To Learn Twice

We have finished the tech request portion of the tech plan and I will begin to put together a 3 year budget. Over the next 3 days I will meet with each school to discuss some big picture questions. I am opening the session with a powerpoint that you can download here: techplan.zip We also shared the district technology vision Here are the questions - any answers? Technology Planning Starter Questions Teacher 1-1 Laptops – · What would be the curricular impact of 1-1 laptops for teachers? · Staff Development o What would be the staff development required for 1-1 laptops to effectively impact the curriculum? o If we go to a 1-1 initiative should teachers be required to participate in a certain number of staff development hours to receive a laptop? Is so, how many hours over the lifetime of the computer? · What would be the most important technical features in this device? · What kind of technical support would teachers ex...

Here are the initial results of the Asus Student Trial where we have several students trying out the eee around school and home. Here is what the teacher said about the process: I've had two students try it out as a loaner and many others just test it out for a few minutes or so. I've also gone and talked to other teachers and students in their classes here about it and what possibilities it holds. It is now with another student and I'll get it back from her next week and pass it on. Here are the responses from two students who had the pc for a few weeks and what they thought. One is male, other is female. Both are AP Chemistry students. I did talk and bring the computer to share and show all levels of students and with their teachers permission brainstormed ideas if they had one. Many thought it was really cool. Here are the 2 student's responses. Their names have been removed (question #1) Student #1 2. What is your gender? male 3. H...

There has been a lot of chat over the last few weeks in the mass of content I read about social networks and collaborative tools. The debates range from should we use them, if so how, does it really impact learning, are we preparing our kids correctly, and many variations on those themes. Here is where I am at - Good schools still start with good teachers Good teachers with good resources can better reach their students and teach skills Students with more resources are better prepared for the educational environment Parents that have high expectations and encourage their kids make it a lot easier for schools Technology is still an amplifier in many ways - it makes good teaching better and bad teaching worse Technology can really help instruction in 3 ways - that are completely new to education (it can also stop it when used incorrectly) Efficacy through Information - It can speed up communication and can increase the amount of information available to all stakeholders. That informati...

I posted this comment in response to David Warlick's Two Assumptions I think there is a delineation here between some different tools. As you have been pointing out, each of these sites has it's own niche market. Sure our kids are using facebook for creating social networks...and they are social. This isn't the tool I want to use for classroom collaboration, because I would want my classroom to be more than social. It probably doesn't interest my kids much either, because who wants to mix their playground with work. What I think we need is a tool that allows students and teachers to work collaboratively in a sandbox that gives them the tools they need to work in a traditional learning setting or in one that is more progressive. What we need more than good social networking or collaborative tools - we need good curriculum that would benefit from these tools. We need good teachers that know how to use these tools and are willing to learn how to use them better along ...