Participant: Mitch Fowler
Session title: Creating a paradigm shift in technology
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What were the main points made during this session, the "takeaways?" |
| One of the main points that I enjoyed in this session was the "Teachers helping teachers" portion. I really liked the idea that there were TTL (Technology Teacher Leaders)and SWAT (Students Working to Assist Technology)people to assist in the building. While I am a classroom teacher and not part of the tech. staff, I can see how this extra set of hands could really help expedite the Help Desk process.
This session also hit home with the idea that you can have all of the technology in the world, but that doesn't mean you'll have kids learning differently. I see this all of the time, and sometimes am guilty myself; teachers get a new "gadget" or site, but don't use it to change how they teach. The tool is simply a piece of technology, not a new means of improving teaching and learning.
I loved when he said that in his district, teachers who use technology get it more than teachers who don't. I completely agree with the rationale that those who use technology to improve teaching and learning should get it before those who do not use it.
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What questions did you have after this presentation? |
| What were the different categories for the digital showcase?
Did someone on the technology staff do the Geeky Week?
Where did they get the funding for TTL and SWAT?
What did the technology assessment look like for teachers?
If you don't give a teacher technology because they don't want to use it.. aren't you punishing the student too?
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In terms of your own professional development, what did you gain from the session? |
| I really liked the SWAT and TTL idea. I think that I will approach our technology director with this idea. Although it would take money to train and compensate these people, the Help Desk process could work a lot differently.
I also really like the idea of the technology assessment for teachers. This would be a great way to plan for technology PD. We have all been to a session about technology that quickly becomes bogged down by various levels of learning. Not that this is bad, but by assessing and leveling PD, teachers could learn more faster.
In addition, the entire piece of marketing and visibility was great. I love the
Geeky Weekly and Digital Showcase ideas. I could easily see our technology department putting something like this together. Plus, it could incorporate ideas from all levels and ages.
Finally, what a bold idea to give teachers access to Myspace and Facebook. I agree with the presenter, there are positive uses for social networking sites. We are not going to teach our kids to be socially responsible with these tools unless we model appropriate use. I think that social networking sites are the "show and tell" for today's kids. However, Stewie from Family Guy puts it best when he notes that he's created an "individual" page with stuff that other people have made and use. If we can get away from cookie cutter profiles and highlight the profiles that showcase appropriate, creative style, then we will be using social sites for the good reasons.
Giving teachers access to MySpace and Facebook
This is the new "Show and Tell" |
How will you apply the learning to your professional situation? |
| As previously mentioned, I could see the TTL and SWAT systems used as well as the technology assessment. I also like the idea of the weekly geek newsletter. In addition, I really see a place in my district for the digital showcase. I think teachers and kids would be motivated to create content that could be judged and displayed to the public. |
What other resources (including reading material) are relevant to this session? |
| I think an open source help desk application would be great for this session. The author notes how important it is to have systems in place to deal with failing technology, our district has really done a nice job with modifying open source code to creat an online help desk system that works pretty seamlessly.
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External reflection link: |