Universal Access

As a teacher of a required subject American History I get a wide variety of students including many who have IEPs. I have not had any students with physical disabilities that would call for special adaptations. Dealing with students that vary greatly in ability requires doing a variety of things in the classroom. Looking at the readings for this week I would say that I implement many of the ideas of the Universal Design approach without realizing I am doing it. Each of the six models that Simmons and Kanenui talk about take place in my classes on a fairly regular basis.

One of the things I try to do more today is implement technology into my lessons. This usually involves gaining access to new information through the Internet or having students gather information through the Internet. I am really looking forward to trying out my webquest in a few weeks. Through the use of computers in the classroom it allows students a different way of learning. I have found that the visuals that you get can really help the lower level students in their understanding. They often have a hard time reading and seeing what is being talked about can be a huge bonus to them. One of the big problems though is the amount of access to computers. It is almost impossible at our high school to use computers in the regular classroom. The two labs are almost always busy and we only have 11 working laptops at the moment. Several times this year I have had my class gather around my computer at the back of the room to look at something I would like them to see.

I am trying to work harder at using technology. This masters program has given me some good ideas and things that I can use. The problem though is access at not only school but also at home. We still have students who do not have the Internet at home. Also the vast majority of our students who do have Internet at home have dialup that is very slow which stops them from loading many sites. As a result of that I have to be careful about what type of computer assignments I assign as some of my students may have a hard time completing them. Technology offers huge opportunities for both teachers and students to learn in new ways, but access has to be readily available for this to take place.

Are teachers and schools reaching the technology standards?

One of the big issues facing schools today is how teachers are using technology in our schools. The teacher technology standards give us guidelines for what teachers should know and be doing.

1. Basic Computer and technology operations
I would say that the teachers in our building our meeting this standard. Today's teachers are using computers on a regular basis whether they want to or not. There is no excuse for a teacher not to have basic computer concepts. I would though question the ability of many of our teachers to trouble shoot if they have problems.

2. Personal and professional use
Our teachers seem to be meeting this standard. I also think they do a good job of promoting the ethical use of computers and new technology.

3. Application of Technology in Instruction
I believe many of the teachers at our school have the knowledge and capability, but I don't see technology being used in classrooms on a regular basis for instruction. This to a large degree due to lack of funding and lack of access. Power point presentations work well in many classes but when the school only has two presenters this limits the opportunities to use them. Time constraints can also be a factor in using technology.

4. Social, Ethical and Human Issues
Our school does a good job in following responsible use guidelines with our computers. Students are monitored through login names to insure proper use of the computers.

5. Productivity tools
I see this done but to a limited dgree largely due to the lack of access to the technology.

6. Telecommunications and Information access
All of our teachers use email on a regular basis. It has become by far the easiest way to communicate with parents. Use of the Internet is pretty much a regular occurance for teachers today. As a history teacher I am on the web every day looking for new information.

7. Research, Problem solving
I don't see teachers using technology on a regular basis as a problem solving tool. It is used as a research tool on a daily basis. It has become the best way for students to gain information that is not available in the regular classroom setting.

8. Information Literacy skills
This is defintely an area where are school needs improvement.

9. Collaborative planning and teaching
We get a lot of help and instruction in using new technology from our librarian/media specialist. She has also been very helpful in acquiring new technology through the writing of grants. I do not see a lot of collaborative teaching going on, but it is becoming more common.

I would say that the teacher technology standards are certainly achievable and are a goal that all districts should work toward. The big problem for many teachers is the lack of funding for technology which leads to lack of access. Without changes in funding for schools many smaller rural districts will have a hard time keeping up with wealthier suburban districts.

Are We Responsible Technology Users?

I found the question for this weeks blog to be an interesting one. I would say teachers are a mixed bag in their use fo technology and copyright guidelines. One of the big issue for teachers and school districts is financial restraints. Because of the shortage of funds teachers often find themselves not following copyright guidelines. One good example of this is in what teachers run off on the school copiers. Often time workbooks are copied instead of bought because that is the cheaper way to get the material. Another good example of copyright violation is all the things that are taped off of TV and then shown in the classroom. History videos would be a good example of that. Most of the material may be copied and used but only up to one or two years. I know myself I show copied videos that are ten years or more old. The problem again goes back to money as the district doesnot have the money to buy the videos. I think these are the two most common violations that are saw in schools. I do not see any teachers using the material for profit or personal use they are just trying to get the best material for their students.

I do think teachers try to model copyright guidelines most of the time. I spend a lot of time with my students before we do Internet research explaining to them about proper referencing of the material they use. Our English department also spends a tremendous amount of time dealing with the issue of plagiarism and proper citation of online sources.

Role of Digital Story Telling in the Classroom

In the history classes that I teach I see digital story telling as a great tool for students to use and learn from. Today's students are much more visual learners then earlier generations and this is a neat way to include visuals into a lesson. It also gives students a nice break from the regular classroom work by creating a unique project using technology. In American history the possibilities of digital story telling seem almost endless. You could easily take any topic and create a digital story around it. Using sites like the Library of Congress and other online sites give student access to millions of pictures to create stories from. One of the ideas I really like is the idea of creating a digital story around an interview that the student conducted. I really enjoyed the World War Two interviews from the telling stories website we looked at this week. I watched the John Kerner video and I thought that the video made the interview become more alive. In the past I have had my American History Two students interview people about the depression and World War II. Taking these interviews and creating a digital story would add so much more to the project. A number of the interviews that we have done have been recorded and are in our school library on audio tape. Creating digital stories where they see the actual person and the events they are describing would be an even neater way of recording history. I also like the idea of the students creating their own projects itallows them to feel a sense of ownership and pride in what they are doing. I also believe that students learn better when they have the opportunity to do things themselves rather then just being told about it in class. The benefits of digital story telling are certainly worth using in any classroom that has the time and the technology available.

Roblyerand Pensky Discussion

I found Pensky's article to be right on in its description of digital natives and digital immigrants. I am amazed how technology literate my 9 and 7 year olds are because they have grown up in a world knowing nothing else. His point about todays students processing information differently is something that anyone in education can see and is trying to deal with it. One of the hardest things for me to deal with is the multitasking that students today are involved in. I believe it often causes teachers to believe students are not paying attention when they are. After reading the article I quickly realized I am a digital immigrant. I am trying to change that but I don't think I will ever completely change. I don't think I will ever get use to the lack of privacy created by the digital age. While I agreed with much of the article I am not sure that schools are ready to implement everything he talks about. A large number of schools do not have the resources, money or computers to allow the type of access necessary for this new digital age. Teaching through computer games is a great concept but it is not necessarily practical if the teacher can't get students the access to computers during school that is needed. In our district we still have about 1/4 of our students without Internet access and many who do still have dialup which does not allow them to load or use many websites or programs. Unfortunately these are issues that may not change in the near future. When looking at our school the money is just not there to allow some of these things to happen.

Roblyer in his article gives a good description of what visual literacy is and its importance in education. When looking at the required teaching skills these are skills that many older teachers do not have. One of the key things that must be done in this new technology age is get teachers the training and skills to understand and teach in new and different ways. One workshop for a couple of hours does not accomplish that task. Looking at the article on visual literacy made me realize immediately that I don't have the skills necessary to deal with this area.

I believe that most teachers are ready to embrace digital natives they just are not sure about how to go about it. I have found most teachers willing to try and use new ideas if they have the understanding and training to use them. If they don't have the training they won't do it in most instances. I do also believe that all the old ways of doing things should not just necessarily be thrown out. I do think that there are somethings that the digital immigrants can still teach the digital natives, but we must also understand that they have a lot they can teach us. We really need to understand that we can both learn a lot from each other.

The Role of Media in Learning

The role that the media plays in the classroom is becoming more and more important due to the tremendous increase in technology that is available to us on a regular basis. Even a few years ago use of the media might be limited to watching channel one news for ten minutes each day. Now with broadband connections you can streamline news or even TV shows that have educational benefits. There are so many educational uses for these new technologies that it almost blows my mind away. First it allows students access to all kinds of information in new and different ways. Also through blogs or wikeds students may actually provide information and ideas to sites that people all over the world can see. Finally I love the idea of students being able to collect, provide and show information that they have gathered to a wide audience. The uses and benefits of this new technology almost seem to be endless. When I actually first started looking at this I was thinking in terms of blogs and streaming the news I know have discovered there is a lot more to it. I looked at a number of the sites but there are two I thought were really interesting. The first one I looked at was pbwiki.com. This is a resource that you can use to create webpages that for students to share and collaborate information online. It would be a neat way for my history students to post information about a topic we are talking about in class and then allow other students to comment or add more information to their work. One of the things I really liked was how good the directions were and how easy it looked to set up a page. High school students could set up their own page in a matter of minutes without any difficulty. It also had some advanced features like file storage and revision history so you could see the history of the revisions that have been made to your wiked page. While I like the idea of students being able to edit pages there also is some concern about inaccurate information being put out and accepted because it is one the page. Students would have to be given some basic framework and rules before I would want to do this. One of the things I don't like about wikipedia is that it can be hard to document where and if the information is accurate.

The other site I spent time looking at was bubbleshare.com. This site allows you to put digital pictures into an album and add information to them so people can view it online. Photos can be shared privately or with the world if you put them in the bubbleshare public community. The basic features are free but there is a fee if you want to use the more advanced features. What I liked best is that you could add audio to each picture in the album. This looks like a neat way to create something similar to a powerpoint but doing it online so all the students would have easy access to each others creations. In my history classes I could see my students taking historical photos and then creating an audio story to go along with their pictures. I played around with for a couple minutes and created a three picture album of WWII photos. It was really easy to put the photos in and I may make it into an actual site to use with my students when I have more time. Here is my link for my

World War Two Album.

I could defintely see students getting motivated by some of the media technology available. It is definitely another way to appeal to all types of learners we have in our classrooms.

Blended Learning in the Classroom

I believe that blended learning is an asset in any grade or classroom setting. The use of instructional technology in the classroom is a growing trend and would seem to offer new learning opportunities for students. In the social studies area which I teach in there are numerous ways to incorporate technology with regular classroom teaching. First off the Internet allows students to access large amounts of information that is not available in a regular classroom setting. While saying that when my students do research I always require both books and online sources so they realize the Internet is not the only source of information and that books still have their place. One of the things I have my students do is study and analyze primary documents such as letters online. Being a small rural school in central Illinois these are documents we would not have access to without the Internet.

Looking at intereactive sites is another good way to get students to role play characters or events in history. I usually try to incorporate some sort of writing or regular classroom assignment along with this so it is not just an Internet assignment. It has been my experience that changing the classrooom and presenting material in several different ways often appeals and helps students who may not learn as well in the traditional classroom setting. Any way of presenting material in a new or different manner would seem to benefit learning and instituting new technology methods with traditional teaching would seem to be one of the best ways of doing this.