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January Tech Bucks - Monitoring Technology January 16, 2009

Posted by ijduran in : Monitoring Technology, Training, managing change , 7comments

In recent Tech Bucks sessions we have discussed how important it is to monitor the use of technology in our classrooms.  Technology can easily become really cool stuff that has superficial impact in a classroom or it can be viewed and used as dynamic tool to transform a classroom.  I am more of an advocate of the latter believing that the addition of new technology can significantly increase engagement of student learning and teacher enthusiasm. 

The International Society of Technology in Education recently came out with a Classroom Observation Tool that can be used in a variety of ways to monitor the use of technology integration in a classroom.  I like the way they focus on student roles and teacher roles and really asking the question, “How essential was technology to the teaching and learning activities?”

Your assignment for this month’s session is to go the web site and to check out the tool.  You can work with it online or you can download a PDF.  Use it or some part of it in your classroom monitoring and then come back to this blog site and post a comment.  What did you notice in classrooms?  What questions did you focus on when visiting classrooms?  Any big insights?  You get the idea…

Once you go this website you will need to register and create an account.  Please read the section on “Training Resources” first.  This will give you some ideas and suggestions for how you can use this tool.  There are also some video links here that Professional Technical can staff can view and gather some observational data as well. 

You can download the tool (It will install a program called Adobe Air) or I have posted it here on this blog as well.  Go for the spirit of this and I would like people to focus on “How is Technology Being Used in Your School?”  Use  this as your guiding question when you go and visit classrooms or watching the videos and then blog about what you have learned.  That will meet the expectations.  I will give you credit for the Tech Bucks Session once you have posted a blog.

Have fun!

ISTE ICOT Site:  http://icot.iste.org/

ICOT in PDF Format:  icot_observation.pdf 

Monitoring Technology at Your School Site December 4, 2008

Posted by ijduran in : Monitoring Technology, ETIL Standards, Vision, Leadership, Integration , 28comments

This month’s Tech Bucks has focused on some ways you can monitor the use of technology in your schools.  As we continue to acquire more technology it is essential that we have a clear purpose for how it will be used in classrooms and beyond.  Administrators must be willing to have clear expectations and support for teachers and staff to learn how to utilize the tools available to them in the most effective manner.

In addition, we all must have a clear understanding of what we expect our students to be able to do as a 21st Century Learning.  Understanding the standards for our students in grades K-8th are essential to have a clearer picture on what one can expect to see in a learning environment.  I have also been a large proponent that if we expect our students to meet a certain level of understanding at each grade level then it is critical our teachers can do that also as a minimum expecation.

After going through the ISTE Online Class on NETS, please post your comments and thoughts below and feel free to comment on what other administrators or PT staff say.  Thanks to Tonya Thompson from East MS for getting us started!