So what does this all mean to Josh?

So what does this all mean to Josh? Josh’s learning disabilities and attitude towards traditional methods of teaching puts him at a disadvantage. However, with the use of technology he is engaged and he can perform at the higher levels. Our school does lack equipment to meet his needs but recent improvements have created a lot of opportunity for differentiated instruction. Unfortunately, some of Josh’s teachers lack the knowledge or desire to incorporate technology into the curriculum. On the other hand, the administration keeps internet restrictions to a minimum, allowing teachers to take advantage of software and resources students enjoy and understand. At the same time, the school is firm in handling any cyber bullying and takes swift action against the offenders.
Overall, it is unclear how Josh will fair. My hope is that all staff members understand the value of incorporating technology and work to improve student achievement. I believe by furthering my education and investing my time in technology education I can lead the charge against traditional, boring, and unattractive ways of teaching, which the Joshes of our society have grown to hate. I believe it is not only my job, but my obligation to create lifelong learners and I am committed to doing just that for Josh.

Cell Phones and Cyber Bullying

Some teachers do not mind if students use cell phones during school hours but most teachers treat personal electronic devices like an illegal substance. Either way, cell phones can be thought of as a tool to do good or evil. A recent social issue in schools is cyber bulling with text messaging. Schools have various ways in handling the problem, but what about my school?
I asked multiple students, teachers, and administrators what they think would happen if a student in our district was caught bullying another student by text messaging using a cell phone during school hours. After some class discussion most students believed that the offending student would have to talk to our assistant principal. The resulting discipline was unclear. Student opinion varied from suspension to a warning. The most disturbing part of the conversation was that the majority of students admitted to never thinking about the consequences. Even with no supporting statistics, this would lead many to believe it is a common occurrence. Teacher belief was much more homogonous. They believed that the student would be sent to our well-respected and feared assistant principal. They believed the resulting consequence would be detention or suspension. In the end, virtually all staff and students agreed the bully would be sent to our AP.
I explained the situation to our assistant principal and he referred to the “behavioral consequence chart” and pointed out that the student’s parents would be contacted. He also expressed his deep hate for students who intimidate, harass, or belittle other students. He went on to say he would also suspend the student for 3-10 days, give them 7-14 community service hours. He also pointed out that the any student using their cell phone during school hours would have their phone confiscated. First time offenders for a week, and repeat offenses are for a month. He routinely comes under fire for taking student cell phones and keeping them for extended periods. Parents have even come into school demanding they give them the cell phone. Surprisingly, he has won every battle. Parents have a hard time fighting back after he points out the policy in the student handbook that was signed by the parent and student in the beginning of the year.

Google Earth

For students Google Earth is a fun way to fly around the world and zoom in on places of interest. It can also be used to reach students that prefer nonlinguistic representations. Graphic organizers, pictures, diagrams, charts, and drawings are commonly used aids for visual learners and Google Earth can be used in the same way. Recently I created a lesson in which students created a Google Earth Tour that would highlight specific locations within a city. The students would summarize information about a building or structure and would attach these notes to a 3D model. As a group they would then present the various locations as a tour. In addition to showing the building models and self created descriptions, they also clicked on the wiki descriptions and user uploaded pictures to show different perspectives. While students enjoyed this project, the real benefit was for my students with disabilities. Obviously students who are visual learners preferred this lesson. More surprisingly Josh and my other students who have attention disorders seemed to be able to focus better. Maybe it was the change of pace, maybe the visuals made more sense to them, or maybe it was just fun. Regardless, the attention disorders seem to fade away. Josh who typically scores very much below average, was able to create a clear and well thought out presentation.

Technology requires desire

Districts across the state, including my district, are attempting to improve their technology. However, even with the best resources equipment is meaningless unless the staff has the desire and knowledge to utilize it. A survey was administered to P-W teachers and other teachers from the Lansing area to gauge the attitude and perception of technology in the classroom.
The data shows that nearly 80% of P-W teachers use technology regularly. This is near the other school averages, however, many teachers are using projectors regularly, but unfortunately just to show video clips. This is a very minimal use of technology and does not utilize the equipments full potential. It seems some teachers do not have the skill and/or the desire to create anything technology based to present students. The school is attempting to address teacher’s lack of technology skills by offering more department time to work together on incorporating technology. In addition, the administration is increasing the number of technology based professional development sessions. The training is available but that will not totally address the issue.
The survey results reveal a more troubling area of concern. Almost 90% of PW teachers believe technology aids in student learning. However, only roughly 70% of teachers regularly use and seek new ways to incorporate technology. Therefore, approximately 20% of PW teachers believe in benefits of technology but fail to utilize it. The participating teachers in this category also admitted that the school provides enough technology to them and have some form of access to training. Unfortunately, it seems some prefer to keep the status quo and not seek to improve their methods even if they believe students would benefit. Sorry Josh.

How you and your students can use YouTube

Since YouTube was unblocked I have created multiple software tutorials and placed them online. Students love them. In the beginning I would try and show students how to do something but students would get distracted by whatever is on their screen. So I asked everyone to turn their monitors off while I show them a demonstration. It was easier to keep their attention, however, some of my demonstrations were a little lengthy and the students would miss small, but important, steps. I decided to record the demonstrations using Camstudio, which is a free screen capture program, and post them on YouTube. The two greatest student benefits were they could watch the demonstration if they missed class and they could pause and resume the video at any time. I would still do the demonstration in class and that would be enough for some students, but not all.
Posted demonstrations especially benefited my special needs students as well as my audio and visual learners. Not only was it cool they could watch me on YouTube, but they could see and hear what I was doing multiple times. Audio or visual learners, like Josh, could now obtain the same results by watching shorter segments of video or repeat the video more than once. Some students even reported watching them at home to refresh their memory.
YouTube can also serve as a motivator for some students. Last school year, and recently this school year, I had students create a wiki about computer hardware and videos showing the installation process. Last year the wikis and videos were very good. The students knew the video would only be seen by fellow students. This year I told students they will be posting them on YouTube. The quality of work was even higher. Students not only wanted to get a good grade, but they wanted theirs to be the best and they took pride in their published work. After talking with students about publishing their work, the question was, why work hard on something that will only be seen by a teacher? Students wanted to show their hard work to others and they loved the idea that not only would our class see it but anyone in the world could too.

You fear what you do not know.

There always seems to be a backlash to the new popular ways students find information and learn from. I am sure there is legitimate concern for the student but maybe it is fear of the unknown that is main cause of resistance. It is easy for a teacher to make a surface level judgment of applications they do not fully understand. Some educators see Youtube as entertainment, a distraction, or garbage. Wikipedia is unreliable. Even Google Earth might appear as just a fancy map with unnecessary amusement features. As a result, many districts block these types of websites and applications.
Pewamo-Westphalia is rather open compared to many districts. However, when I first started teaching last year YouTube was blocked. I asked a few fellow teachers and the principle why. Not surprisingly it was blocked after teachers complained that students were watching videos when they should be working.
I talked with the principal and a few teachers about the issue and attempted to address their concerns and convince them of the benefits. I argued it is the responsibility of the teacher to design lessons and implement good classroom management techniques that would prevent students from getting off task. In addition to that, I explained YouTube has numerous educational benefits, including, access to documentaries, tutorials, and the ability to upload and view student work. There was no written policy and it ultimately came down to what the principal wanted. After sending the email I previously posted the ban was lifted the next week.

Does your district block YouTube? Is there any chance you could fight and win?

A case for Youtube

Below is an email I sent to my principal last year in hopes of getting youtube unblocked.

When people of my generation, under 30, have a question we turn to the Internet. Not in the same way a 40+ might find the answer. We rather discuss than listen. We rather see than read. This is why youtube.com is the answer to millions of questions. This summer when I wanted to install a pre-hung door, who did I ask for help? Youtube, because to see how something is done is simply better. Youtube can show you how to use any piece of software, swim faster, figure out trinomials, type better, filet a fish, fix a loud muffler, introduce you to the constitution, teach you how to speak another language, and just about anything you can think of.

I am in the opinion that youtube.com should be unblocked because of the numerous educational benefits it provides. Including access to documentaries, tutorials, and the ability to upload and view student work. Yes there is teachertube.com and schooltube.com, however their content is limited. For example I have students who ask me how to do something in Google Sketchup. Instead of me sitting with one student for 5 minutes showing them how to do it I could just send them a link to a video that will show them how to do it.

I realize that youtube.com has thousands of videos that are inappropriate for school. However, students know of dozens of other video hosting sites that have the same type of content we are trying to block. Many of these copycat sites will copy all of the popular videos from youtube.com and post them on their site to attract users. They typically do not copy educational videos to their site since they get less traffic. So by blocking youtube.com students are channeled to other sites with worse content with little to no educational value.

I am not opposed to blocking particular websites. But it does not make sense to block youtube.com.

Youtube was unblocked the next week.

The infamous library computer lab

The library lab is a hot topic. The lab is checked out weeks in advance and it has become a frustration for all parties involved. We have rules on when and how to check out the lab and due to the high demand some teachers just avoid it all together. About five teachers routinely check it out and want to use it even more if possible. Multiple teachers have expressed interest in having a classroom set of netbooks instead of textbooks. Knowing the up front cost would be much to high for the administration to accept, teachers have been pushing idea of having one mobile computer lab for each department. The cost would be low since most teachers just need a word processor and internet browser. Netbooks can be purchased for $250 each so the cost could be kept under $10,000 for a classroom set of netbooks including wireless equipment and cart. This would allow the teachers who want and need to use technology the most the opportunity to finally find space in the computer lab or in the classroom.

Is booking a computer lab in your school difficult?

Available Technology

Understanding that students like Josh need technology to learn effectively, begs the question do schools provide appropriate technology for students learning styles and interest? The answer will vary by district, building, and even classroom. In Pewamo-Westphalia School district the answer is mixed. The 7-12 jr/sr. building houses approximately 420 students and 120 computers and 24 teachers. Almost all classrooms have one computer for just the teacher. The majority of computers are contained in three labs. The latest and best-equipped computers are in the computer science teacher’s lab, me. It's used all 7 hours of the day by me and the drafting teacher. Another lab is joined to the business/accounting teacher’s room and is used most hours of the day operating accounting software. Lastly the library has one lab that is checked out by teachers on an hourly basis. It holds 30 computers and also is equipped with an interactive whiteboard. There is also another 14 computers in the library but is difficult for teachers to use these due to class size. Thus 20+ teachers wrestle over the one lab that can fit their entire classroom.

In addition to computers the school is also equipped with a few older digital cameras and camcorders that are rarely used. The two most recent camcorders and digital cameras are in my room and are used infrequently by others. Fortunately, in the last tech plan meeting it was decided to provide all teachers with a data projector if they wanted one. All but two classrooms now have data projectors permanently mounted. This was a huge leap forward for our school.

Is this comparable to your building?
Do you see the same issues?

How to reach Josh

Let me introduce you to Josh. Josh is one of those students that most teachers rather not have in their classroom because he interrupts class, rarely does quality work, does not focus and is vocal about his disdain for school. A teacher is told that all students can learn if you are able to engage the student, connect with them, or spark their interest with a prop or gimmick. This is easier said than done. Education classes and online resources are packed with ideas to address this issue, but one carefully crafted method or ingenious technique seldom works for all students. The great task of any educator is to motivate the unmotivated. What can I do to interest Josh? I could inspire him by revealing the value of the content and show him why he wants to know this. Or I could deliver the lesson in an entertaining way, making the lesson fun and tricking him into learning. Or I could relate to him by utilizing familiar terms, situations, and analogies. Or I could do all three. If done correctly the lesson should be inspirational, fun, and relatable. But how can I do this for Josh? Technology is the key to all three. The best way to teach is to enter the student’s world and present the opportunity for the student to create their own knowledge and shape it in ways we never imagined.

This is why I have taken on the journey of learning more about technology education through a graduate program. To reach the hard to reach through properly incorporating technology in the classroom. I also hope to be the technology ambassador to the rest of the school district. I will be posting my progress on this blog and I hope you enjoy the journey with me.