What is a Technology Integration Specialist? Revisited

I was browsing my Twitter-sphere and saw a link to this blog discussing exactly what we were blogging about last week.  An interesting read.  Not sure where else to share this, so here it is. (Should we have a Twitter hashtag? Like #edu642 ?)

http://chrisbetcher.com/2014/04/technology-integration/

Digital Citizenship

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Poster credit: commonsense.org

Digital citizenship is a necessary concept that should be taught in schools. It is required by NH State standard ED306.42 that schools provide opportunities for students to learn "ethical, responsible use of technology tools" (NHDOE, 2006).

Common Sense Media has a wonderful curriculum for all grade levels, from kindergarten through high school students.  I have this poster (which is from their website) hanging up on my classroom wall.  I think it's a great poster as it defines the thought process that everyone should go through before posting anything on the Internet.  As I tell my students, anything posted on the web will follow you forever, your digital footprint.  We discuss how employers and college admissions may search the Internet to find what kind of digital footprint they have left.  We Google ourselves to see what might be there.  We talk about privacy settings and passwords and keeping information safe, but we also talk about how their friends may share things that they post as well, so privacy settings are not always fail-safe.  

We also learn about computer safety, personal safety and cyberbullying, as well as copyright and plagiarism issues. (Another great poster, by Pia Jane Bijkirk, on posting copyrighted works can be seen here.  I also have this hanging in my classroom, but I can't post it here, because I don't have the artist's permission.)

They learn how to make sure their digital footprints are appropriate, by posting helpful information, such as the webquest project we do which has them creating informational web pages on being a good digital citizen.  Some schools have students creating blog pages to interact with students from other schools or using Twitter to share information or participate in class discussions.  These are good ways to teach good digital citizenship . 

I have heard from other classmates in the previous courses who use the THINK before you post rule.  Is the post:

1. True?
2. Helpful?
3. Inspiring?
4. Necessary?
5. Kind?

Here are some other sites I have found useful for teaching digital citizenship concepts:

http://www.netsmartzkids.org/
http://www.netsmartz.org/Teens
http://www.nsteens.org/
http://www.digizen.org/
https://www.digitalpassport.org/educator-registration


References cited:

Common Sense Media. (2012). [Poster]. Retrieved from: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/uploads/pdfs/postaphoto-ms-hs-poster.pdf

NHDOE. (2006). Technical advisory #2, Information and communication technologies. Retrieved from: http://www.education.nh.gov/standards/documents/advisory2.pdf

What is the role of the technology integration specialist? (edu642 mod1)

The Technology Integration Specialist needs to be able to create learning experiences for students using multiple assessment tools to differentiate learning and assessment for all students.  Students need to learn to use the skills that they will be using in their adult lives and learn to collaborate with other students (and with peers in their future jobs) both in person and across borders.  Technology helps people to do this.  Technology also helps students to do things they may not be able to do the traditional way. Assistive technology helps struggling readers and writers keep up with their academics. 

The technology integrator also needs to collaborate with classroom teachers and help them feel comfortable using technology in their lessons. We need to work with them and help them implement lessons using technology, but ultimately we should help them get used to doing it independently as well, since we cannot be everywhere at once.  We recently acquired iPads for each classroom, prior to that they were only available in the media center for loan, although some of the students have their own personal iPads. Now each teacher has at least one, some two, to use in their classrooms for instruction. (Class size is 8-10 students per class at our special ed school.)  Some of the teachers were already comfortable using the iPads, as they had used the media center iPads or they have their own devices at home. But some of them had never touched one, but one new user recently told me that he showed one of the speech therapists how to turn off access to the internet on the iPad (after I had shown him), and she is pretty experienced in using the iPad as an assistive speech device.  But she was very impressed that this teacher was able to show her something new and he was feeling pretty confident as well.

There are so many tools available and they are constantly changing. The technology integration specialist needs to keep up with changes in technology so that they are able to provide the latest and best tools to their students. It requires a commitment to lifelong learning.  Since I started working in this position, in addition to taking these classes, I have also participated in workshops and other online classes and webinars on using technology in education.  I follow other technology educators and experts on Twitter or by reading their blogs.  I have attended additional professional development conferences and unconferences (or edcamps) to learn ideas from others. The classroom teachers are busy with creating lessons and managing their classrooms, it is difficult for them to keep up with emerging technologies.  Some people think that they are resistant to change, and some may be, but I think the real reason is finding the time to learn about new technologies can be very time consuming. I know I have spent many hours learning how to use the Apple Configurator to manage our new classroom iPads.  I have spent many hours researching and talking to Apple support in the last two months.  

We also need to educate teachers and students about ethical use of technology.  I have had to provide information to teachers on copyright laws on using photos and music found on the Internet. They don't realize that using images other media found on the Internet without permission is the same as plagiarism.  It is so easy to find things online, that people don't even think twice about copying someone else's work. I also teach a unit on digital citizenship to my digital literacy (ICT) students.  

The technology specialist also needs to be able to recommend technology needs to the administration and be able to justify the need for it. The responsibilities of the technology integration specialist are many. 

Education "The times are a changing"

from Meade123 (YouTube)

My Web2.0 Tools Wiki and Poster (Edu641)

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This week we created a wiki page with Web 2.0 resources and a QR code poster to advertise the wiki.  I created a Glog poster that can be printed, with a QR code to get to the online Glog as well as the wiki.



Click to play




Here is the link to my wiki page
                                           or snap this code: 







Here is the link to my Glogster QR poster

Unfortunately I haven't figured out how to embed the code for my Voki on Glogster. I also added 4 more posters to my wiki. 


                                           

Keeping up with Technology

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Keeping up with technology is important for everyone, but especially for the technology integrators, because they are the knowledge base for the school. Technology is constantly changing and if you do not have the latest operating system, you may miss out on using new apps that may not be compatible with previous versions of the OS.  

Case in point:when Apple released version 7 of its iOS, there were already many new apps being released that require iOS7.  On the Internet as well, Web2.0 apps are being developed every day and in order to prepare our students for the future, they need to know how to use the latest technology, so that they are able to transition to the latest products and applications once they are out in the world. 

AbleNet Blue2 Switch

Another reason is, in the area of alternative technology, there are always new products that can help our students, who are all struggling to keep up with their learning objectives.  But over the last few years there have been so many new products that have been released that have really made a difference, from iPads to Bluetooth switches for the iPads, and text to speech applications like Kurzweil and Clicker6 or Dragon Naturally Speaking that help students who have difficulties with reading and writing and help to level the playing field for those kids.  In addition, the newer versions of these and other applications make life easier for the teachers, with the improved functionality that the newer versions offer. For example, in Clicker5, word banks had to be built one word at a time, but in the latest version, a teacher can enter a passage of text into a form and the software now builds the word banks automatically.


If we do not keep up with the technology we will be left behind.  Every new release or product or tool is a step up and it is easier to move one step at a time, versus trying to jump from the bottom step to a step halfway up the ladder. We also have to keep up with the students who are already immersed in the technology. Although we do not have to know everything, we need to be able to speak intelligently about technology, if we want the digital natives to take us seriously.

NETS Proficiencies

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Here is my wiki on the NETS-T and NETS-A mastery.  I took the information I learned from my observations and interviews and put the artifacts into a matrix for each area showing how they meet the standards.  

I thought I could embed it here, but I could not figure out how to do it, so here is a link to my wiki.

Measuring NETS Competence

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Describe how we will know if teachers and administrators are meeting these competencies. At the end of your post, pose one hypothetical situation in which one or more of these groups may be working toward one of the NETS. Be sure to provide enough context so that your classmates can respond to the hypothetical with potential methods for measuring the competency or competencies


ISTE's NETS-S lists criteria to measure students' competence with technology.  In the same vein, the NETS-T and NETS-A measures teachers' and administrators' technology competence.  Using the following list of competencies, we can assess the level of integration of technology into their practices. Basically the NETS for teachers requires that educators use technology to:

1. facilitate learning experiences that promote active learning, collaboration, innovation and reflection in face to face and virtual environments
2. design authentic instruction and assessment that incorporate digital tools to differentiate learning
3. engage students in collaborative learning locally and globally
4. model appropriate Internet activity and promote digital citizenship and safety, and
5. model lifelong learning and collaboration with other educators to improve their instruction.

Similarily, the NETS for administrators tasks school leaders to use technology to:

1. model and promote the effective use of technology for learning, provide learner-centered environments equipped with technology that meet the needs of all learning styles
2. ensure effective use of technology across the curriculum, including providing opportunities for professional development in the use and integration of technology for educators.
3. communicate a shared vision of technology integration to promote learning and collaboration locally and globally, by participating in local and global committees to lead the development of effective digital learning experiences
4. model digital age communication and digital citizenship and ensure ubiquitous access to appropriate digital tools to promote learning, and
5. facilitate a robust infrastructure to meet the needs of digital aged learners and improve staff performance.

Observation of the teachers' and administrators' practices and samples of work that the students produce, shows us whether the educators are meeting these competencies. Also observation of the students, are they engaged in the work? Are they working and collaborating with others? Are they actively solving problems, seeking out new solutions and creating artifacts of learning?

As an example, one of our teachers is interested in promoting global collaboration by participating in activities with another class from another state via Skype.  Our first step in this process is to participate in a Mystery Skype with a class to guess where each of the classes lives.  We are hoping to do this within the next two weeks, barring any more scheduling glitches.   We hope to continue this interaction with the other class on other projects, as well as with other classes in the future.  How do we measure our progress?