What Should Teachers Know About Technology and Its Impact on Schools? Chapter 7

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What Should Teachers Know About Technology and
Its Impact on Schools?Chapter 7

• Dr. Paul A. Rodriguez

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• Technology technological change are not new to
  the field of education
• Schools are being pressured from many sides to
  incorporate contemporary technologies into
  instruction
• Students can use technology to promote
  creativity, collaboration and higher order
  thinking
• Technologies can help teachers change their role
  from dispensers of information to facilitators of
  students learning
• Teachers can benefit from the productivity of
  computers in areas ranging from record keeping to
  staff development
• The placement of technology within the
  educational setting affects how it can be used
• Humans are allergic to change. They love to say,
  Weve always done it this way. I try to fight
  that. Thats why I have a clock on my wall that
  runs counterclockwise.
• --Grace Murray Hopper, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy

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• Do schools prepare students for modern life?
• Parents are placing pressure on schools to use
  technologies in the classroom
• Students are placing pressure on schools by
  knowing more about which technologies are
  currently available and how to use them than do
  many of the teachers
• Teachers are placing pressure on schools because
  they need both access to technology in their
  classrooms and training to use the technology in
  their classrooms and training to use the
  technology effectively.
• Businesses are placing pressure on school and
  governmental agencies to adequately prepare
  future employees.
• The perception that the U. S. is falling behind
  the world in educational attainment has increased
  the pressure on schools and teachers to bridge
  this gap.
• Governmental agencies have moved to support
  federal, state , and local initiatives to ensure
  access to technology from K-12 students.

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• You use word processors to write papers, you
  email programs to communicate, and you may use a
  spreadsheet to keep track of your personal
  finances. When used in these ways, these
  applications are called productivity tools
• Some computer applications can be classified as
  cognitive tools when they are used to engage and
  enhance thinking.
• During my eighty-seven years I have witnessed a
  whole succession of technological revolutions.
  But none of them has done away with the need for
  character in the individual or the ability to
  think
• Bernard Mannes Baruch, American financier and
  Presidential Advisor
• Word processorsease of editing and rewriting
• LCD projectorenables teachers to project a
  writing example
• Digital storytellingis a project that can engage
  even the most reticent students. Students create
  images, often by taking digital photos.
• Web blogsbasically a journal that is available
  on the Web
• Drill-and practicegenerally increase the
  fluency of a skill rather than actually teaching
  it.

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• Technology can facilitate interdisciplinary
  connections in a powerful way
• Ubiquitous computingstudent has access to some
  type of mobile computing device to use inside the
  classroom, in the field and at home
• Spreadsheets are widely used tools for organizing
  data sets, conducting numerical analyses and
  creating graphs
• The important think in science is not so much to
  obtain new facts as to discover new ways of
  thinking about them
• --Sir William Henry Bragg, British Physicist
• Web Questis an inquiry-based learning activity
  that directs learners in using information from
  the Web
• Tutorials are educational software applications
  designed to provide the initial instruction on a
  given topic. The goal is to give the learner
  small chunks of information in a careful sequence
  of instruction designed to adjust to students
  needs, allowing them to achieve success

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• News groups is a feature of the Web that can be
  compared with a large wall full of messages in
  chronological order
• Distance education involves using technology to
  link students and instructors in separate
  locations
• Assistive technology describes the array of
  devices and services that help people with
  disabilities perform better in their daily lives.
  This must be considered in Individualized
  Education Programs (IEP) required under law for
  each child with a disability
• Computers are especially helpful in allowing
  students to participate in normal classroom
  activities that would otherwise be impossible
• Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting
  the kids working together and motivating them,
  the teacher is the most important
• --Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft
• Teachers as a Facilitatorcan monitor students
  learning
• Embedding Technology in the Curriculumthe
  students learn best with technology rather than
  from it
• Small-Group instructionmay mean that students
  learn different things at different times

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• Importance of Formative Assessmentused to
  monitor and redirect students understanding as a
  lesson unfolds
• It is not the strongest of the species that
  survives, nor the most intelligent it is the one
  that is most adaptable to change
• --Charles Darwin, English Naturalist
• Schools must have
• Student-centered approaches to learning
• Access to contemporary technologies, software and
  communications networks
• Educators skilled in the use of the technology
  for learning
• Technical assistance for maintaining and using
  technology resources
• Ongoing financial support for sustained
  technology use
• Content standards and curriculum resources
• community partners who provide expertise,
  support and real-life interactions
• Vision with support and proactive leadership from
  the education system
• Assessment of the effectiveness of technology for
  learning

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• Key Terms
• Assistive technology productivity tools
• Blog simulation
• Cognitive tools social media
• Digital storytelling spreadsheet
• Distance education tutorials
• Drill-and-practice ubiquitous computing
• LCD projector virtual fieldtrips
• Mind maps WebQuest
• News group word processor