Shift Happens

I am sure most of you have been shown a “Shift Happens” video at one time or another. If you haven’t: http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=1785. It is a real eye-opener and what the principal at my school used as a motivator for us to use more technology in our classrooms. I was thinking about the changes that are so rapidly taking place in today’s technology and that prompted me to look back on my technology journey. My dad is a computer programmer so we always had the most current technology in my childhood home. Does anyone remember the gaming system, Odyssey 2000? It was one of the first gaming systems, introduced in the early 70’s. We stuck a “cling-on” tennis court to the TV screen and proceeded to hit a white “ball” back and forth. What a sharp contrast to the incredible graphics and 4-D gaming that the kids have today! Our next big technology purchase was an Atari gaming system, then a Radio Shack TRS-80. When I think back to the simplistic nature of these machines compared to what we can do now it blows my mind. At the age of 12, my first job experience with a computer was doing keypunching at my dad’s office every Saturday morning. I loved it so much I spent my high school career focusing on learning how to do COBOL programming and card punching. For two years, three hours a day that is what my focus was. By the time I entered the work force these skills were already becoming obsolete. I never even saw another computer that required a card reader. I used to think that I wasted my time in high school on useless knowledge. I now think different. The problem solving, reasoning, and computer skills that I learned have accompanied me through my personal and professional life. My point is, don’t be discouraged that we cannot keep up with technology and that it is a losing battle so why bother using it with our students. It isn’t. We need to help ourselves and our students become comfortable with technology and problem solving techniques so that we are not afraid to tackle the new technology as it comes.

Review of the National Educational Technology Plan

I found the plan to be very interesting reading and was encouraged to hear the direction that education is moving in. The goals of the plan are very similar to those of the Michigan Educational Technology Plan, however, the national plan goes into much greater detail within each goal. It was evident that the people that developed this plan understand the plight of the American educator: teaches in isolation, not enough planning time, limited resources. The plan discusses how we as educators need to become involved in Connected Teaching, to not be so isolated in our teaching; that we need to explore best practices through on-line professional learning communities. The document also had within it links to on-line teaching resources. I was instantly connected to sites such as Mathforum.org and Teachers.tv.

Although I found the plan to be inspirational, as with any plan there has to be a way to implement it. Unfortunately, updating the technology found in schools and educating teachers to use the technology is very costly. The computers in the school that I work in are so old and slow that newer software and internet applications won’t run on them and we do not have the funding to outfit each classroom with new computers. I could not find where the plan discussed where the funding to reach all of these wonderful goals is going to come from. How do we keep schools outfitted with the equipment and training they need to keep up with the technology that our kids need to be successful in the 21st century global economy? I saw a t-shirt once that read, “It will be a great day when our schools get all the money they need and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to get a new bomber.”

Review of the 2009 Michigan Educational Technology Plan (Grades 3-5)

The school that I work for is a small private school. We are currently aligning our curriculum to the Michigan Content Level Expectations. We have not yet begun looking at the Michigan Technology Standards as classroom teachers. Our students attend a 45-minute computer class per week. The computer teacher is required to turn in plans that are aligned to the Michigan Educational Technology Standards. After thoroughly reading this document, I can see how impossible it is for this teacher to adequately prepare our students in 45-minutes per week and how it is imperative that the classroom teacher be involved in the technology education of our students.

It is very evident that, in order to meet the standards, technology has to be incorporated into every aspect of the student’s education. Although we have a Smartboard in every classroom and a computer lab, these tools are not being used to the extent which they need to be used. We use them for the occasional math drill and practice or to bring up documents that were once displayed on an overhead projector. Based on these standards it is expected, and it should be expected, that the teacher be innovative and pursue new ways to incorporate these important technology standards into his/her everyday teaching.

After reading the standards I couldn’t help but wonder how teachers are expected to meet them when they themselves do not know how to do many of these things that the kids are expected to learn and also do not have access to much of the technology that is mentioned. I am hopeful that the 2010 Michigan Educational Technology Plan will help remedy these problems and make it possible for schools to train staff effectively and update equipment. Unfortunately, every year that goes by that a school remains outdated is another year that new technologies are being implemented and another year that we fall behind.

Review of 2010 Michigan Educational Technology Plan

The 2010 Michigan Educational Technology Plan gave me the opinion that the State of Michigan is serious about providing Michigan students with the tools they need to succeed in a global economy.

First, I think it is very important that the technology goals are integrated into the Michigan Curriculum Framework. Teachers already complain that they cannot possibly meet all of benchmarks without adding more. In order for teachers to keep an open mind it is important that they do not look at these goals “as more work”, but look at the goals as a tool to reach the benchmarks in a different way.

Secondly, requiring that all students receive one-credit through an on-line course as a graduation requirement insures that all students are being exposed to technology. I am sure that it will be hard for the state to verify that all students have access to technology-enabled learning opportunities throughout their school career. Making this a graduation requirement helps to push the schools into the 21st century.

Finally, requiring that all educators be competent in the implementation and use of technology to educate students is long overdue! How can we expect to educate kids to be successful in this technology driven world if the extent of our technical savvy is typing on a word processor? My only concern is that the teachers that have Permanent Teaching Certificates will not be included in this because they do not have to get certificate renewals.

I know with the decline of enrollment in Michigan schools many districts are finding themselves struggling to keep schools open let alone incur more costs. It is vital that we find corporate partners and federal funds that will help the State of Michigan meet the goals of this plan and help make 21st century technology available to all students.

Cyber Bullying

How would you like to go on YouTube and find a video made about your 13 year-old daughter? The video you find is two girls narrating a book that illustrates different ways that your daughter may die – dog attack, electrocution, drowning. All of her fears brought to life by two girls that don’t like her. You go to the school board with the video and they tell you they cannot do anything about it because it did not happen at school. The parents of the culprits are angry with you because you went to the school board and now you are the bad guy. This is my friends experience with cyber bullying.

I was horrified when I heard this story. I think that the victim was saddened most by the thought that many of the students in her school had viewed the video. Bullying has been around since the dawn of time; however, it now is a whole new monster. The “old” bullying was done face to face or maybe a hateful note was slipped onto someone’s desk at school. The victim went home after school and the bullying stopped, at least for the day. There was always the possibility that you would not see the bully the next day or he/she may have found a new victim. Now, cyber bullies can bombard their victims 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Statistics show that 42% of kids have been bullied online and 58% of those kids never told an adult (Based on 2004 i-SAFE survey of 1,500 students grades 4-8 ).

The only way that this type of bullying can be prevented is through parental control. Parents must monitor what their children are doing on-line by restricting use, keeping the computer in a location in the home that is public, talking to their kids about cyber bullying, and not being naïve. Also, school authorities cannot turn their back on cyber bullying because eventually it will become the schools problem in one way or another – whether the fight continues on school grounds, a student commits suicide, or a student retaliates with violence against the student body.

Cyber High Schools

My how high school has changed since I graduated from high school in 1983! It is amazing to think that our children have access to learn about “virtually” anything. My son graduated from high school this past May. In his junior year he wanted to take AP Chemistry and signed up for the course. The class was cancelled because only five other students had signed up and it was not economically feasible for the school to provide a teacher for only six students. We were very disappointed. The school did not provide us with any options for my son to take this course. My son is now entering college and is majoring in chemistry. It would have been wonderful for him to be one step ahead in his college career by learning more about chemistry before entering college. He may have even found that he is not interested in pursuing a career in chemistry had he taken the course. I am now wondering why we were not given the opportunity to explore the cyber high school option.

Cyber or virtual high schools are used by many different groups of students: special needs, struggling, gifted and talented, and students such as my son who needed a course that his school didn’t offer. I visited the Michigan Virtual School website (www.mivhs.org). The school offers more than 350 courses, coursed ranging from mathematics to Mandarin Chinese and Film Studies. The virtual school also offers career exploration tools and on-line resources for teachers.

There are many different learning modalities. Cyber high schools are another tool for educators to use to help reach every student. Cyber high schools may not work for all children, however, they may be exactly what some children need to succeed. I hope that all traditional schools see the benefit of cyber high schools and provide this very important option for students who may not be benefiting from the traditional school setting.

Comparison of the 7th Standard of the Professional Standards for Michigan Teachers and the objectives of the course

After comparing the 7th Standard of the Professional Standards for Michigan Teacher with the objectives for EDU 590 I was very excited to find that this course is facilitating all 7 of the technology operations and concepts. This section of EDU 590 illustrates how we as teachers can use the Michigan Standards as a guide to design our lessons.

Every objective has some part of the standard woven into it. The web-based presentation which encompasses the class objectives 1-4, is very much aligned with the Michigan Standards d-g. It is encouraging that one, well thought out lesson can combine so many of the Standards. It can be overwhelming for a new teacher to look at the Michigan Standards and know that you are responsible to cover all of them in the course of a year; especially when you are teaching at a private school where the curriculum has not been aligned to the standards but you are still responsible for covering all of the standards.

The same holds true with the course objectives 5-10. The end-of course paper meets the state standards a-c and several of the other standards as well. Doing an in-depth study of our districts technology plan and curriculum, evaluating software and websites, and then writing a paper on our findings is a great way to drive home these standards and have them make a lasting impression on us.

I thought the on-line survey at the beginning of the course was a great indicator that the course objectives and the state objectives would be aligned. Before the class even got started we were already exposed to Standard 7f – facilitating a variety of effective assessment and evaluation strategies! I am confident that I will walk away from this course well on my way to a more in-depth knowledge of the “technological tools, operations, and concepts needed to enhance student learning”(7th Standard, Professional Standards for Michigan Teachers).

Michigan Uses On-Line Learning to Reach At-Risk Students

Cyber high schools are a wonderful way to reach students that can’t make high school work in the traditional setting. Removing at-risk students from the distractions that are making it impossible for them to learn can only have positive results. I do hope that eventually the program will be offered to students BEFORE they have reached the point of dropping-out. I visited the website, http://www.westwood.k12.mi.us/buildingwebs/cyberhighschool/com_research.html and found some very interesting statistics. The statistic I found most intriguing was that 61% of the students that attend the Westwood cyber high school continue on to college. This is quite impressive when you compare it to the national average for high school graduates attending college. In Oct 2009 it was 70.1% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/hsgec.nr0.htm).
I feel that any initiative that involves keeping kids in school is worthwhile. However, I do have a couple of comments about information in the article. First, changing the age that a student is able to drop-out of high school to 18 is long overdue. I never quite understood why a troubled child at the age of 16 was allowed to make such a devastating decision! Secondly, I was a little shocked at the amount of money that is being allocated just to generate and distribute the dropout prevention reports - $11.5 million. Can this money be put to use generating programs in our schools that will help to prevent students from dropping out? It just seems like a lot of money but I guess I don’t understand all that is involved….
The cyber high school takes the constructivist approach to learning and seems to be having great success. Could MDE possibly get grants to fund the training of teachers in the bottom 5% of struggling schools to teach using this approach? I graduated from college five years ago and learned that this approach to learning is most effective because you reach many different learning modalities. This was not the focus of education many years ago and it is possible that training teachers in this manner could help with the drop-out rate as well.

Joe's Non-Netbook

If you are a teacher that doesn’t think that integrating technology into our classrooms is necessary, you need to watch the YouTube Video Joe’s Non-Netbook. Although the video is [I hope] for fun, it makes it very clear that times have changed dramatically since many of us were in elementary, middle, or high school. Some of today’s students are using a computer or playing a video game from the time they get home from school until they go to bed and have been doing so since they were three or four years of age. It is conceivable that within the next 10 years textbooks in many schools in this nation will be replaced with eReaders or on-line textbooks. Even my parents (in their mid-60’s) have Nook’s and no longer are purchasing DTB’s (dead-tree books-my dad’s new lingo). If DTB’s are obsolete to my parents can you imagine the role that technology is playing in the lives of our students from pre-school on?? It is vital that schools and teachers get on the technology train and get comfortable because this age of technology is not going way. New technology is being introduced everyday and some of us are still wary about sending email! We can’t ignore the fact that our students are used to having information at the touch of a button and become bored very easily when being taught in a “traditional” way. Many educators are apprehensive when it comes to change and feel that the traditional ways of teaching have worked for decades so why should they have to change their teaching methods. The answer is simple – kids today are not the same as kids from decades ago and we should not expect them to learn the same. If we are to educate our students to be tomorrows movers and shakers, we have to first move and shake ourselves!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkhpmEZWuRQ to view Joe's Non-Netbook Video

Academic Integrity

The very first detention that I gave in my teaching career dealt with academic integrity. A fourth grade student of mine was changing answers on her reading test as we were checking it. The following year I issued a detention for the same type of cheating, however, it was on a spelling test. Why would 9-year old children take such a risk to get a good grade? I can only guess that these students are receiving pressure by peers and/or parents to get all A’s. Academic integrity is something that should be addressed with students beginning in early elementary school. Of course we would not use the words “academic integrity” with a first grade student, however, we can certainly use words such as “cheating” and “copying” and model these behaviors so that a 6 year old can understand that these behaviors are not acceptable. As children progress the examples and methods used by students to copy others work get more complex and should be addressed at every grade level.
Every student has access to the internet and has a limitless number of sources to choose from when working on an assignment. From copying text from a website to actually employing someone to do the work for him/her, the temptation is there. It is virtually impossible for schools to have software to detect all plagiarized work because of the thousands of sources that the work could have been copied from. An example of this is the results of submitting my plagiarism essay to Safe Assign. I plagiarized 90% of the text in my essay entitled “Plagiarism”, the Safe Assign program only found 63% of the plagiarized passages. It is equally impossible for schools to know when a student has had an outside source do the work for him/her. What must happen is that schools must drill the concept of academic integrity into students from the get go and teach students how to cite work that has been taken directly from a source. Schools should also make their academic integrity policy known to students, as well as, parents.
There are many ways that teachers can help students be successful when doing research so that they are not tempted to plagiarize. For example, when my fourth grade students are given a research assignment I stress that work must not be copied from sources without giving the source credit; a discussion on what plagiarism is follows. Then I break the assignment up into several steps. Students must get approval on one step before they can move on to the next step. After brainstorming and selecting a topic, students must create an outline and record information that they find on the outline, being sure not to write sentences but concepts. I model this very important step for the students prior to beginning the research. I have found that this cuts down on them copying sentences from resource materials.
Plagiarism and other forms of cheating cannot be eliminated; however, the number of students that have academic integrity can certainly be increased. By discussing the importance of academic integrity early, giving students the tools to be successful in their research and stressing the importance of giving others credit through proper citations, academic integrity will be on the rise.

Hello, Cohort! My name is Jennifer Piechocki and I am a 4th Grade teacher at St. Pius School in Southgate, Michigan. I am really excited to get this program started and look forward to working with all of you the next two years!