Journal #10

“She Used to be Pretty: Schoolyard Harassment goes Online”
Edutopia/June 2007
By Kaley Noon

The author talks about her experience conducting a workshop on cyber bullying with middle school girls. This demographic represents one of the highest users of online communication tools. She is surprised with the cruelty that is displayed on social networking sites with very little empathy. There have always been “mean” girls in the world, especially in this age range. Matters seem to have worsened, however, as their technical skills have become more sophisticated. One of the girls who happened to be a foster child came up to her after the meeting and needed help taking down her my space page because an ex- friend had stolen her password and written derogatory things about her sexuality on the page. She did not inform her foster parent about the incident. Many parents are not even aware that this type of harassment occurs. The author feels that the anonymity of cyberbullying worsens the behavior. Since they don’t see the damage directly as with a face- to- face confrontation, the perpetrators feel little remorse.

As an exercise, Kaley held up a picture of Britney Speers after she shaved her head and asked them to write on a piece of paper their thoughts about the picture as if they were texting a friend. When she peeked at some of the comments, she saw things like, “ She looks like a naked mole rat”, “She’s on drugs”, “Eww, she used to be pretty, but now look at her”.

She feels that the best way to curb his type of behavior is to show them the consequences of their actions, as well as to offer ethics training. Parents need to be aware of what their children are doing online. Schools need to set up anti-cyber bullying policies and enforce them. Right now only a handful of states have pending legislation on this matter. Other states need to step up to the plate as well.

By the end of her session, she noticed that a lot of girls seemed to get the message and they started scrubbing their pages of information that could be inappropriate. However, there was a group of girls laughing and whispering how they were going to place a caption on someone else’s page that said how ugly she was. Apparently the message did not get through to this group.

Kaley Noon is a program manager of Zoey’s room, an online education community for girls 10-14 to encourage interest in science, technology, and math

Questions:

1. What recommendations do you have for an educational program regarding cyberbullying. I think it needs to involve a comprehensive effort and either be part of an educational effort on bullying or in addition to any internet safety program. It can be led by the school counselor or a group of teachers and involve both the students and parents. The program should offer guidelines as to how to protect yourself online, including the tracking down of a bully by using the IP address. Consequences for bullies should be outlined. I assume that will help deter a lot of would- be bullies.

2. Many teachers feel that it is not their role to teach values and ethics, which this basically comes down to, and that it’s the parents. How do you feel about that issue?
I agree that many values such as these should be taught in the home, but that’s just not the case in many circumstances. Therefore, someone has to address it and I think the educational community should be involved and involve the parents in the effort. I think teachers need to think about what’s going to support our community of learners and take action accordingly.

Journal #9

Classroom 2.0/Collaborative Documents

I followed the Classroom 2.0 discussion on collaborative document sharing where the originator of the discussion was interested in exploring alternatives to Google Docs. There was a good deal of participation in this discussion. The originator took a very active part in it and that probably helped. Some of the applications that came up were:
www.Yourdraft.com
www.YouFig.com
www.writewith.com
www.writer.zoho.com
www.stixy.com
www.spruz.com

She has apparently evaluated several of these tools. Many respondents seemed pretty pleased with Google Docs and one teacher mentioned that his students had participated in a national writing project using it. Another respondent said that he really enjoyed Zoho for the following reasons: only one sign-in, it offered functionality with spreadsheets, presentations, and a set of templates. The also have a quick upload and a new virtual meeting feature he finds useful.

Another respondent suggested YouFig. The originator tried it upon his advice and found it to be different than other document sharing applications in that there were 2 side- by-side frames. The 1 side holds the discussion and the other the document itself. Collaborators can view and compare different versions of documents and they can embed videos and images into them. They can even edit html.

Spruz was another application that was mentioned which apparently offers similar functionality and is very user friendly in that it offers step by step instructions that appeals to many people.

A couple respondents mentioned a concern that their districts block either Google Docs or another document sharing application. The originator of the discussion suggested that he try Google Apps for Education. This is a free version and can be set up so that it is only allowed for users within the school domain.

I found the discussion interesting and also like the “follow” feature, which feed you emails when someone else responds to that discussion.

Journal #8

“Simulation Nation: The Promise of Virtual Experiences”
Edutopia/March 2007
By Marc Prensky

The author in his article discusses the issues involving the limited use of simulations in today’s classrooms. It has been widely agreed that simulations can prove to be useful additions to instruction, but their use has still remained infrequent. Computer simulation helps learners to develop “what if” scenarios and to test out alternatives and different variables and be able to see results and consequences. Simulation can be a powerful tool because it offers opportunities for hands on learning when situations are complex or too dangerous. Students can gain knowledge about a complicated product or piece of equipment such as a car or an airplane. They can also learn about a system or a behavior without the risk of hurting themselves, others, or expensive property.

It was pointed out that simulations have been used in many professional fields, such as medicine, finance, the military, city planning, science and engineering. The corporate world not only has simulations in place, but also has ways of measuring results. This type of measurement has not been used in the educational world as frequently.

The author feels that the use of simulations in our schools is “far more infrequent and unorganized as it could be”. Out of 2.2 million teacher subscribers, less than even 1 percent use simulations in class. Why is this? The reasons cited include the lack of money, time, knowledge, technology, and sharing. In terms of money, there are free or low cost websites available to teachers. With limited time available to cover multiple subjects and objectives and the concern over testing, matters that don’t teach directly to the tests have fallen by the wayside. Some teachers are reluctant to move away from the traditional approach and are not comfortable with technology. Additionally, many schools do not have the most up to date technology like handhelds and global positioning technology.

Simulations can bring more reality and application into student learning. Hopefully in the future, teachers will share their experiences so we can all learn and find out what has been effective, and perhaps this will increase usage.

Questions:
1. Can you give me an example of a learning situation that may lend itself to a simulation? My son has a couple computer games (which he loves) that are good examples. One he gets to build a race car and through trial and error, he tests various variables as far as speed and basic physics principles. The other is where he builds a theme park. He builds rides and tests out things like ride safety and feasibility. He also sets up concessions stands and hires the people to staff the park and gets to see how his decisions affect the total profits of his little business. There are others on the market like this.

2. Many teachers are concerned about testing and feel that they don’t want to introduce anything “extra” when they don’t even have enough time to teach the subject matter that is required. What are some ways to deal with this issue?

Simulations can be integrated into different subject areas in a way that it wouldn’t take up any more time; it just requires a little more planning and effective time management. It can also be used as a final stage of the lesson and hopefully the children will be motivated to get to that stage, so they pay better attention. Additionally, Information can be provided for at home use and/or after school enrichment programs.

Journal #7

“Global Challenge: Save the World on your Way to College”
Learning and Leading with Technology/November 2007
By David Gibson and Susan Hull Grasso

This article summarizes an innovative way for students all over the world to collaborate on global issues that affect us all through the use of technology and a contest called The Global Challenge. This is a contest put on by the National Science Foundation ITEST (Information Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers). The article profiles 4 contestants; Brian and Rudhi are high school students from the US who pair up with Meghna and Pranav, a couple of students from India. They are attempting to work on a viable solution in reference to the problem of Co2 emissions in transportation. The solution needs to apply science, technology, engineering, and math. They share ideas, conduct research and develop a business plan to forward that goal. The technology that they use is Skype, which is a file sharing application for meetings and eFolio, which is an electronic portfolio application used to share collaborative artifacts. They can assess and leave comments for each other’s work using efolio and based on the established rubric. The program also offers mentoring assistance. They all conduct the research and contribute ideas, but they will draw on each other’s strengths by further specialization. Meghna is interested in cell biology and science writing. Pranav like physics. Rudhi prefers to work on sustainability issues, while Brian enjoys working on the economic issues. Their varied interests and strengths can lead to a greater range of ideas while brainstorming and can result in a better overall project. They also learn the importance of team dynamics and working through differences.

Teachers can get involved at various levels depending on how much time they are able to commit. Involvement opportunities include: becoming a mentor, using these types of teaching units in their own classes as well as making use of the websites and other resources, or by helping create team challenges. These types of issues are complex and we need to go beyond conventional thinking to create solutions. This presents an opportunity to put our heads together even if we’re across oceans from each other.

Questions

1. This is a great way to share ideas and work together towards a solution to a problem. How can this same idea be modified for the upper elementary grades?

I think they can start small and start pen-paling with children from other countries and then move on to a group discussion online and then on to a solution based project, but much less complex, so they can build up their skills. That way, when they reach high school age, they will be more prepared to participate in a contest such as this one. Exploravision is a similar contest held at the elementary level, but it involves only US entries.

2. How would you, as a mentor, deal with the differing cultural attitudes and work styles in this program? I think it’s important to educate the students on cultural differences prior to the start of the project as soon as they know whom they will be working with. Even minor issues like terminology and slang should be addressed. This should increase understanding between cultures and help the project to progress more smoothly.

Journal 6

The Threat of security
Hindering Technology Integration in the Classroom
By: Leanne K. Robinson, Abbie Brown, and Tim Green

This article highlights some of the restrictions that teachers face in using technology in their classrooms. The authors are of the opinion that some of these restrictions hinder efforts to integrate technology into curriculum. Some examples cited include the following.
· Policies that prohibit accessing any sites even before or after school hours for situations other than for instructional purposes.
· A teacher who had a computer with a CD-RW drive that did not work due to a concern that teachers may violate copyright laws if they are allowed to burn CD’s.
The authors feel that security and the safety of our children is indeed important, but that some of these requirements go a little far and deter teachers from even using what they have as effectively as they could. It has been shown in studies that teachers who use technology in the classroom have been able to meet standards for curriculum development and been able to create constructionist and hands on activities. Many students learn best this way.
School districts first began to explore issues of security once greater access was made available. Initial policies first included limiting students to inappropriate websites, which is very understandable. Antivirus software was also a concern, again very understandable. Copyright infringements and unauthorized software copying posed another concern.
Due to some of these concerns, many school districts have implemented policies that monitor faculty use and prohibit email for personal use. Some districts discourage the use of a classroom website or severely limit the content that is presented. The article cites an example of a teacher who had to deal constantly with logoff scripts, which interpreted the flow of his instruction because he had to ensure he went back every 15 mins. to activate the demo computer again even if the class was involved in a side project. The authors believe that school districts need to balance student protection needs while still supporting technology integration efforts.

Questions:
1. The article points out some obvious concerns about the need to balance student protection with the effective use of technology in the classroom. What are some ways this can be accomplished?
Perhaps setting up educational sessions for teachers to let them know specific examples of what would be appropriate and inappropriate. At the same time, focus on the numerous positive examples of how they could use technology in their classrooms without scaring them away from using it. I think that some teachers are a little afraid of technology and scaring them away is the last thing that districts want to do. Allowing some creativity while setting parameters can go a long way. I also think that they should solicit feedback from the teachers about how to resolve some of these issues because they are on the front lines every day and may have some good ideas.

2. What might be considered inappropriate internet usage in terms of security issues in a classroom? You could be treading a little dangerously whenever you offer unlimited access and kids can get to sites that are beyond your control, so keep an eye out even when they are supposed to be doing research and be sure that they stick to those sites.

Journal 3

"A War of Words”
By Jim Patterson
The Journal

This article discusses both the benefits and the drawbacks of plagiarism detection software and the controversy surrounding some applications. The Internet has dramatically increased incidences of plagiarism in our classrooms and educators and software developers are seeking to curtail the problem. Instead of having to wade through disorganized materials and having the cumbersome task of checking references physically, teachers can now employ software applications to assist them with this task that helps the process became more efficient. One of those programs is PaperTools Pro. (PTP) In addition to checking student sources, this application can also assist students in organizing their work and teach them proper research methods, including the difference between original works and plagiarizing.

There are critics of programs such as these. Charles Lowe, writing professor at Grand Valley State University is ironically one of those critics. One argument is that it sets up a policing type environment instead of teaching about the responsibilities and ethics of the process. These programs are not full proof and he feels that they can give teachers a false sense of security. There is also a concern that students can get around some of these issues fairly easily. Lowe especially has a concern about programs that include students’ work in a database. Other issues are that they don’t check books or subscriptions or representation of another’s ideas, which has always been a difficult issue to resolve.

I was impressed with Linda Miller’s method of teaching students the proper way to research. Instead of taking punitive measures after the fact, she effectively models how to conduct research and guides them through that process on a step-by-step basis. When she explains plagiarism to second graders, she draws a comparison to stealing.

John Barrie, the founder of Turnitin’s anti-plagiarism software feels that his application works best as a deterrent and has cut plagiarism rates by roughly 80%.

Questions:

1. Do you agree with the use of plagiarism detection software? I feel that as with technology in general, that these programs can be used as an effective tool, but they do not take the place of human intervention or the importance of doing a “reality check”. I would encourage their use if used as a tool and not as a sole means of reliance because it helps make the process more efficient. I also love the positive approach as demonstrated by librarian Linda Miller and the use of split screens and compare buttons to help students through the process. Technology is something that is constantly evolving and we need to join the effort for continuous improvement, not turn our backs to it because it’s not perfect.

2. How do you feel about the products that place student papers in a database to be compared against others?

Besides creating a distrustful environment, I am concerned about the use of these methods because it infringes upon the rights of the students and their intellectual property. I would not appreciate this kind of exposure to my original material. Kids are people too and deserve some respect! This, to me, is disrespectful.

Journal #2

Improving Students Research
Learning & Leading with Technology
September/October 2007
By Catherine Tannahill and Leslie Ricklin

I found this article very interesting and timely because it is clear that the nature of research in schools has changed with the use of the internet. There are many more resources available and those options can be overwhelming for a student, even an adult. Proper techniques need to be taught to ensure that students are using good resources from primary sources. This article breaks down the research process into 4 stages: investigation, preparation, presentation, and summation.

During the investigation stage, students should work towards identifying the type of information that they will need to help them with their projects. A teacher can assist by offering ideas for established sites to give them a jump-start. It is important to teach advanced research methods like Boolean searches so the students can narrow down their options.

The author also mentions the use of Inspiration software as a helpful tool to build a graphical organizer to assist with categorizing the information while doing the research during the preparation stage. An internet search log is also helpful so that the students can identify their search strategies like using certain key words and the search engine that was used.

Students can start to build their bibliography by listing sites that they think may be helpful to their research. The evaluation of the quality of the sites is highly important and teacher monitoring is essential. Students can use a webliography that continually updates reference information and the teacher can easily verify this when provided with the URL links. In addition to these points, ethical use of technology such as copyright and plagiarism should be discussed.

Also during the preparation stage, students can make use of online discussion groups, blogs, or wikis to facilitate sharing of information, although they may need to be teacher monitored. Technology is an important tool, but it needs to be communicated that the content is what is important.


Finally in the summation stage, we want the students to look back and reflect critically on their work- what they did well and what could have been done better. What did they learn and what do they still want to learn are other questions to ask. QuizStar and ProfilerPro are online tools that can help with this objective.

Questions:

What techniques can be used to ensure that your students stay on track, instead on wandering off on tangents or being distracted with personal interests?
I think monitoring is going to be the key when they are in a computer lab setting and perhaps establishing some small working groups to self monitor each other. When working independently, setting milestones to help them manage time could be effective. For instance by such and such a date, you will have accomplished this much of your project. Periodic meetings for a lengthy project could also help out.

2. It sometimes seem difficult especially for small children to separate someone’s opinion from fact, especially when something is on the internet, they perceive it to be factual. How can they be taught to make those distinctions? I think this is a something that needs to be worked on across curriculum, starting in literature and across other subject areas that require research and/or discussion. Activities could be used to promote this awareness. Hopefully those skills will transfer to technology research, but will constantly need to be enforced.

Journal #4

"Technology in the Early Childhood Classroom"
By Elizabeth Ross Hubbell
Learning & Leading with Technology
March 2007

This article focuses on the appropriate use of technology with early elementary students. The author mentioned that there are conflicting views on the subject, however, she is a proponent of its use and encourages using it as a tool alongside a variety of other learning experiences.

She talks about the need to “model” the use of technology at a young age. Young children see adults using technology as a part of their everyday lives and she draws the comparison to the acquisition of language and how we expose children to books and words long before they are expected to read. The same applies to technology

In “Classroom Instruction that Works, authors Marzano, Pickering, and Pollack identified 9 categories of instructional strategies that have a significant impact on student achievement.

She expands on 4 of the strategies- identifying similarities and differences, homework and practice, nonlinquistic representation, and generating and testing hypothesis.

The “Identifying Similarities and Differences” category appeared to have the most impact on learning according to Marzano’s study. This involves sorting information into various categories and building on this knowledge by making connections to background knowledge. The author gives the example of Kidspiration and how this application can help sort and categorize information into visual displays. This application offers templates that the students can save and they can go back and select “outline” mode, which will automatically put the information into an outline form. Now they have an organizer to help them retain information and perhaps help them organize their thoughts when writing about the topic area. It can also help beginning and emergent readers by assigning sounds to words and pictures complete with voiceovers. Many of the icons are similar to word processing software that they will be using later on.

Other advantages include immediate feedback, the ability to accommodate various levels for differentiated instruction, the use of multimedia to represent ideas through pictures and graphs, and the opportunities to generate and test hypothesis

If technology is used early on as a tool from a practical sense, students will be better equipped to begin using these tools independently as they advance through their education.

Questions:
2. How would you handle limited computer resources in the classroom?
Children can work in teams, independent computer usage can be spread throughout the day/week at noncritical times. They can work with older students to help speed up the process as long as they don't do it for them. Home or library use can also be encouraged.

2. How would you deal with a parent who feels that the computer is an expensive toy and does not want his child using the computer? I know that some people feel that way and it is understandable. I would point out the positive aspects of early exposure as referenced in this article and suggest supervision or find a way to work it out to meet that individual's needs.

Journal #5

“Building Technology Facilitators and Leaders: a standards -based approach”
By Jo Williamson and Traci Redish
Learning and Leading with Technology/August 2007

This article focuses on the ISTE’s Technology Facilitation (TF) and Technology Leadership (TL) standards and how they can be better utilized in our school systems. The article talks about the interesting irony that technology educators are familiar with the NETS standards for teachers and students to help guide their growth, but are seemingly not as familiar with the national standards that apply to their own roles and professional growth.

The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) published these standards in 2001. TF standards apply to instructional technology specialists and The TL standards are for those professionals who lead technology programs at the district, regional, state or national level.

Many of the standards have quite a few similarities, with subtle differences. In fact, the categories and performance indicators are the same, but the performance standards and tasks are a little different, with the leadership category being broader in scope. These standards are aligned with the NETS standards.

The TF and TL standards differ in the following ways:

1. Location of performance- This means that facilitators will perform at the school level for the most part and leaders will perform their responsibilities at the district, state, or regional level.

2. Breadth and depth of experiences- Facilitators are expected to have an in-depth knowledge, whereas the leaders are expected to have an advanced level of knowledge. Facilitators implement strategic directions, while the leaders are responsible for creating strategic plans. With a research based approach.

These standards help communicate and further understanding of the emerging roles of technology education professionals. They also can serve to benchmark compensation in relation to other similar professionals and identify gaps in performance levels with the ultimate goal of improving performance. They can further help in recruiting and training future technology leaders and determining a proper balance between the two within school systems. In order to maximize their use as a tool, the standards need to implemented, better communicated and tied to performance goals.

Questions:
What are some ways to enact these standards?
Familiarize staff with their existence, design rubrics, job descriptions, and evaluations tools around them.

2. Why do technology educators need standards of their own? Their roles are different and in constant flux in comparison to many other types of educators.

Journal #1

“ Power of the Mashup”
By Suzie Boss and Jane Krauss

This article provides examples of innovative uses of technology in classrooms to enhance essential learning functions. We first meet former High School teacher, Jerome Burg and learn how he integrated Google Earth as a tool into his literature curriculum with his own version of Google Lit Tours. This application allows students to search locations around the world using satellite imagery, maps, and 3D images. He used this technology with his students to follow literary characters around to their locations, which allows them to experience the story and characters more fully. Some literature works he applied this to were: Candide, The Grapes of Wrath, and Night, a story about a teenager’s survival of the Holocaust. With the Grapes of Wrath story, students were able to access 3D images and they watched a video clip about a Depression era storm complete with a large approaching dust cloud. This type of visual tool allows for deeper understanding of the situation and builds a greater appreciation of the piece. His site has been hugely successful and he now helps other teachers integrate technology into their curriculum at Granada High

David Fagg, an Australian history teacher demonstrates another example of effectively integrating technology into the classroom. After tiring of the MP3 battles in the classroom, he decided to adopt the “ if you can’t beat them, let’s join them…” attitude and implemented an ihistory pod cast project for his students. Using their MP3 players as tools, students played the role of a historian, and set out to actively investigate history by doing research and field work to answer questions about a local historical site of Bendigo. Their podcast had the benefit of having authentic listeners so they also experienced a global learning opportunity.

Questions:

1. What other curriculums would benefit from the use of this type of technology?
The Google earth site can be projected to the class for use with Geography lessons, especially when explaining the impact of certain regions regarding their distance from the equator.

2. What are some ways teachers can share their innovative ideas, especially within grade level, both at the school site and within the district or even globally?

Set up a communal website, join or form an online group, access each others’ favorites social networking sites like Del.icio.us.

intro letter

My name is Ann Linn and I am a single mom with 2 boys- David who is 9 and Ian who is 5 soon to be 6. I was born and raised in the Philadelphia area and went to school at St. Paul’s Catholic School for 1st through 8th grade and on to Bishop Kenrick for High School. I moved to San Diego in 1989 for a job transfer and never looked back!

I work as a human resources specialist and have been in the field for 15+ years. For my job, I rely on the computer for mostly all administrative tasks as well as recruiting. I am familiar with MS Office products as well as various Payroll/ HR systems. I also use the internet for email and research. At work I use a PC and at home I use a Mac. I recently purchased a Mac Intel chip to gain access to both sides and although I had a little trouble with the transition from one operating system to the other, it seems to be working out well.

I decided to return to school after many years to pursue a career in teaching. Elementary Education was my first major in college and I switched fields because of a poor job market. Lately I’ve been thinking about not ever having the opportunity to pursue that dream and wanted to change that. I started substitute teaching one day a week last semester to take it for a “test drive” and caught the bug. The thing that speaks to me the most about the mission statement is social justice and educational equity. Every child should have an opportunity to an education that meets his/her needs and the opportunity to develop into all they can be. Children are our future and we should invest in their growth. The ability to have a direct impact on children’s lives is both exciting and rewarding, but it also holds a great responsibility.