PQ & CQ Technology and Me

Survey Summary for Technology Integration

After examining this data, I have come to the conclusion that technology is improving in the schools, but overall they do not feel that the integration is occurring as fast as wanted. The trend I see is that teachers want to have the opportunity and ability to be at the forefront of technology in order to better educate students, but the road has not been paved all the way. As we covered the current use of technology in their current practice, teachers said that technology integration is occurring but not at the pace most teachers would like it to. Some educators mention that their schools are acquiring more and more technology to be used in the classroom, but the necessary training required to use it, or the seminars to discover more usable technology are not being sought out by most of the teachers. There are only a few teachers that are making the effort to look and find the necessary technology to make a difference in the classroom. Teachers also would like to make technology more user friendly and accessible to all. All teachers mentioned that they find the technology in their schools useful, but must of them have not taken the time to find if there was other technology in their schools that they were not aware of, or not using. 

Some of my colleagues are integrating technology as fast as they get it, or have access to it. The rest are waiting for others to initially blaze the new technology trail. Non of my colleagues were remotely asking, wondering, or even thinking about what are the new technologies that will have an impact in the classroom in the future. That said, my colleagues would like to change or improve their technology integration practices when it comes to the role the students play, from a passive role to an active one, depending upon the user from teachers to students. They also mention if the person is willing to learn a new technology they need to feel as though they are supported in order to continue using it. This is were educators run into road blocks and become frustrated and both teachers and students shut down and refuse to utilize the technology. Few teachers said that within certain constraints they feel they have the opportunity to practice and experiment with new technology or the access to good models of instruction. That a more technologically savvy administration in the technology integration process would be more effective. Throughout this survey, the ideas expressed more frequently were that educators were open to learn, but finding the method of learning in order to have the appropriate balance of learning to instruction was important. 

What concerned my colleagues more regarding integration of technology, was the speed at which the technology was being integrated. They felt unsure of being far enough ahead in the knowledge of technology in order to know and understand it completely enough to use it to the best of their abilities for the purpose of education. Most teachers new that there were benefit to teachers and learners when making technological connections with the real world and their environments, and most of them could point out  the exact benefits gained. Some mentioned that as instructional coaches they have the ability to model lessons, create lessons embedding technology, and take the risks of putting themselves in technological uncomfortable positions for the benefit of students, but most teachers would not take the same risks. Some teachers also saw the importance of the social technological development of learners, they believe this is paramount as the world continues to rely more heavily on technology. They worry that immature students will struggle with the social aspect of the internet, and that digital citizenship must be taught along the way.

Teachers felt that In order to better prepare, grow, and excel as an educator using technology, the professional developments that they were more apt to participate in were informal dialogue to improve teaching (face to face or distant learning), courses and workshops face to face, professional development network, individual and/or collaborative research (face to face or distant learning), and mentoring and peer observation.

The only remaining questions that have been developed upon the completion of this survey are the following. Is there enough access to technological advancement for educators, or is the price of it the limiting factor? Do the students understand why educators push for more technological engagement in schools?

Community Integration Technology Survey

To all my colleagues, thank you for taking the time to answer the questions on my survey. My goal is to start discovering the importance of having the necessary, current, and proper technologies available, what improvements can technology integration take on, and what is the best way to provide educational technology. 

Thank you

Here is the link to the survey for anyone else that would like to take it.

https://qtrial.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_8exeEa1hcRCVPQV

The Zen of a Healthy Info-Diet

The Zen of a Healthy Info-Diet by Downer-Shojgreen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Public schools are better than private schools.

My first info diet inclusion is the site Education Votes (http://educationvotes.nea.org) This site and its affiliates fight for public schools when compared to private schools. They make the point that there is no need to pay to go to school, students can develop greater social skills, public schools have a very welcoming environment, students develop better intellectual abilities, and that public schools provide the potential to bring together any number of young students no matter his or her social standing or lifestyle. The points of view I mentioned are the ones that push my thinking and vision on how schools should be. 

Schools should not be ran like businesses.

Sites I visit, like Edutopia, Ed Week, and others I belong to mention address this particular topic. My second info diet inclusion comes from http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org, the blog post “The Best Posts & Articles Explaining Why Schools Should Not Be Run Like Businesses,” and others. These blogs contributors focussed on this topic. Several points where made, like schools of choice work by waiting for low-income customers to approach them rather than going to them, these schools ignore fundamental desire of parents in under-served areas. Others mentioned that schools are a community and communal responsibility and business fall short at this. Public educators collaborate with one another, share information about the students, and share what they have learned about successful methods. 

Unions are good for schools.

For my last info diet inclusion I found the following sites supporting teachers unions, the Chicago Teachers Union (http://www.ctunet.com), and Teacher Solidarity (http://www.teachersolidarity.com). What they mentioned focused on how teachers unions are the only major educational players still focusing on advancing school equity by leveling the playing field, how teachers unions fight to protect teachers’ First Amendment rights, allowing them to advocate for children and schools without facing retaliation, how schools with unionized teachers often produce higher achieving students, how unions help improve teachers, and how unions focus on student and teacher safety. 

 Zen focusses attention to the attainment of enlightenment and the personal expression of direct insight, and to the absorption and use of knowledge. I understood this more as I reflect on the topic of Public schools are better than private schools, I believe that the points made by these sites, when defending public schools, are extremely valid and cannot be dismissed. As a matter of fact, it would be fantastic if private schools can adapt some of the characteristics of public schools for the betterment of students. Next, while thinking about the subject that schools should not be ran like businesses, I agree that the singular approach that proponents of this view present is flawed. Some of the points made in these blogs seriously need to be considered and enforced. Lastly, when looking into the argument stating that Unions are good for schools, I could not deny some of their points, and furthermore, this info diet research has helped me understand the history and commitment unions represent to education. In conclusion, during this process I discovered that my bias extends from past experiences. That some of my bad experiences are strong enough to curtail my view of the world. Speaking for myself, I have to admit and recognize that it is not hard to find valid points to other peoples view if I am willing to listen to their argument. Typically, no one likes to admit that they are wrong, or that the other point of view could be correct. I would like to belief that at this point in my life I am educated enough to admit when I’m wrong, stubborn, narrow minded, and when someone is wright.