Newsletter #4, vol. 2
February 4, 2008
Raising Student Achievement With
Technology
The keys to raising student achievement are to provide students
with a solid foundation of basic skills and to motivate them to learn.
Technology can help by engaging students and igniting their
imaginations. It helps teachers stimulate young minds in ways that
→Tuesday, Feb. 5, I need to meet with 9th grade make a profound and lasting difference.
language arts teachers in my office during A
lunch. We will be meeting with Ms. Marla Excellent websites for lesson plans, resources, etc.:
http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/
Smith, our career counselor, to discuss http://www.bestevidence.org/
implementation of the CHOICES survey. http://education.usgs.gov/
→The last page of this newsletter is a http://dir.yahoo.com/Education/K_12/
questionnaire. You will receive a hard copy of it http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/
from me on Monday. Please complete it and http://geology.com/teacher/
http://3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/
return it to my office by the end of the school day http://www.aimsedu.org/index.html
on Wednesday, Feb.6. http://www.mathcounts.org/
http://www.cut-the-knot.org/index.shtml
Rationale for Using Technology and Multimedia Applications in the Classroom
Just Do It!!!
by
Heather L Carter
As we approach the 21st century, we begin to see a major paradigm shift in instructional methods to
reflect the challenges present in today's society. For a student to be competitive in a global market,
we can no longer rely simply on traditional educational strategies. To meet these demands, one must
supplement and/or replace traditional methods of instruction with innovative educational
experiences. Some strategies include cooperative, discovery and inquiry learning activities;
however, to facilitate these methods, schools must implement technology in the learning
environment. Technology and multimedia applications should be used as a tool to enhance a child's
educational experience by creating a variety of methods to meet special needs, teach children how
to manage information, and allow for opportunities to develop higher level thinking skills.
Just Do It!!! Continued Technology Tips from the Trenches
(Or How Not To Reinvent the Wheel)
We find ourselves today, in a classroom full It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by technology. And the more people
of students as diverse as the world in which we tell you that technology is wonderful, the more you wonder what
live. Research on the human brain has shown the catch is. Of course there is a catch. Technology isn’t the answer
to all of education’s problems, and figuring out which problems
that not all students learn by one particular technology is able to help with takes some work.
strategy. Some students do well with the tried
and true method of direct instruction, but the But--and here’s some good news--teachers who were on the leading
edge of technology use in the classroom have tried-and-true advice
majority of students do not. To reach the most to offer. Their tips, which they learned the hard way, can make your
number of students, the teacher needs to create life easier. Here are some of them, ranging from the philosophical
a variety of learning experiences. The first and to the nitty-gritty.
most simplistic way is to use technology to
Technology is a tool.
supplement classroom instruction. Technology Always remember, technology isn’t a goal in and of itself. The key
will help meet these demands is by allowing is to use technology to help you get where you want to go--and
realize you won’t be using it all the time. The other piece to this is
students to interact with information within a that technology isn’t a silver bullet; it’s not "the answer" to
different medium. There are numerous anything. It’s only a way to enhance teaching and learning.
multimedia programs designed to meet the Technology provides tools to get you someplace fast; to give you
comprehensive, accurate information; and to provide a range of
special needs of diverse learners. For example, pathways for students at varying levels. You use the tools; they
a student learning English as a second don’t use you. Or as Glenn Rustay, a fifth-grade teacher at Garden
language would benefit from a computer City Elementary Technology Magnet School in Fort Pierce, Fla.,
puts it, "Any teacher who can be replaced by technology ought to
program where they could learn the language be."
at their own pace. They could spend as much
time as needed on the computer, without Technology works with the curriculum; it doesn’t replace
curriculum.
feeling pressured to keep up with 30 other This is a corollary to the previous point. Because technology is a
students. Another type of learner may tool, it can provide valuable enhancements to your curriculum. For
memorize facts and details better if the example, not only is the World Wide Web (www) exciting, in many
cases, it can bring experts directly into the classroom and create
information is presented in musical form. One collaborative learning opportunities for students. And it gives kids a
can not expect all teachers to teach in this chance to learn much more about a topic than they could, even if
fashion, but a computer program or they could go to a top-notch university library. But as the teacher,
you need to make sure that what ends up in your classroom is tied
multimedia application may have the to the curriculum. While the Internet offers unparalleled access to
capabilities of doing so without taking information and opinion from around the world, it’s up to each
additional time away from other students. By teacher to select which Internet resources get used and when. The
bottom line: Technology is there to enhance the curriculum, not
utilizing such programs, a single teacher can drive it.
employ many more resources and methods
within one classrooms, rather than teaching the Let your students teach you--and other students.
It goes without saying that you should take full advantage of any
information in one manner to all students. professional development opportunities to increase your skill and
confidence. But you may find that your best tech mentors are your
own students. While it’s not reassuring to feel as though you’re the
class dummy, making use of student expertise is a smart move.
Build in time to have your in-class experts walk you through
procedures that are new to you, and maybe ask your computer whiz
kids to be part of a classroom team that solves computer problems
that arise. You even can use these kids to help classmates learn the
basics. "Don’t underestimate students" is Florida teacher Rustay’s
advice. Rustay goes a step further, making sure that each of his
fifth-grade students is an in-class expert and tutor in one particular
area.
http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/fall2001/tech.html
Just Do It!!! Continued Computer-based education appears to best provide
more individualized instruction and personalized
Another valuable way technology should be reinforcement, a targeted approach that matches each
used in the classroom is to teach students how student's abilities. There is no possibility in today's
to manage information. Our generation has educational framework to provide instruction on a
one-to-one student-to-teacher ratio. The advent of
commonly been referred to as living in the
computer interactive programming into all facets of a
'information society.' Never before in the student's education may provide additional instructive
history of the world have people had so much support while allowing the teacher to supervise other
access to information. With the click of a students.
mouse or even a remote control, one can know Steve Cameron
what is a happening anywhere in the world, at http://www.december.com/cmc/mag/1994/jul/tech.html
any given time. Our students must become
information literate; our democratic society
depends on this fact. Where better to teach our
children these skills than in the classroom. By
incorporating technology in the curriculum,
students will become exposed to a variety of
modes of communication - both as sender and
receiver. A teacher may utilize the vast
amount of information on the Internet to help
students develop the skills necessary to
determine a reliable source of information
from an unreliable. Also, students will learn
how to analyze and synthesize information
gathered from a variety of resources and
possibly develop a multi-media presentation to
share their research with their classmates.
Finally, students are also able to interact with Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by my profession.
people around the world, thanks to technology
- whether it is an expert on a particular subject
they are studying or other students researching
a similar question. What ever the particular
scenario may be, technology allows teachers to
expand the four walls of the traditional The Worst Analogies Ever Written
classroom and explore the world in which we in a High School Essay
live. Educational Humor
By Mike Durrett, About.com
They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth.
Her hair glistened in the rain like nose hair after a sneeze.
The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.
He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree.
Just Do It!!! Continued
Just Do It!!! Concluded
Finally, according to Bloom's Taxonomy, as In conclusion, technology and multimedia
children move through the hierarchy of applications should be an integral part of the
learning, their studies should progressively learning environment. Our students are
move towards developing higher level immersed in a daily life full of computers and
thinking skills. Technology can facilitate this other technological advances. The schools of
process when integrated within the existing America should reflect this change in the
curriculum. Gone are the days of spending classroom. Integration of technology does not
hours mulling through over a dozen hard-copy mean placing a computer in the corner of the
books looking for information for a research classroom and leaving it un-touched
project. With technology, students can shift throughout the semester. Technology must be
their focus from acquiring information to the incorporated in all aspects of the curriculum.
task at hand - synthesis, analysis and To do anything less would be a disservice to
presentation of information. To guarantee that our students.
technology is being used appropriately to
http://coe.west.asu.edu/students/hcarter/techrationale.htm
develop higher level thinking skills, the
teacher must develop curriculum to do so. For
example, both roles of the teacher and student
have changed dramatically over the last 20
years. In the traditional model of education,
the teacher was responsible for disseminating
information to students. The students' primary
responsibility was to consume and retain as
many of the facts and figures as they could.
The most successful students were those who
could memorize and regurgitate information in
a variety of format - writing papers, oral
reports and tests. However, we have recently
discovered that these types of skills do not
always prepare our students for their
professional lives. For a student to be
successful in today's job market, they must be
able to assess and analyze information, not
merely memorize. Businesses are looking for
independent thinkers, not mindless robots. As
instructors, we must realize this fact and adjust
our curriculum accordingly - and one way of
implementing this change is through the use of
technology.
"very
Education
demandin
al
g of Technology in the Classroom Survey
computers
teachers,
can be
requiring you updated your website on www.riogranderavens.com? _____
Have
retraining,
Do in
changes you need training to update your website? _____
pedagogic
al Do you use email to communicate with colleagues, parents, and students? _____
practices,
an
and Do you use email for personal communications? _____
entirely
body
new Do you know the procedure for scheduling your students into a lab? _____
of
knowledge regularly schedule your classes into a computer lab to augment class assignments?
Do you
to master. Writing assignments___ Digital cameras_____
The most Excel data/graph assignments___ Virtual science experiments___
exciting Researching using the internet____ Pen Pals with other students___
uses of PowerPoint projects___ Student portfolios___
computers
in Other (you describe):
education ____________________________________________________
are a
radical ____________________________________________________
departure
from ____________________________________________________
current
educationa the computer labs:
Evaluate
l practices Lab availability___________________________________________
and could Lab conditions:
be Functioning computers_________________________________________
threatenin
g to Lab cleanliness_______________________________________________
educators
and Computers loaded with usable software____________________________
parents
alike". Other concerns
Daniel ______________________________________________________
Cheever
______________________________________________________
Would you like training on how to integrate technology into your classroom? If so, in what areas?
____________________________________________________________________________________________
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Please make additional comments related to integrating technology into your daily classroom instruction…..
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