My iMovie NETS-T 3

This is my iMovie I created using iMovie software, iTunes music, and images from around campus here at Cal State San Marcos that Professor Heil provided. I put in transitions in between clips and added screen adjustments to add a little creativity. I also chose the music that was added for sound. The purpose of this movie was to educate someone about our campus. I did this by sharing facts about CSUSM on some of the clips in the movie.

Journal #1:"Taking Laptops Schoolwide" (NETS-T I)

Bass, K, Donovan, L, & Green, T. (2010, August). Taking laptops schoolwide: a professional learning community approach. Learning and leading with technology, 38(1), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/digital_edition_august_2010.aspx

BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION: <br />Bass, K, Donovan, L, & Green, T. (2010, August). Taking laptops schoolwide: a professional learning community approach. Learning and leading with technology, 38(1), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/digital_edition_august_2010.aspx <br />[NOTE: Italicize "Learning and leading with technology" and the volume number - "38"]<br /><br /><br />PARENTHETICAL CITATION: <br />(Bass, Donovan, & Green, 2010)<br /><br /><br />


Summary: This is an interesting article about a collaborative approach laptop program for learning.  The authors questioned the success gap among schools in the same district for integrating laptops in classrooms. In the schools that were successful, a plan for student use of the laptops and teacher collaboration was in action. Successful schools also helped students progress by moving beyond the skills they already learned the previous year. Teacher collaboration in teams as well as with students and parents is a very important tool for success. Collaborative teams at successful schools help set goals for the program and assess those goals to ensure the program is running smoothly. The teams also work on providing struggling students with web based study tools. 

The authors list four key areas to focus on when considering integrating a collaborative approach in your school and they discuss how other schools achieved success. The four areas are: school climate, communication, collaboration, and progression. In order for schools to be successful, the school climate needs to be supportive. Classroom teachers who have parent and administrator involvement will have more time to devout to providing innovative ways to use technology in the classroom. Communication with colleagues, administrators, parents, and the community will help teachers gain the necessary support for integrating a computer program into the classroom. A classroom webpage that explains what the program in the class will entail and provide for the students is a great way to communicate with everyone. Teachers can post them on the school website for everyone to view. Teacher collaboration should be done formally in order to be more effective. A more formal approach can also be achieved with a website or a blog on which teachers can share their ideas and what has been most effec tive for them in their programs.

A plan that shows how students will use a computer program from year to year to show progress in their technology skills from grade to grade is a great way to assess the success of the program. Sharing this information will be very helpful to teachers at the same school and other schools, even other districts. All four areas of focus addressed in this article are equally important in the process of achieveing a computer program with a learning community approach. Schools should approach every program they offer to students in this way. Teachers need the support of a learning community to be more effective at integrating innovative ways of teaching material in all content areas. Perhaps the reason why some classroom teachers do not integrate innovative ideas and programs into the classroom is because they do not have the support of their administrators, parents, and community.

Question 1: How can a program like this laptop program be integrated into schools that have less money?
If laptops are too expensive for the district it will be difficult but they could probably integrate computer use into the curriculum more and just make better use of the time they do have with computers. Teachers would need to be more resourceful and work collaborate to figure out ways to provide students with the best program possible. The importance of using computers is to teach students innovative and creative ways to use technology. The best place to start is integrating technology into assigments for the class across content areas. Since students may not have computers at home and individual laptops are not an option, teachers could give assignments ahead of time and give students class time to work on them in the computer lab and in class.

Question 2: How will having students who may have no computer knowledge or experience transfer in to the school effect the success of the program?
It will require the teacher to actively seek support and resources to help the student get up to speed with the program. That is one reason the school needs to build an effective learning community around the program. If the classroom teacher does not have the support of parents, administrators, the community and other teachers it will be very challenging and almost impossible to work on helping those students. Collaboration with colleagues is very important, especially at first because they will be able to provide helpful information and tools.
 

(Bass, Donovan, & Green, 2010)

Excel Crossword NETS-T 1,3

This is a crossword puzzle I created using Microsoft Excel and I uploaded it onto my blog using embedit. I created the puzzle with Christmas words and I used conditional formatting to add clues. I also formatted the height and width of the cells to fit the words and I filled in the background with the color red to show some creativity with the use of technology tools.