M1- Reading Log Blogs

5 Considerations for Digital Age Leaders:
       The authors, Larson, Miller, and Ribble suggest that there are five ways to improve on technology in schools.
       1. Visionary Leadership- This is taking a stand and being proactive. Everybody must take ownership of the vision and be in agreement.
       2. Digital Age Learning Culture- This is connections made between teachers and students. Teachers have to be willing to do more with the technology they have. Students already know a lot. Educators must increase the rigor of the lesson to challenge them.
       3. Systemic Improvement- This is identifying the gaps in our technology.
       4. Excellence in Professional Practice- Staff development is needed to train teachers on how to use and implement different types of technology.
       5. Digital Citizenship- This speaks about the responsibility we have socially, ethically, and legally in regards to technology. Educators must understand this and instruct the importance of this to their students.

These considerations might seem to be common sense, but they do need to be reflected on when implementing and increasing usage of technology in the classrooms.



Aim for Digital Equality:
The authors, Bowser and Zabala, start off by saying that it will be only a matter of time before digital tecnology will replace the printed word in our schools. They suggest that educators need to get ready and start using what is available to help our students.
Students who struggle in reading can use technology to read texts to them. Some companies have them online, or cd's. Also, the technology is such that if they do not understand the meaning of a word, they can highlight the word and get a definition to make the reading more comprehensible. They also have the ability to change the font size or color for students who have visual problems, too.
The authors speak of several resources, such as, The National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM Center), The National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC), and The National Instructional Accessibility Standard (NIMAS). These are resources that educators need to be made aware of to help struggling students gain the maximum benefits of their education.
The authors also gave the website addresses in the article to help teachers easily use these resources. I have two students coming to me this year, but on in particular that I feel may benefit from this technology. When this student is in my room for social studies, and they are partner reading, I will have him listen tothe text online. Others who have trouble reading, may benefit from this, too.


A New Bloom:
The authors, Cochran, Conklin with Modin, take us into Modin's classroom at Woodrow Wilson School, in Neptune City, New Jersey. Modin wanted to undertake a multicultural pen pal experience with her students and students in Tampere, Finland. She wanted students to understand similarities and differences between the two cultures, but also wanted to use technology to aid in higher level thinking. She did a survey, first, to see what the students already knew. She also posted links to take students on virtual tours of finland and to view more information about the country and its culture. She set up individual email accounts through the school, as well. The authors then expose you to how she used the New Bloom's Taxonomy to help with higher level thinking. The New Bloom's Taxonomy  has the emphasis on the metacognative, whereas, the old Bloom's Taxonomy focused on behavior. They give several charts to help educators see the difference, as well as, use for examples. This article is worth reading to help instructors be more aware of how The New Bloom's Taxonomy will help in constructing questions with more rigor for students to become better thinkers.


Fostering Creativity and Innovation through Technology:
The author, Vaidyanathan, really grabbed my interest with this article. She says that it is not enough just to teach students the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), but that creativity must play a role in it, too. She refers in her article about 4th through 6th graders in the Los Altos School District in California having a 12 week digital design program that focuses on creativity. My thoughts are, that, in California, home to film makers, I can imagine their school doing this, but what about in my own small rural school district?
She talks about schools doing art projects vial digital technology. The author states that students are not afraid to make mistakes because all they have to do is use the "undo" button and start over. Now I start thinking if our art classes use computers in their classes. I know that the elementary doesn't. This is something, they too, need exposure to  in order to help our students grow.
Vaidyanathan also tells about how digital design can be used on a limited budget. She explains that a lot of the software can be downloaded for free- called freeware. She also says that students are inclined to do this at home, too- astonishing parents at their children's capabilities.
Finally, Vaidyanathan challenges educators to teach real technology classes, and not just to drag, drop, and use templates.


Grow Creativity:
The author, Shively, stresses in this article that creativity matters. She said that educators need to refer to J.P. Guilford's FFOE model- fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration. Fluency is brainstorming. There are many ways to do this: a fluency wall, interactive whiteboard, wiki page, butcher paper, or even Wordle word clouds. She also stresses that technology will help build fluency: Bubble.us, Dabbleboard, Edistorm, Scribblar, Webspiration, and word cloud tools.
Upon reading about these, I find myself wanting to investigate further, and I realize how technologiclly challenged I really am.
Flexibility takes educators to another level- looking at questions or topics from a different angle or viewpoint. The author then shares examples of prompts in science, social studies, language arts, and art. Shively, again, gives examples of technology programs that can benefit students such as: Blabberize, Bubblr, blogs, and more.
Originality is creating unique and unusual products. She suggests shifts in time( creating something to illustrate the past- The Boston Tea Party), place, role, capabilities, or using the senses.
Elaboration involves adding details, filling in the gaps, embellishing, and completing a creative idea. Technology or the digital era has so much to offer our students. We just need to point them in the right direction, and let them go for it.
Like all educators, we look at time. When do we do all of this. We are in a new age of teaching. Our students and the world is demanding more from us, educators. We are going to have to change the way we teach or our students will be left behind.

Media Smarts:Kids Learn How to Navigate the Mutimedia World

I enjoyed watching this clip. It made me think how far behind our little school is. We have a media class, but it is in the high school area. They do the morning announcements and some interviews. I wonder how hard it would be to have the elementary do it? I teach the third grade social studies, it could be tied in with that- perhaps like a news video with current events.Writing would be involved with it because of the scripts- it could even be done on the word processor.

Sugata Mitra: The Child-driven Education

I watched the video on Sugata Mitra: The Child-driven Education. What a powerful message! I want to see what my students are capable of doing, now. I am used to telling them what they are supposed to do, what web-site to be on, but this lets them explore more. The closest thing that my students got to doing that was when they did their research paper. They did The ABC's of Hardin County. Most of their time was spent finding information and pictures to go with it. They really enjoyed searching for the pictures. Perhaps that would be the way to go next time, and introduce more text later.