How Important Is Technology In Our Classes?
(Paul's update in the summer Communicator)
If you asked our technology coordinator she’d say it’s critical. Some teachers who feel comfortable with technology would say it’s important. Others who struggle with keeping up with the latest developments would say it is not needed. There are very efficient ways to deliver instruction without it. I was somewhere in the middle. At least until I attended a recent conference!

In June, a group of DCS faculty members attended the National Educational Computing Conference in Philadelphia. Listed as a national conference it was attended by thousands of individuals, many from other countries and all of them had the same goal – to find out how to make education more effective by integrating technology. It’s easy to list ways where students use computers, an important tool of their generation, but one keynote speaker really left his mark with me on why we need to get up to speed on using technology for our students.

Think back to when your ancestors came to the US. They probably did not understand the native language. The customs and traditions they brought from their homes were different from those in the US. They were immigrants and it was important for them to assimilate themselves to the ways of the country that was their new home. Now think of yourself as an adult in the year 2005. How many features do you use on your cell phone (or do you even have one)? Do you use a palm pilot, synch it in your office, and beam data to another co-worler? Do you IM instead of phoning, or sending a note through the mail?

These are not hi-tech tools anymore. If these ideas are uncomfortable to you, then you are probably a “digital immigrant”. Like your ancestors, you are living in a land where most of the next generation uses many if not all of these tools, regularly and with comfort. This next generation has learned to use these tools often without our help – it makes their lives easier and often more efficient. They expect it to be available to them. These tools of technology are the tools of their generation and they expect that delivery of education will be carried out using their tools.

Are the basic areas of education still important? Absolutely! Proficient readers, writers and mathematicians are clearly what are most important. But how we teach this next generation these areas is where we need to think about keeping up with the tremendous amount of new information that is out there. My goal today was to have you think about whether or not you are an immigrant in this new world. Think about your children and grandchildren and the comfort level that they have with technology that you might not have. Think about how much has changed in such a short period of time. Think about where technology will be in 2, 5, or 10 years. For the first time in history, we don’t know what we are training our children for. That’s how fast our world is changing. The team that went to Philadelphia will investigate this more during the year as we analyze our practice to provide the best education possible to those who live in a different world that we adults do. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more about leaving our “immigrant” status behind.

Mimio workshop

We had a workshop last Thursday using new interactive whiteboard software,Mimio Studio, and hardware, Mimio Xi. Hopefully you will all see it being used in staff meetings, curriculum meetings or grade level meetings in the near future. If you have questions about what it is or how you might use it check with Paul, Gigi, Ardy, Edith, Kathy W, Danielle, Ellen, Karen L., Rod D, Maria, Bruce, John, or me. I will add more about what it does later.

Now is the time and a bit of a change in direction

I have been gathering my wits about me for new staff orientation and the upcoming staff meetings. I think we are all frustrated by how to most effectively get the word out about various topics. I, for instance, have printed different resource lists from time-to-time. I feel like they always are incomplete and often lost in the shuffle of someone else's desk, if not mine. Sooooo...I have been inspired by a colleague at Newfound Elementary. She uses a blog to discuss technology at their school. She shares websites, ideas and projects that others are working on. It would also be a good place to put reference materials. I thought we could give it a try, hence the name/description change. Let me know what you think about these changes.

Now is the time
On a related topic, it is now time to get back into your NECC projects. Please post ideas that you have. They do not have to be firm, polished or any thing else that would give you a reason to put it off. I just got the shipping notice on 6 small and 2 large mp3 players. I will be ordering microphones for them, hopefully this week.
More later -

Announcing A New Arrival @ the Knee's!

It's twins!

Bill and I are the proud caretakers of 2 brand new iPods. It's Geek City at our house and we are not getting anything done except playing with our new arrivals. Remember, this is the couple who celebrated their 25th weding anniversary @ NECC and bought iBooks for each other!

Look for more updates as time goes on! We are having lots of fun!

Update

Just wanted you all to know that I ordered 6 iRiver 790's (256m) and 2 799's (1g)on the recommendation of the Bob Sprankle website. Maria got me hooked I've listened to all of his pod casts. I would especially recommend number 7 and 8. I have not had a chance to listen to number 9, but it should be good also. I will order the rest of the bits and pieces so that we can try out podcasting this fall.

I am also hooked on Bloglines. This has helped immensely on monitoring this and other blogs. You can see when there are new posts for you to check out. I am currently checking out some of the blogs from NECC sources to decide which ones I will follow. I thought I would do a mini workshop in on all of this when we start back. Any requests for dates?

Any other project ideas?

I am hammering out the end of the technology plan. It is not my favorite activity in the world...but it is very exciting when I look at the projected growth. I will post the summary once I get there.