Reflection on Chapter 12

Educational technology literacy is the ability not only to use technology, but also to apply the technology toward enriching instruction and student learning. Educators must grasp that by using technology to enhance instruction, student achievement will accelerate. The students already know the technology; it is the teacher that lags behind in this area. When the teacher takes the position of indifference toward learning technology skills, the student suffers the consequence. The same is true for administrators. Believe me, the spirit of indifference toward technology by our administrators is alive and well in our schools today. All too often when communicating with district administrators or principals, the conversation on their end begins with, “Well, I’m not computer literate…,” and they begin their spill. And I think to myself, “You’re not computer literate enough to run a report that directly relates to your job, but I know you know how to shop online because I’ve seen you do it.” To me, it is a choice. It is a choice of whether or not someone “wants” to stay up with the times to stay on top of their jobs, or whether they choose to be lazy since they are “not technology literate”. You see, shopping online is an acquired technology skill. They learned how to perform that skill because they wanted to. The skill of running a report out of a user-friendly software package can be easily acquired if the “want to” exists. Oftentimes, because the “want to” does not exist, we try to enforce acquired skills upon educators and administrators. We do this by requiring they complete some type of training or professional development. Sometimes, educators realize the potential in technology literacy, and for others, they just claim credit for attending the workshop. Sure our state and our school districts have intentions of meeting the No Child Left Behind mandates that students are technology literate by the end of 8th Grade, and educators are technology literate by 2008. But the true plan of action is non-existent. Each district is left to determine their way of accomplishing this. It is no easy feat, but with the technologies out there at our fingertips, it really should be doable. Our state Superintendent of Education is very supportive of technology. In fact, he utilizes it to address the public on a weekly basis through his Monday Memo, which can be accessed at http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/MondayMemo. Dr. Bounds has stated that he wants every high school student to have the experience of taking an online course. I think another beneficial action would be for teachers to be required to do the same, but not just on a one time basis. As the chapter pointed out, each state has their own licensure requirements. I think that if teachers were required to take an online professional development course at least every 2 years, they would become technologically literate and begin to utilize technology to enhance instruction which would ultimately mean higher student achievement.

Reflections on Chapter 11

There is an ever increasing use of technology in classrooms around the world. Countless corporations create hardware and produce software to enhance the education process for both teachers and students. With all of this technology on the market, consumers can often get confused or frustrated when trying to learn a new program. That is why many companies offer training to better incorporate the programs into everyday lessons.To help educators make their way through the maze of technology, companies offer resources that range from short pamphlets to week-long conferences. Any company looking to keep up with the technological advances and market demand will have to make sure buyers know how to use the software.Most of the top software makers provide professional development resources. Microsoft, for example, provides tutorials, lesson plans for teachers, and articles that provide easy-to-follow instructions. Another example is WebCT. Their organization offers online training as well as on site workshops.Other companies that provide technological software and products for the classroom also offer training support. Some of these companies include Adobe, Apple, Inspiration, and Annenberg Media. Adobe offers a wide array of training to meet individual needs. Online resources combine with self-paced or instructor-led courses, certification programs, professional development workshops, and seminars to help teachers learn how to use the technology. Inspiration, on the other hand, offers quick tours of software products, quick start tutorials, training CDs, and classroom product tours. Both companies offer online support as well.Of all the top manufacturers, it is perhaps Apple that provides the greatest training opportunities. Apple's programming is user friendly and provides a wide variety of multimedia applications for use in the classroom. Apple also provides opportunities to learn not only how to use the programs, but also offer tools to help teachers integrate the technology into their lesson plans.Costs of the various training programs range depending on the type of program that is being conducted. Obviously on-site workshops are more expensive than training manuals. Some companies however, like Annenberg Media's Learning.org, provide professional development for teachers free of charge.Overall, it is in the corporation's best interests to make sure that users know how to operate the hardware and software to the fullest of its potential. After all, if a program is hard to use, then people are less likely to purchase the product.