Educ

Thursday, May 7, 2015

New Technologies


Blog post module 5    7105

I will start off by saying I have not had the opportunity myself, to introduce new technology into our workplace but our tech liaisons have. They introduced a program called BCPS One. BCPS One is a system wide gradebook. “Through the BCPS One system, all the district's programs and initiatives around student data, assessments, curriculum, instruction, reporting, and analysis are being fully integrated into a single, user-friendly, platform. For the 2014-2015 school year, phase one of BCPS One has been implemented to provide a Web-based communication and collaboration set of tools which provide a single, unified presence to distribute information and actively engage the community in the instructional process. Through BCPS One, educators are also able to communicate classroom level information with colleagues, leadership, parents, and students” (BCPS One). This was and still is a fairly new program to our school and we are still going through training.

Prior to the introduction of this program, a few rumbles of negative remarks were surfacing. The problem is this new program is excellent for regular school classes and teachers, not for special education-we do not do grades. I see the need and the programming for regular schools and the benefits that will accompany them using the BCPS One program. However, some of our teachers were not inclined to accept this program open heartedly. I did notice the teachers who were not accepting of this program, are the older generation, teachers who have been at the school over 15 years.

After reading John M. Keller’s ARCS (Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction) model, I would try to utilize some aspects of the model by capturing the (older) teacher’s attention and stimulating their curiosity. I believe that these older teachers are pretty much set in their ways and new programs/technology is a challenge and they lack motivational skills. Listed below is a video that I would present to the teachers, it was created to inspire teachers today to use technology in their teachings.


Driscoll (2005) talks about Keller’s ARCS model by saying in order for these to work, “students must believe that it is related to their personal goals and will meet their specific needs”. I would transfer this statement to the teachers. I would further more tell them that they already have the skills within them but just need to build upon them. I think the teachers would be surprised how easily it might come to them once they practice. Again, this program doesn’t benefit our school but it is required by Baltimore County. The County is trying to revamp the program for next year to include special education schools. This is a perfect opportunity to play with the program before we really have to use it. I believe once the teachers become comfortable with the program, it won’t be so bad. Modeling is a good way to teach and I think if our liaisons took the time and demonstrated the ability of the program, we all would get a better understanding of what is expected and the user rate would increase.

Finally, after building confidence and seeing how this program is beneficial to the school system, I would praise them with positive reinforcement and feedback. Most people feel the need of recognition for their hard work, I would have other teachers compliment them on their usage of the new technology. Everybody likes the feeling of acknowledgement!

 

 

References

A Vision of k-12 Students Today. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/_A-ZVCjfWf8

BCPS One. Retrieved from:  http://www.bcps.org/academics/BCPSOne/

Driscoll, M. P. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction (3rd ed.).Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.

 
I responded to: Joy https://avery7105.wordpress.com
                         Jannotta   https://akajay93.blogspot.com/

 

 

2 comments:

  1. Let me start with the video. Loved it. Great camera angles, and the statistics were scary, but honest. I think it needed to be shorter and it still would have had the same impact. I feel though in my county they don't even care about the technology. It is about the district making grades to get funding. Only certain teachers receive technology. Our new graduated and hired AG- Agricultural teacher received an engaged classroom, yet the older gentleman who retired had to buy everything from his pocket. Everything, the grill, the seeds, the soil, the supplies, and more, all from his pocket. I sit in a class with two Smart boards that are broken. In five years, no one has made an effort to find the missing pieces or make them work.
    Recognition is a hard thing to be consistent on in the school field. Our principal is a photographer, so he randomly prints postcards and writes thank you notes, or recognition notes. He at first had mini gold feather pins that we could put on our lanyards...but no he is retiring and has a whole new attitude. (grieve me is is theory) He does not care. What would you do in a situation like that? We have several of the teachers that need the pat on the back daily.

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  2. Joy- it saddens me to hear about your administrative staff and the NO support for your classroom. I would love to have a whiteboard in my class, moreless 2 of them. Granted yours don't work. Why don't they fix them? Are whiteboards on the out? If you don't have them, what do you use in your classroom?
    As for your principal, maybe its best he is retiring, it seems he doesn't care about the school any more. When they get to that point, a new face might be better-someone who cares about the students and the education they are getting. Are the teachers who need the pat on the back old or new? The pat on the back should start at the top. If teachers are receiving good feedback about their teachings-they would continue to produce good lessons. Hang in there.....

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