July 17, 2006
Literature Review-Educational Blogging
The Web has introduced the world to ever changing tools of communication. Today, students, parents, teachers, and administrators have access to technologies that were unfathomable fifty years ago. The educational field seems to be the sector in our society that lags behind in technology, especially when we look at the public realm. Teachers are left with little time to explore new integration techniques for technology. The focus of core curriculum is state standards, No Child Left Behind, and standardized testing scores. So how do teachers use the Web as a content management tool without the effects of learning curves and time constraints? The answer lies within the creation of a Web communication tool known as a blog.
Posted by ascummings at 01:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Book Review-Oversold & Underused
Schools have technology...at this point in education that is not the debate. What we as educators do with the technologies available to us is the core of Larry Cuban's observations and research in the book Oversold & Underused. The blame cannot be placed on educators. Policymakers and technology innovators make it difficult for anyone to integrate these tools into the classroom. Educational policies and practices are constantly changing and teachers are expected to keep up. Technology innovators make it difficult for educators who have limited budgets to maintain computer integrity, up-to-date components, and reliability. We have been marketed to believe that technology is the "saving grace" of our educational system.
Posted by ascummings at 01:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
July 15, 2006
Technology Policy Paper
Students in classrooms are using the Internet at an increasing rate. With Internet accessibility becoming more prevalent in schools, the need for Internet and computer usage guidelines have increased as well. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (May 2001), 98% of schools with Internet access have Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs) in place (Loverro, 2002). These policies help teachers, media specialists, and administrators determine what actions should be taken when students misuse school computer/Internet privileges. Considering that most students are more computer and Internet savvy than the adults that supervise them, it is important for teachers and other staff members to be familiar with the content of an AUP. This helps teachers and staff members to understand what types of infringements they should scrutinize. One of my students recently installed a software package that could "kill" programs, he sent an inappropriate network messages to over two hundred workstations throughout our corporation, and deleted another student's work that was saved to the computer. These infractions occurred all within one week. Since our corporation has an AUP, the assistant principal was able to look at those guidelines specifically to determine a punishment. He did not have to try and fit such a violation into the student discipline chart. The infraction was part of the AUP, so his punishment was clear. The student lost his computer and Internet privileges school wide for the remainder of the year and has received a grade of "WF" for the Web Design class in which he committed the infraction.
Posted by ascummings at 10:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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