Technology Integration

Technology Use Plan SCCS

This is a group activity. In your group discuss some of the points made in the presentation. The key is to note that technology is not a subject or a concern all on its own but it is an integral part of every program and curriculum.

l    In what ways do you see technology has been or needs to be an integral part of programs you are responsible for?

l    What are some realistic goals the TUP can address in those areas?

Knowing that funding is difficult to move in a budget that has a lot of interests attached to every item we may not be able to do all things like we would like to.

l    Team players:

l      Pilot – leads group

l      Co-Pilot presents summary

l      Flight Attendant types summary in computer

What is a BLOG?

This is a new technology that is changing the way we communicate. The term is a combination of Web and Log which is a web based journal. My Blog contains photographs and recommendations for books and thoughts I have about things I am passionate about. Lots of people have a Blog today. Kids love them. They can share their ideas and get comments back from people. People in countries like Iraq have been sharing what they see happening in their country and it is a LOT different than what we see on TV. This is true for many communist countries and repressed countries.

This BLOG is a place where I will share my thoughts about technology. I can send those thoughts to this website from my cell phone or by email from any computer. It is a fantastic way to communicate. Check it out!

Keith Wills Santa Cruz City School Technology Coordinator

Technology in the classroom

When most people think of technology in the classroom they think of computers and applications like word processing or computer programming. At one time that was what it meant. In the 80's and 90's we taught kids about the computer in a class. They learned about operating systems and we had a lot of arguments as teachers about what type of computer to buy. Did we want kids to work on a Mac that was easy to use but not found in the workplace? For the most part the PC people won that one and now we have a lot of technical support and SPAM problems on those computers and not on the Mac.

We thought at one time that kids needed to be computer literate so we taught them about RAM and ROM and computer languages like COBAL. What we were doing is teaching about technology as if it were a subject. At my school it was an Applied Arts class or an ROP class. College bound kids did not have time to take many of these courses unless they were bound for engineering school.

Now we have seen that this is exactly the opposite of what we should be doing for our kids. With over 60% of homes connected to the Internet with some level of computer technology most of our kids knows all they need to know about how to operate the computer as young as 3 years old. My 5 year old grandson know all about using the mouse and even finding a web site by hunt and peck typing in a URL. He has no idea what RAM or ROM is but he rocks when it comes to finding things on the Internet. Bob the Builder dot com or Barbie dot com help them learn all they need to know about using a computer. Even a TV program called Blues Clues teaches computer concepts. So what DO kids need today in the way of technolgy skills?

Kids today are growing up with more data than they can absorb. We have over one hundred TV channels to pick from. There is MTV and CNN and a host of sources of news. The Internet offers information on almost anything you can imagine and then some. We can get sports scores and the weather or news sent to us on our cell phone. Using my cell phone which is also a PalmPilot (PDA) I can get answers to almost any question you ask me by connecting to the internet. Knowing facts or information is now less valuable then knowing how to find answers to questions or problems. Students need to know where to look and how to mine the data down into useful pieces. They need to know how to track information to its source so they can check its value or bias. They need to know how to work together in teams to solve problems. More than anything they need to have skills that help them adapt to CHANGE which will be the only constant in this new age.

I hear that in this new age the average graduate will change CAREERS three times and JOBS five times before they retire. The ability to adapt to change and the ability to learn new things is key to success.

Technology has become an important tool for learning. More important than the old textbooks we all carried home with us technology lets us solve problems and answer difficult questions. Textbooks are old the minute they are printed. Information is accumulating so rapidly there is no way any writer or book can keep up.

Technology is not a subject to be taught but rather a way of teaching and learning. Technology gives us rapid access to data about student achievement which can be used by parents, students and teachers to design education that meets individual needs. Because kids learn differently we can use technology to modify our instruction to meet individual needs. Teachers must not be the "sage on stage" or person who delivers information to kids. Teachers must now become a "coach on the side" who provides direction and resources for students as they deal with real world type challenges and problems. Learning must switch away from "sit and git" to projects that challenge kids to use the higher functions of their brain. Mere morization of facts or "content" will not guarantee success in a world faced with complex problems to solve.

Teach using differentiated instruction using technology to enhance the curriculum and we will find fewer kids that are bored with school. Attendance will get better because we all love a challenge. Behavior will improve because kids are actively engaged in doing something constructive.

Is technology important in this day of budget cuts? I think it is the most important thing we have to offer students in preparation for jobs. Fewer jobs than in decades past will require minimal reading skills and physical strength to function. Technology skills are a major part of almost every occupation. Those who do not have them will not find employment in this information rich society.

Yes! Technology is very important and it should get our top priority in attention in all that we do from designing curriculum to setting budgets. Every teacher should be technology literate.....their students already know more than they do.

My school let me down.

I was a mostly average student as a kid. I often got high grades such as the "A's" I got in all of my science classes but I also frequently got low grades such as the "D" in geometry. Why was that? My teachers and parents said I needed to apply myself more. They said "I could do better!" But I tried and I could not do better. At the time I just thought I was not real smart. Now that I am 58 I know better.

What I am is a Visual Leaner which does not fit well in the verbal/auditory style I was taught with in my classrooms as a kid. Now I know that I learn by visual thinking and not by words. I remember things in images and not in words. I think in images. This makes me a right brain dominant person. What is that like?

VL's tend to like to doodle or draw pictures, even if they aren't very good. My mind always wandered in class and I drew pictures. VL's like to solve problems or puzzles and they often take longer than others to complete a task. They are not willing to try something until they can see how to do that in their mind. Thus they usually sit alone in a class and don't participate much. They just seem to know things but can't explain why or where they learned it. They can remember a building or place they visited even though it was only one visit. I can still draw a rough floor plan of every house I have lived in since I was 8, which is over 6 different plans. I remember almost everything I see and almost nothing of what I read or hear if it doesn't have pictures presented with it. I love to make a chart to explain difficult concepts as I remember those easily. I rememberd things in school by picturing it in some form. I would remember the page it was on or the photograph that was on the same topic. I needed movies and pictures to be part of my education but it was not presented very often. I did well at science because it was real and hands on. I often solve problems in an unusual way which is my way of compensating for my weak verbal skills. VL's are usually very creative and often don't fit the mold of society very well. Spelling is usually a challenge for VL's and I make a lot of mistakes without a spell checker. Our handwriting is usually slow and I do better with my word processor. My cursive writing is almost unreadable but I took drafting in high school and leaned to print. People say it is beautiful.

I have always been organizationally challenged and must make lists or have my Palm Pilot with me to remember anything. When I taught I remembered the kids faces for years but seldom knew their names. I had a seating chart with their photo on it so I know who they were. I also remembered the pictures they turned in even though I did not know their name.

As a teacher I picked Graphic Arts and Photography. I taught yearbook for 25 years. All of these were visual. These were areas where I was brilliant. I love to take photographs and was changed when I ran into Ansel Adams in a class taken as a young teacher. He and I thought a lot alike, but he was brilliant. I can't enjoy a vacation without taking pictures. I have taken over 2000 in the last two years. My wife who is a verbal person doesn't understand why I take them and just box them. It is the process of visualizing them that connects me to an experience and to a memory. This is why kids who are asked to make a presentation will remember it a lot longer than if they just answer test questions to show their skills.

Now I know that we MUST change the way we teach our kids. About 40% of the kids I know are Visual Learners. If we still try to line them up in rows and teach with the teacher at the front we will not reach these kids. These kids don't do well with phonics and must see how words work. Headsprouts.com is a wonderful tool for doing that. These kids do well working on real tasks and on solving problems rather than memorizing facts. They need to see the whole before they understand the part. They do well with hands on work which makes the computer ideal for them. They can touch and see their work. Computer work is very right brained. Maybe that is why teachers who love to talk and write facts don't want to change their teaching style to use technology.

I have 8 grand children and all but 1 is also a visual learner. My own kids were mostly visual learners who did not do well in high school but did great when they went to college. Maybe the SAT is not such a great measure of success after all as it is geared toward the verbal learners.

My obsession in my semi-retirement is to help other teachers and administrators see that kids have changed and help them learn how to reach them.The girl at the top of this article is typical of our kids. She is using her notebook computer while listening to music (VL's love music) on her iPod while her Palm Pilot lists her friends who are calling her on her cell phone. Our kids grow up in an image driven world and more and more of them will be skilled in visual thinking more than verbal. This is the MTV generation and our generation will not reach them with lectures. If we still try to reach them with verbal means we will fail! If we don't change our ways we will see a marked increase in behavior problems as these kids are bored. Many kids diagnosed with ADA are known to be visual, right brain dominant. The must interact with the wold around them in order to experience it. These kids like to learn on their own and we will see an increase in student enrollment in home schooling and independent studies as that allows them to do what they do best. Challenge the kids with a difficult problem and let them design their own way to solve it. Let them show their work in ways other than words. Teach your class in a variety of different ways to reach the verbal AND the visual kids.

Please feel free to click on the "comments" link below to add your feedback to this blog. Are you a visual thinker? Does any of this sound like you or your students?