The Wonders of Web Conferencing

Tonight I participated in my first web conference! I must say, it was a little nerve racking in the beginning. Since I had never participated in a web conference, I logged on a few minutes early and was told to wait for the host. I waited, waited, and "refreshed", but nothing happened. My technology nerves started to frazzle, so I logged out and re-entered the site only to see that it had me logged in already! Who knows, but once I was finally in, a new technology tool was at my finger tips. Although the sound and video were not working optimally, I could still see the limitless potential for web conferencing in the classroom. From students having a virtual guest, to classrooms transitioning from pen pals to web conference buddies, the options are exciting. Teachers will need to be comfortable with the technology first before they are willing to use it in their classrooms. I think that principals would benefit by modeling this technology with their faculty. Maybe it would be nice to have a faculty meeting from the coach in your living room? Maybe get together with another school to discuss similar problems? However we do it, leaders need to get their teachers comfortable with the latest technology so they are willing to use these 21st Century tools with their students.

Action Plan for Technology Integration

I developed the following action plan to help improve the technology integration on a middle school campus. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Overview

A review of the STaR Chart data for my campus revealed that Teaching and Learning and Educator Preparation and Development are still in the developing technology classification, which is the lowest classification received by the campus. Technology is available on our campus, but teachers are not utilizing it optimally. The district and campus have addressed technology goals within the district improvement plan (DIP) and campus improvement plan (CIP) for the current school years. The campus technology goals strive to support the district technology goals which are aligned with the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology. In reviewing the technology goals set by the district, a minimal goal of 75% of staff are to strive for a level of technology integration (LoTI) level 3 or higher. My campus supports this goal with a requirement of two “techfusion” submissions per year by all classroom teachers at a LoTI level 3 or higher. However, the district statistics show that the previous year only had 1.1 submissions per teacher across the district with an average LoTI level of 2.4. The following professional development plan was designed to support the district and campus goals and assist teachers in infusing their lessons with technology that support critical thinking skills.

Action Plan for Technology Integration

Goal:

Increase individual teachers’ awareness of their personal LoTI level and use this information to set personal technology goal(s).
Professional Development Activity:
Teachers will log on to the LoTI lounge and complete their personal survey. Teachers will submit their current LoTI level with their teacher self report at the beginning of the year. Additionally, teachers will set a minimum of 1personal technology goal to be submitted with their teacher self report. Finally, teachers will take the LoTI survey again at the end of the year to assess growth.
Person(s) Responsible/Timeline:
Classroom Teachers
Campus Administrators
First 3 weeks of the school year
Last 3 weeks of the school year
Resources:
Teacher lap top & internet access
Instructions for accessing LoTI lounge and submitting teacher self report
Evaluation:

Campus administrators will review teacher self reports to ensure LoTI level and goals are included. Campus administrators will discuss technology goals during each teacher’s summative conference.

Goal:

Classroom teachers will utilize BlackBoard technology in developing and implementing lessons, projects, and evaluations a minimum of once a six weeks.
Professional Development Activity:
Teachers will develop a BlackBoard homepage. Teachers will post a minimum of one document in each section. Teachers will implement one lesson a six weeks utilizing BlackBoard technology.
Person(s) Responsible/Timeline:
Classroom Teachers
Campus Administrators
Instructional Technology Specialist
Instructional Specialist
Ongoing throughout the school year. BlackBoard course will be held during campus staff development day prior to the start of the year.
Resources:
Teacher/student lap tops & internet access
Instructional Technology Specialist will host Introduction to BlackBoard and Advanced Blackboard courses on campus staff development day.
Instruction documents for utilizing BlackBoard will be posted on the campus BlackBoard page.
Evaluation:

Campus administrators will review and track use of BlackBoard technology on teachers’ lesson plans. Teachers will complete an end of year technology survey including a section on BlackBoard strengths, weaknesses, and preferences for future training.

Goal:

Provide time for professional staff to discuss technology integration in their classrooms.
Professional Development Activity:
Department meetings will devote 1 week per six weeks where teachers will share a technology lesson they implemented in their classrooms.
Teachers will be provided with a variety of online classes that support their personal level of technology advancement. Classes will be provided online so they can be accessed 24/7 for teacher convenience. Teachers will receive distributed learning credit for completing classes. Current online classes offered through PD360 include: Blogs, Online Productivity Tools, Online Surveys, Windows Movie Maker, Interactive White Boards, Presentations, Student Response Systems, Web Search, and Wikis. Current online classes offered through Eduphoria include: Balanced Literacy with Google Docs and Balanced Literacy with Journals and Blogs.
Person(s) Responsible/Timeline:
Classroom Teachers
Campus Administrators
Instructional Technology Specialist
Ongoing throughout the year
Resources:
Department meeting time devoted to topic
Teacher laptop and internet access
Evaluation: Department meeting notes will reflect technology discussion. Lesson plans will reflect technology integration. End of year technology survey will be conducted to evaluate teachers’ thoughts on technology in the classroom, including: strengths, weaknesses, and preferences for future training. Campus instructional technology specialist will report number and levels of “techfusion” projects submitted by campus in end of year report.

Goal:

Campus Administrators will model advanced technology use in professional communications and during faculty meetings and trainings.
Professional Development Activity:
Campus administrators will incorporate a minimum of one of the following technologies into each faculty meeting, campus training, and professional communication throughout the school year:
Classroom response systems
SmartBoard
Google Documents
Blogs/Wikis
BlackBoard
D2SC
Person(s) Responsible/Timeline:
Campus Administrators
Instructional Technology Specialist
Ongoing throughout the year
Resources:
Laptop and internet access
Classroom response system
SmartBoard
Evaluation:

Campus meeting agendas and minutes will reflect the use of technology. End of year technology survey will be conducted and include a section on strengths, weaknesses, and preferences of administrators’ modeling of technology integration.

End of Year Technology Evaluation

The following end of year survey will be completed by all campus teachers. The data will be reviewed by the campus principal, in addition to data provided by the TEA STaR Chart, AEIS, and AYP reports. As needs are identified, a new plan will be developed.

Please select one of the following for each statement:
o Strongly Agree
o Agree
o Strongly Disagree
o Disagree
o Neutral

I have a BlackBoard class that my students can access.

I use BlackBoard once each six weeks because it is required by campus administration.

I use BlackBoard more often than is required because it is helpful in planning and implementing lessons.

If using BlackBoard was not required by administrators, I would continue to use it.

The BlackBoard training I received allowed me to fill confident using BlackBoard.

Other training I would like offered regarding BlackBoard is:

Campus administrators consistently model using technology in their professional communications and trainings.

I have gained ideas on integrating technology in my classroom from administrators modeling of technology.

I would like to see administrators model:

Knowing my LoTI level was helpful in setting my technology goal for the year.

Knowing my LoTI level was motivated me to want to advance my level of technology integration.

I set a technology goal at the beginning of the year and achieved it.

Including a technology goal in my self-report made me focus on my goal throughout the year.

I gained new ideas on how to integrate technology into my lessons during department meetings devoted to sharing technology strategies with other teachers.

I valued the department meetings devoted to discussing technology driven lessons.

I would improve department meetings discussions of technology by:

I accessed online trainings to improve my technology level.

The online trainings I accessed were helpful.

I would like to see the following online trainings offered:

I prefer online trainings that can be accessed 24/7 to traditional trainings.

I feel confident in implementing technology to improve student achievement in the classroom.

I would like the following support to improve my technology use in the classroom:

Assessing Our Progress in Technology

Advancing technology in the classroom takes a personalized effort on behalf of the teacher. It is up to each classroom teacher to assess their personal skill level and set individual goals for themselves and their classrooms.

Texas STaR Chart Summary

View more presentations from CelesteHunt.

National Educational Technology Plan: Learning Powered by Technology

The Department of Education has outlined two clear goals for education:

· Raise the proportion of college graduates with a 2 or 4 year degree from its current 39% to 60% by 2020
· Close the achievement gap so that all students – regardless of race, income, or neighborhood – graduate from high school ready to succeed in college and careers

The U.S. Department of Education released the National Educational Technology Plan (NETP): Learning Powered by Technology, which provides guidance in utilizing technology to meet these goals. The plan lays out clear ideas and goals in the areas of learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure, and productivity. The model of learning described in this plan calls for engaging and empowering learning experiences for all learners through the utilization of the latest technology to motivate and inspire all students, regardless of their differences. Additionally, it calls for educators to leave behind the one size fits all approach in favor of individualized instruction.

The teaching model as described by NETP “calls for using technology to help build the capacity of educators by enabling a shift to a model of connected teaching” (National Education Technology Plan, 2010, p. viii). The plan describes connected teaching as teams of educators connected to learners 24/7 with access to data, analytic tools, and resources to problem solve and connect with other learners in the global community.

In order to attain the goals the model of teaching calls for, the plan stresses training for teachers that closes the technology fluency gap between educators and their students. Additionally, it calls for utilizing technology to access the most innovative teaching and learning strategies.

The plan is lofty. The goals must be achieved if we want the students of the United States to regain a prominent role in problem solving on the global level. We know the costs of failure. Now we just need to provide the practical tools necessary (training and planning time) for today’s teacher to implement the new strategies. But in the age of budget shortfalls, will this be possible?

2010 Progress Report on the Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020

Technology has become an increasingly important component of our ever day lives. Due to this, public schools must prepare our students with the skills they need to be 21st learners and employees. In an effort to provide structure and vision for this monumental task, Texas led the nation with the first Long Range Plan for Technology (LRPT), 1988-2000; since then subsequent versions have been adopted. Following is a summary of key ideas presented in the Progress Report on the Long Range Plan for Technology (PR-LRPT), 2006-2020.

The executive summary of the LRPT is promising regarding the advancement of technology in the classrooms. It states that students are equipped to learn using interactive media and online resources. Lehman finds that “Texas is focused on ensuring that students are not just engaged learners; they are empowered learners” (as cited in the Progress Report on Long Range Technology, 2010, p. 7).

The LRPT is dived into four key areas: Teaching and Learning; Educator Preparation and Development; Leadership, Administration, and Instructional Support; Infrastructure. In analyzing the progress made by schools in the state, the PR-LRPT utilizes data from the School Technology and Readiness (STaR) report which are mandated by the state to evaluate individual campuses use of technology utilizing an Early Tech (low technology) to Target Tech (highest level of technology integration) rating system. The analysis of this data shows that in the area of Teaching and Learning, there was a decrease in educators that describe themselves as Early Tech (teacher centered rather than student and technology driven) and an increase in educators that describe themselves as Advanced Tech. In the area of Educator Preparation and Development, a Master Technology Teacher (MTT) was developed, and STaR data shows that 174 MTT certificates were issued during 2008-2010. In the area of Leadership, Administration, and Instructional Support, STaR chart data shows that the majority of campuses fall in the Advanced Tech category, closely followed by Developing Tech. The area of Infrastructure is a strength for Texas with the clear majority of campuses being labeled Advanced Tech; additionally, this area has the highest percentage of Target Tech recipients.

The PR-LRPT shows that the schools in Texas are progressing toward their technology goals. The infrastructure is in place for success, but teacher training and instruction must make bigger strides if all the goals in the Long Range Plan for Technology are to be met.

Can the Long Range Plan for Technology Be Achieved?

Teachers in the 21st century have had to expand their focus from teaching the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic to being masters of technology. Technology is used in every aspect of today’s education. From data analysis to lecture presentations, technology is an integral part of our profession. Today’s students are more technology savvy than ever before. Many of their teachers are “technology immigrants”, while they are “technology natives”. With this paradigm shift, educators are being pushed to incorporate technology in their classes to engage students, help them become problem solvers, and teach them the employment skills they need for the 21st century.

The State Board of Education has published the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology (TLRPT), 2006-2020 in an effort to provide recommendations for stakeholders to achieve the technology goals in 4 areas, including Teaching and Learning. The vision identifies success in teaching and learning with these buzz words: fully engaged, multiple opportunities, individualized, and equalizer.

As an educator, I have no doubt that this vision not only can exist, but does already exist in some schools. More and more schools are supplied with computers and internet access. Teachers are communicating with parents via email and grades are being accessed on line. But this is just a drop of water in the ocean of technological advancement. Technology has the opportunity to engage learners in new and innovative ways, but it is dependent on the educator’s implementation and guidance to see where the technology path leads.

The state and area districts face many obstacles for the SBOE vision to be achieved. The role of the teacher and learner must continuously change and adapt with advancements in technology. Learners must move from being recipients of information to active participants in their learning. Curriculum must be evaluated to ensure that technology TEKS are spiraled in. Teachers must enter the profession, not just technologically literate, but technologically driven. Best practices and lesson plans supported by data must be provided to teachers to support them in treading these new waters.

Is the vision possible? Not only is it possible, but it must be achieved if the students of today are going to become the leaders of tomorrow. But the task cannot be left to teachers alone. All stakeholders must do their part. Know how to program a video game? Animate a digital cartoon? Develop websites? Visit your local school. See how you can get involved. Teachers will welcome your skills as they move their lessons into the digital age.