ISTE National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) and Performance Indicators for Teachers
III. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society. Teachers:
A - demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations.
Reflection
Over the course of my studies with the University of Missouri School of Information Science and Learning Technologies I have worked to develop my skills with technology integration. I have taken Web Development that provided me a stronger understanding of the coding required to produce a web page. (Web Development Home Page) It was possible during the eMINTS training to develop simple web pages and do some modification of pages with a web development program, but often the design, layout, and function of the pages were limited. With an understanding of coding, it is possible to incorporate a lot more finite aspects into the pages. It also simplified the transition to the Web Applications course that I wanted to take to get a better understanding of the server side scripting. This course challenged me to build a site capable of gathering and storing user information to be used later for analysis. In the course, I used ASP.Net and MS SQL technology to build a survey for our schools radio station. Unfortunately, our server is not set up to utilize .asp files at the moment and the site is no longer active on the university SWORD server. (WSHD Survey Web Application Web Archive Files so be aware the links on these example pages are inactive - Home.htm, Survey.htm, Results.htm, Update.htm) This summer when the network demands are low, I intend to update the server and use MONO to enable our ability to use .asp files. This will allow the school website to be more interactive and offer greater development opportunities. In the meantime, I am using some PHP and Javascript to improve the site. (Shead Website)
The development of my technology integration does not cease with the implementation of internet technology. My science curriculum incorporates strategies to examine real-world situations and present the information in meaningful ways to the public. During each year, I work with students to develop activities that challenge them to understand the world around them by looking at the impact of environmental changes on local systems. This was the focus of a environmental science course that I developed specifically to investigate the Cobscook Bay region to better understand factors that impact the plankton population in the region. The course partnered with the Cobscook Bay Resource Center, Bowdoin College, and Thomas College to complete the study.
Over the course of the year, the programs participants engaged in drift studies to determine the flow of the water within the bay. This data was collected using drifter barrels loaded with GPS units that transmit to satellites. (Drifter Study Image 1 - jpg, Image 2 - jpg)The data was then downloaded and imported into Excel spreadsheets to be merged into ArcGIS software. (ArcGIS Map - jpg) The data is utilized by researchers trying to understand how changes, pollutants, or discharges will impact the region. Additionally, the students traveled to Bowdoin to use the Scanning Electron Microscope to image phytoplankton samples they took at the nearby breakwater. (SEM Images of Phytoplankton Biddulphia - jpg, Chaetoceros - jpg, Coscinodiscus - jpg) And finally, the students traveled to Bermuda examining the impacts of human behavior on an ecosystem. The large human presence on an isolated island ecosystem highlights environmental concerns. During the trip, the students continued to sample the plankton and sand grains to better understand the conditions that favor plankton blooms and sand development. (Bermuda Sand Sample - jpg)
B - collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation.
Reflection
As my schools technology coordinator it is my responsibility to manage the network, student information system, and website. The network is run through the Maine Schools and Library Network (MSLN) and provides us a T3 line that supports our internal network, email accounts and filters. Internally, we operate with an SME server that runs our wireless network and classroom machines as well as hosting our website. Our student information system is Web2School and it offers a student and parent portal for transparency of teacher gradebooks and assignments as well as behavior and attendance issues. Our system currently operates with a MS Access database structure at its core, but I intend to upgrade the system over the summer to use a MySQL database system to improve some system performance and speed.
The function of the Web2School system is its ability to effectively communicate our students progress at any given time. (Web2School Teacher Desk - jpg) This is the tool for collecting attendance, posting assignments, and recording grades for all of the staff. Parents and students have 24/7 access to the information through the Shead website. The use of email to correspond with students about assignments and to accept assignments has proven useful. My students are always welcome to submit their assignments digitally to me via email or when appropriate in the class Moodle. (Graphic Design Moodle Screen Shot - png) This is another way to have students collaborate with each other and myself to develop deeper understanding and higher quality products. Within this setting, they can safely engage in chats with their classmates and post material to seek feedback before final submission. This encourages them to utilize drafts when completing assignments and builds their communication and networking skills.
C - communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats.
Reflection
My classes incorporate Moodle, personal website, school website, and a web-based information system to communicate with students and their parents. Each of these tools offers a means to gather resources for access at the users convenience. As well, I use email, iChat, and Remote Desktop to communicate with others. The email system provides a mechanism to communicate in a relatively rapid manner with the ability to include some reflection in the responses unlike a phone situation that requires information to be gathered and offered in the same moment. The iChat and Remote Desktop avenues are convenient for low cost video or audio networking for meetings or professional development. The use of the ATM or PolyCom systems that require dedicated expensive equipment are acceptable alternatives where an area has the correct resources. However, networking solutions such as iChat, AIM, or Skype allow the user to accomplish relatively the same goals with little expenditure.
As the radio station advisor for our school, I am developing a mechanism to use two computers connected through an iChat account to broadcast local events such as school board meetings, city council meetings, sports events, and other student activities. The expense of remote equipment is far to much for our school system, but we can accomplish a similar goal through a wireless connection that sends the broadcast through to a receiving system that will connect to the sound board and broadcaster. The idea is to be able to broadcast public service announcements and community events that the students are involved in to let the community see all that the students do.
D - model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning.
Reflection
As a component of my Diffusion of Educational Innovations course, I undertook an evaluation of our schools implementation of the high school rollout of MacBooks for teachers. CBAM Project: assess effectiveness of HS-MLTI laptop deployment The project highlighted some interesting strengths of our implementation program that were highlighted by MLTI reviewers as some of the best in the state. A key aspect was our principals requirement for teachers to integrate the tools into their programs in certain ways. The other key component was the laptop training that I provided to the staff. In the training, instructions on use and strategies for success were given in ways that made the transitions to MacBook computers fun and useful.
In my technology and assessment course, we worked to evaluate different forms of electronic portfolios and their effectiveness as assessment tools. (Portfolios for Assessment Evaluation - pdf) This process involved an examination of the strengths and weaknesses of different systems and incorporated a usefulness component for a particular system. In my school with diminishing budget support, the use of a tool that can facilitate portfolio development without expenses was necessary. The drawback to free or low cost systems is typically their inability to easily connect the assessments with specific learning results. This connection needs to be made by the individual. I did produce an internal portfolio system for our staff using Noteshare and Noteshare Server on a MacMini to illustrate our progress with the MLTI program. If the laptop program is expanded to students, it could be reasonable to set up a similar system for students to develop nice electronic portfolios with this tool.
In my Technology Action Research course I developed a research project that helped me to evaluate the ability of podcasts to support an increase in student comprehension of complex laboratory concepts. (Action Research Project) The project did a good job of developing the goals and highlighting the prior research. I found out when I tried to implement the study that in a high school setting, where capturing students in video for distribution is complicated, the development of the different podcasts take a significant amount of time. The project is still a good beginning, but I am refining the podcast creation component. It seems that I will have to perform and record the labs independent of the student investigations. This does not offer quite the same impact that I desired for student reflection on what happened in their labs, but it does offer some areas of comparison that should be beneficial. To complete the project, we examined the research using a literature matrix, organized a data matrix, and develop a data analysis matrix.
