Technology in the elementary classroom

In today’s schools, technology is prevalent, but the bias against the use of technology in early elementary classes is still an obstacle that needs to be overcome. As more and more schools invest money into purchasing and upgrading the technology components that are used, the decision has to be made as to where the technology should go. Many teachers and administrators feel that money for technology should only be spent in the middle and high schools. The belief is that elementary students are not capable of using technology or actually benefiting from it the way an older student would. According to Scoter, Ellis and Railsback (2001), there is a substantial body of research on the use of technology by young children. Studies highlight the opportunities for language use and social interaction that technology offers, along with increased motivation. Critics express concern that computer use will inhibit language development, but in the above mentioned article, research shows rather than isolating children, computer use among young children promotes high levels of spoken communication and cooperation. Compared to more traditional activities such as block building or puzzle assembly, computers elicit more social interaction.
The students are being taught to learn from computers, using them mostly as a tutor to increase basic skills and knowledge, when they could be learning with computers; using the computer as a tool that can be applied to a variety of goals in the learning process. In the book, Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, the authors found that “Teachers who have brought technology into their classrooms are aware that it provides an opportunity to differentiate instruction and change their classrooms into dynamic learning environments.” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski, 2007, p.2) The computer is a tool that the teacher can use in the classroom, but understanding the most productive and engaging ways to implement this tool is the next challenge. Open ended software-software that provides opportunities to discover make choices and find out the impact of decisions-encourages exploration, imagination, and problem solving. Another issue to address is the technology training for teachers. When questioned, teachers offered that although they had been given software or other components of technology, they didn’t have the time or opportunity to use it with the students. In a large scale, nationwide survey of teachers, students, and administrators conducted for the Gates Foundation, the researchers found that over 53% of the teachers they surveyed do not routinely use technology in the classroom. Even more concerning is approximately one third of teachers have received little or no training with integrating computers into lessons or training on instructional software.
Students and teachers alike need to be encouraged to use technology, and not just as a means of reinforcement or free time activity. Using a SMART board or a document camera for any lesson can help to bring the lesson alive for students. In a case study involving the use of SMART boards, one principal created a students survey to learn more about how the students felt about using the SMART board in their classroom. “He learned that students felt more engaged and excited about learning, they were more likely to go to the board and they found lessons easier to understand because they could see exactly what their teacher was talking about.” (SMART Technologies, n.d. p.2) Effectively equipping our teachers for success and eliminating the bias that only older students can really benefit from computers and other technology in the classroom is an essential ingredient for success.

Resources:
Scoter, J., Ellis, D., & Railsback, J. (2006) Technology in Early Childhood Education: Finding the Balance. Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 9, 11, 12.
SMART Technologies, (n.d.) Retrieved December 20, 2007, from http://smarttech.com/casestudies/HallMemorialSchool.

Online Assessment

The online assessment that I chose was Quia.com. I liked the different features, but without doubt, my favorite part was the IXLMath. You could enter your grade level, then pick the skill to work on. There were the exact questions I currently use for every single aspect that needs to be assessed on our report cards. I will need to play around with it a bit more to figure out how to use this with my kindergartners. For now I will probably just put it up on the SMART Board as a class activity to get the students and myself familiar with the format. Also, since my kiddos can't yet read the questions, I may never be able to use this tool as an individual assessment.

Cyberbullying

According to Wikipedia, the definition of Cyber-bullying is when someone repeatedly makes fun of another person online or repeatedly picks on another person through emails or text messages, or uses online forums and postings online intended to harm, damage, humiliate or isolate another person that they don’t like. In most of the articles I found abut the subject, I noticed that it is usually defined as a pre-teen or teen age problem. I was also surprised to read that when the bullying includes sexual remarks or harassment, it is not necessarily defined as sexual harassment and the bully in not automatically characterized as a sexual predator.

Bullying by children has always been a problem, but cyberbullying takes it to a new level as the bully has a large audience with little effort. The results of cyberbullying are also not always as obvious as a bruise or black eye. The emotional damage of cyberbullying can be tremendous, and it is not always as easy to prove as traditional bullying.
The website http://stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov offers these tips to help prevent cyberbullying:
*Keep your home computer(s) in easily viewable places , such as a family room or kitchen.
*Talk regularly with your child about on-line activities he or she is involved in.
*Talk specifically about cyberbullying and encourage your child to tell you immediately if he or she is the victim of cyberbullying, cyberstalking, or other illegal or troublesome on-line behavior.
*Encourage your child to tell you if he or she is aware of others who may be the victims of such behavior.
*Explain that cyberbullying is harmful and unacceptable behavior. Outline your expectations for responsible online behavior and make it clear that there will be consequences for inappropriate behavior.
*Although adults must respect the privacy of children and youth, concerns for your child’s safety may sometimes override these privacy concerns. Tell your child that you may review his or her on-line communications if you think there is reason for concern.
*Consider installing parental control filtering software and/or tracking programs, but don’t rely solely on these tools.

These tips were designed for parents, but as educators, we have the responsibility to teach acceptable online behavior and monitor our student's activity on the web while they are at school.

Netiquette

Netiquette was a new term for me, but easy enough to figure out. Simply stated, it's network etiquette -- that is, the etiquette of cyberspace. In other words, Netiquette is a set of rules for behaving properly online. I have been fortunate enough to have had little trouble in this area, but I do worry about Emails from time to time. When writing to parents, I don't want to overload them with words, but also need to find the balance so I don't come off sounding insensitive or harsh. Communication is so much more than the words we use, and without the added benefit of facial expressions and personal voice, you never know how your words are being interpreted. You might offend people without meaning to. Or you might misunderstand what others say and take offense when it's not intended. To make matters worse, something about cyberspace makes it easy to forget that you're interacting with other real people -- not just characters on a screen.

Luckily, if you've ever been in the position of offending, or being offended, your not alone. In fact, there is even a book written on the subject. The book Netiquette by Virginia Shea, covers the 10 core rules of netiquette. The chapter names alone give good advice for any cyber junkie. Click on the link for an online copy of the book Netiquette by Virginia Shea
http://www.albion.com/netiquette/book/index.html

Photo Share

I spent many long hours creating a final history project for my core class last year on Microsoft Movie Maker. I learned to love it, and actually got pretty fast at creating quick little movies of my kids at school. When asked to try photo story I didn't really see the need, but gave it a shot anyway. Just like any other application, it took a little time to play around and get familiar, but it was actually surprisingly easy to figure out. Under time constraints, I didn't really try to go too in depth, but was able to whip out a quality project in about 30 minutes. The best thing about photos share is that it is free. It would be a good one to introduce at school since it would just take a quick download to get it on the lab computers.

Educational use of blogs

This summer I got a phone call from my friend in DC and she asked me if I blogged. I told her no, and she asked me to go to her blog site and read her blog. It was a pretty funny account of her recent dating adventures. Although admittedly entertaining, I just couldn't seem to find any real reason or desire inside myself to blog. Sure I have my opinions, but so does everyone else and I don't necessarily want to hear them all. To me, blogging seemed like a way to publicly vent your individual ideas or complaints, and I really wasn't interested in being a part of that. I work in an environment of women; I get to hear enough complaining and opinions without going online and searching for it!

Last month I was reintroduced to the world of blogs, this time for educational purposes. In comparison to using the City U blackboard, which never really proved very efficient, blogs suddenly seemed like a great idea. Then this assignment came up and I started to actually research how blogs are being used in education. Apparently, there is a whole world of educators using blogs in the classroom and neither myself nor anyone at my school is part of this group.

Educational blogs seem to be broken down into two groups of users. Those that use blogs for their own use as educators to talk with other educators, organize and promote their research, or as a classroom tool to replace a class website. The other group uses blogs as an educational tool for their students, where the students actually blog and share ideas with their teacher and other students. The two groups are not mutually exclusive. In the latter, the number one thing I read in my research was that unless the teacher is using the blog as a conversation tool, not just a writing assignment, it is no different than a traditional writing journal done with pen and paper.

I see a problem with blogs that is similar to the problem of using technology in the classroom. We shouldn't use technology just to be using it. Unless technology enhances the lesson or the learning, it shouldn't just be thrown in to say that your lessons are technologically enhanced. Many teachers across the globe are using blogs for educational purposes in their classroom and beyond. Blogs are not limited to individual classes or even entire schools, resonating the power of building online communities. Blogs can be used to promote reading and writing, to showcase the work of students or to exchange ideas among students, teachers or school administrators. In sum, blogs exemplify that online content creation is only limited by the creativity of its users.

Educational journal

Currently I get the SmartBoard newsletter because I used it a lot last year for my core classes. I have to admit that this year I have not yet read it, but if I had any spare time I know that I would like to. I just subscribed to early childhood news. It looks like it will cover a lot of relevent topics for my kindergarten class, and may even give me insight for ways to be a more effective teacher, which is what my Pro Cert class wants me to prove, so maybe this journal will help me to accomplish that. The website for this journal is http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/

PowerPoint as an educational tool

There is no question that PowerPoint is one of the most commonly used types of technology in High schools today. It is also quickly gaining popularity in Elementary schools. PowerPoint can be quite a great tool in schools, but like anything, there are a number of pros and cons that go along with it. On the web there are lots of opinions about why educators should or shouldn't use PowerPoint, as well as lots of tips for how to use PowerPoint in an effective way.

Personally, I think that almost everyone will learn better when visuals accompany a presentation. When communication is delivered in a few different ways it is more effective as pictures do help to aid in memory. Beside all the basic do's and don'ts associated with PowerPoint presentations, there are also another set of rules specifically for presenting with this tool. One thing to remember is that the speaker or presenter needs to use PowerPoint to aid the presentation, not the other way around where the presenter just supplies the audio for the slide.

As a kindergarten teacher I don't use PowerPoint is a traditional way, but if I were a teacher of older kiddos I think that the number one thing I would want to keep in mind is that the PowerPoint should not hinder spontaneous discussion. Too often I think the presenter has a very specific layout when presenting and this rigid outline could take away from the authentic discussions and opinions that the students may have.

Presenky reading

This reading is similar to other things that I have read about the argument for and against adding technology into the classroom. I think the point about the digital natives advantage and ease of use with technology is a strong one. Digital immigrants not only have to learn something that is basically foreign to them, not to mention that as an adult (especially an educator) it is difficult to admit that we don't know how to do something. I assume that this is where most of the negativity comes from. The truth is that there is always resistance when doing new things. Even adopting a new curriculum in schools brings stress and tension to the district. Change is never easy, but in this situation, educators are needing to change to catch up with their students, which can be intimidating.

In the end, the reality is that eventually, the digital natives will go away. Eventually they will all get old, retire and be replaced by younger more tech savvy digital natives. We can't assume that in the meantime, every immigrant will accept the change and adapt, but we live in a world where technology is growing exponentially, so it doesn't make much sense for the natives to learn the old way.

About me

I am a kindergarten teacher at Lakewood elementary. We are just north of Everett, and annexed into Marysville without all the benefits of being the Marysville school district. This is my third year teaching kindergarten at Lakewood, and before that I tought ELL in Lakewood for K-8. My first year of teaching was in London. I got a replacement job in November at a school in west London. After a year of that I ended up going to Taiwan to teach English. I stayed there for almost two years before deciding I needed to come home and back to real life. Once here I met a boy and got married and this is definitely real life.