Technology+Initiative


 * Creating Content with Public Domain Literature

Description ** The technology initiative is the final project of the Applied Technology in Education M.Ed. program. The purpose of the initiative is to define a need in current classroom and to provide a technology solution. The project needed to embody all five National Educational Technology Standards for teachers developed by the International Society of Technology Educators. In particular, the project needed specific examples of leadership and professional development. The assignment required the initiative be published on the internet as part of the requirement. The link below opens on the front page of the initiative. Use the sidebar to the right to navigate the page. The order of the sidebar is the logical order to view the initiative.


 * Technology Initiative Website Link

Process ** The need chosen for this technology initiative is based on my limited experience in student teaching and as a substitute teacher.When studying literature in a high school English class, step one needs to be student reading the assignment. In order for this to happen, most teachers must set aside class time to read the assignment out loud. This is not only time consuming, but the quality of the reading does not inspire interest in the story. The solution chosen in this initiative is to use audio recordings. Using professional recordings would be ideal, but they are copyrighted and would be prohibitively expensive to buy copies for everyone. Since most of the literature studied in high school is public domain, the final solution is to record new versions of the literature. These recordings would be legal to use and publish anywhere. Students could download the MP-3 files to the portable players they already own and do their literature homework while mowing the lawn or riding the bus to school. The ultimate goal of the initiative is to create enthusiastic readers and free up class time to allow more meaningful discussion about the literature in the classroom. Reflection ** Is there too much technology in our classrooms? Walk into many classrooms and you will find an unused Smart Board covering a substantial amount of chalk or white board, and a teacher improvising to work around it. Administrators wonder why so much was spent for training only to see so many teachers avoid the technology. Maybe the problem is content. The best gaming console in the world is useless if there are no games to play on it. The 'West Coast Offense' is worthless with a mediocre quarterback and a running back who can't catch. Everyone claims there are websites with plenty of Smart Board lessons you can download. True, teachers love to steal ideas as much as the next professional, but they look for neat concepts and procedures, not entire units of study. There is no such thing as a lesson which works equally well for everyone. Teachers need to have time to develop their own lesson content. This initiative works because it provides lesson content without changing the lesson structure. The content can adapt to future technologies but it also works right now. It seems that new teachers who use the internet for classroom content have an easier time adapting technology to their lesson, because it was how they were trained. Adopting lessons to new technology is a skill which can be taught, and taught without being condescending.
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