose my judgements on them. However, perhaps with preservice teachers it's different. They need a little more guidance on what works in classrooms, what's thought of as innovative, what's going to be the most impressive, what's going to result in better learning... One of the difficulties with this was that I had students ranging from Freshman status to Graduate status, secondary social studies to elementary education majors. I tried to cater to each individual and then find topics that we could all engage in discussions on, and I think we succeeded for many of them. I think that this notion of individualized education plans should apply in our college classes as well. Therefore, my solution to this problem is to create learning contracts based on the NETS ISTE standards and their individual interests. We can create a customizable plan at the beginning of the semester noting the various topics they are interested in, learning goals/objectives, and then designing projects to complete these. This should also deal with the concerns over the lack of flexibility within project/lesson plan design. Examples should be provided, but their final project should be similar to the COATT portfolio, showing how they met the NETS standards with projects they created in this class.
I tried showing Web 2.0 tools, encourgaing them to look at examples that directly pertained to their subject area, but they still don't feel like they learned that much. Hmmm....if I start looking at the NETS ISTE standards, I think I can show them how much they have learned. Perhaps in the context of COATT, they can see that they know more than they think.
Others seemed to note that technology was not really taught in this class. I tried not to "teach" technology because technology is always changing. I think it's silly for us to spend class time on that when they could go out to YouTube to find videos that would help them with this.
So what are some projects that I can have them do as a class? Is this necessary? Can they just communicate via online? I also need to find out if I can make this class meet more than once per week. That may motivate students to participate more. I just had a brainstorm! If I pair up the preservice teachers with a K-12 student in their area, then I could use their lab time as a specified time to meet with me and discuss their progress on a weekly basis. That would be my office hours as well. I think that could work. I still need to think about projects to complete for this course. I'll get back to that later.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
My First Podcast!
I have recently just completed my first podcast. Chris Essex from Indiana University's Instructional Consulting Center and Doctoral Student in the Indiana IST department hosts a fantastic blog for teachers and technology, most commonly focusing on podcasting in education called Teach with Tech. We talked about multiple ways to use technology in your classroom tomorrow. One of the main problems with trying to get teachers to adopt technology as an innovation and tool in their classrooms typically relates to a few issues:
1. Complexity - The technology has too many bugs or potential problems. Many like to call the resulting behavior technophobia, but many teachers weigh the cost versus benefit and the time or frustrations are too much of a cost for the intended outcome.
2. Meaningful - If the technology has no real relevance for their classroom, no matter how cool the technology may be, teachers will not use something they don't see directly applicable to their classroom.
3. Belief - If teachers don't believe that technology enhances education, they will not use it. Will technology really enhance this educational experience? Or can I accomplish it just as easily with manipulatives? Technology is a tool, not a solution.
If you're interested in more, I plan on submitting a proposal to the Indiana Conference for Computer Educators (ICE): 50 Ways to Use Technology in Your Classroom Tomorrow. Based on my own ideas, and my parents (both educators: Sharon Ottenbreit is a 2nd Grade Teacher at Haigh Elementary in Dearborn, MI AND Joel Ottenbreit who is a retired principal from Ann Arbor Public Schools in Michigan) as well as many Internet sites and conferences, I have compiled a list of 50 simple ways teachers can use technology in their classroom without a lot of work or prep. I try to target a variety of grade and subject levels, as well as ideas that are multidisciplinary.
1. Complexity - The technology has too many bugs or potential problems. Many like to call the resulting behavior technophobia, but many teachers weigh the cost versus benefit and the time or frustrations are too much of a cost for the intended outcome.
2. Meaningful - If the technology has no real relevance for their classroom, no matter how cool the technology may be, teachers will not use something they don't see directly applicable to their classroom.
3. Belief - If teachers don't believe that technology enhances education, they will not use it. Will technology really enhance this educational experience? Or can I accomplish it just as easily with manipulatives? Technology is a tool, not a solution.
If you're interested in more, I plan on submitting a proposal to the Indiana Conference for Computer Educators (ICE): 50 Ways to Use Technology in Your Classroom Tomorrow. Based on my own ideas, and my parents (both educators: Sharon Ottenbreit is a 2nd Grade Teacher at Haigh Elementary in Dearborn, MI AND Joel Ottenbreit who is a retired principal from Ann Arbor Public Schools in Michigan) as well as many Internet sites and conferences, I have compiled a list of 50 simple ways teachers can use technology in their classroom without a lot of work or prep. I try to target a variety of grade and subject levels, as well as ideas that are multidisciplinary.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Teach with Tech PodCast
For those of you interested, I will be engaged in a PodCast with a talented Indiana University doctoral student, Chris Essex, who has an excellent podcast and blog (Teach with Tech) for those interested in teacher education. We will be talking about 50 Ways to Use Technology in your Classroom Tomorrow (which I'll be presenting at ICE - hopefully). I think it should be a very interesting show. If you have any suggestions of simple ways teachers can use technology in their classroom without a lot of training or hardship on the teacher, send them my way. My email is anne@purdue.edu
Looking forward to hearing from you! :)
Looking forward to hearing from you! :)
Dissertation Thoughts
So, for those of you who don't know, I've been starting work on my dissertation, which is investigating exemplary technology-using teachers (those recognized by an award called the MCOATT - Michigan Consortium for Outstanding Achievements in Teaching with Technology) and trying to find out what really makes these teachers so outstanding in hopes of duplicating these efforts through preservice education programs. Therefore, my three main areas of interest lie in their visions of technology integration, the strategies they use when integrating technology, and their developmental process towards exemplary technology integration. So far, I have found several themes (although I have yet to fully analyze the data), but it seems as though all teachers started with an interest in technology. Either someone showed them the possibilities of technology with their students, or they grew up with an interest in computers in general (typically the second). This doesn't provide much hope unless we can get teachers and future teachers interested in the actual technology first.
However, I must note that technology is a tool. But I still feel it to be a different tool than other pedagogical tools. For instance, like reading innovations, (guided reading, phonics, whole language, etc...) seem to pop-up every year. How are these types of innovations different than technology innovations? Why are some teachers likely to adopt certain reading innovations? IS technology so different because it changes at such a rapid rate? OR is it different because it can be integrated into all disciplines? It brings up the question of - should technology be considered a separate part of teacher education or should it be integrated into a teacher's pedagogy. From my perspective, it seems as though with these exemplary technology-using teachers (ETUTs) that they used the keyword "seamless". I was amazed at the effortless production of new technology integration ideas. Most teachers said, I can do this lesson or this lesson. Some even volunteered different ideas once I showed up and said
Another interesting thing is the commonalities between all the teachers. Their willining to first help with my project and open their classrooms up. They were all so motivated, excited, there was such energy in the room. It made me want to be in a classroom again! When we talked afterwards, I felt as though I was with kindred spirits - the excitement of talking about new technologies and how they could be used. Now, I don't necessarily believe that all teachers would get excited about this, but it brings up an excellent area of interest for me in my belief that brainstorming with other teachers and getting excited about new, creative ideas is a great way to keep teaching fresh, exciting, and innovative. Therefore, the collaboration between inservice teachers, preservice teachers, and universities should also be seamless. Through service learning and active learning communities, I believe we can improve not only teacher education, but K-12 education. I think this is the next step, and I intend to move my work in this direction in the up-and-coming years.
However, I must note that technology is a tool. But I still feel it to be a different tool than other pedagogical tools. For instance, like reading innovations, (guided reading, phonics, whole language, etc...) seem to pop-up every year. How are these types of innovations different than technology innovations? Why are some teachers likely to adopt certain reading innovations? IS technology so different because it changes at such a rapid rate? OR is it different because it can be integrated into all disciplines? It brings up the question of - should technology be considered a separate part of teacher education or should it be integrated into a teacher's pedagogy. From my perspective, it seems as though with these exemplary technology-using teachers (ETUTs) that they used the keyword "seamless". I was amazed at the effortless production of new technology integration ideas. Most teachers said, I can do this lesson or this lesson. Some even volunteered different ideas once I showed up and said
I can do it this way, or we could do this, or... What would you like to see?
Another interesting thing is the commonalities between all the teachers. Their willining to first help with my project and open their classrooms up. They were all so motivated, excited, there was such energy in the room. It made me want to be in a classroom again! When we talked afterwards, I felt as though I was with kindred spirits - the excitement of talking about new technologies and how they could be used. Now, I don't necessarily believe that all teachers would get excited about this, but it brings up an excellent area of interest for me in my belief that brainstorming with other teachers and getting excited about new, creative ideas is a great way to keep teaching fresh, exciting, and innovative. Therefore, the collaboration between inservice teachers, preservice teachers, and universities should also be seamless. Through service learning and active learning communities, I believe we can improve not only teacher education, but K-12 education. I think this is the next step, and I intend to move my work in this direction in the up-and-coming years.
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