E-Books and Digital Storytelling - Jami

I absolutely LOVE reading! Yet, I never seem to have enough hours in the day to do so. As such, I love the idea of e-books and digital story telling even more.

Having the ability to download virtually any book you can imagine to your cell phone, laptop, or other portable device makes the prospect of reading “on the go” even more titillating because there aren’t any excuses, books are as large or as compact as you choose to make them, and they are easily annotated and book marked! No more do you have to fold down the pages of books, carry a highlighter to note a specific point, or carry large bags to accommodate precious cargo!

Further students are impressed with technology, not large bulky items. Being able to share a classic with them in such a personal or technologically advanced fashion is not only exciting; it’s a must!

I so look forward to introducing the variety of ways reading and learning can transpire to not only students, but faculty and staff as well.

Tech Training ~Malena

I really think that technology training is very important to classroom instruction, but it does not receive the attention and funding that it deserves. Currently, I am working in $62 million brand new school with LCD projector mounts in every single room but no LCD projector attached. Apparently this technology was not included in the budget. I often ask myself why buy and install the mounts? Luckily, I am a world languages teacher and we have language labs and those come with a sound system and an LCD projector that I use every single day. I mean, I love LCD projectors and don't know how I was able to teach without one for 2 years! For the first month of school this year I did not have the projector installed and I felt very ineffective and boring as a teacher. There are some of the other teachers that have been teaching for many years don't even use their projectors because they get nervous when using technology. I have a colleague who doesn't even know how to use power point! This is really hard for me to understand.
The lack of technology training doesn't end with the teachers, because I have some students that have used PowerPoint for the first time in my class. When I was in high school 8 years ago I used power point several times so I don't know how now a days some of my students have not used it, but can navigate MySpace with their eyes closed!
As a media specialist I would definitely stay on top of all emerging technologies because I enjoy it and because I think that teachers and students can really enhance teaching and learning by integrating technology in the classroom.

Training Aid - Jami

If one ever asked me about technological savvy present at my school, I would have to contend it depends on who you talk to and which day of the week. Some of our staff members are extremely adept at leveraging technology in the classroom and around the school to the extent that I have often wondered just “how they do that”.

However, the unfortunate side of this is technology is not pervasive throughout the school. For example, we have been charged with utilizing a new grading and attendance tool which allows parents access to grades real time at anytime. The conundrum for all staff members is the school system rolled the new tool out just one day prior to the first day of school. What does that spell? In one word, chaos. Many people need days; even weeks to ramp up to new technology. The idea that teachers were supposed to get their heads around curriculum facilitated to students, prepare class rooms and lessons tailored towards teaching and learning, and learn new grading software seemed almost comical.

Additionally, as a Business Education instructor in a computer lab, I find it very interesting that some teachers, including myself, have Promethean boards, while others do not. I realize the school and school system is working on a plan to include such technology in every class environment. Yet, I struggle with the notion that perhaps there is inconsistency in instruction as students matriculate from one class to the other. On the flip side, one could contend this inconsistent environment grooms students for a life of flexibility and adaptation. I contend however, it shows the need to invest more.

Finally, in my head I have often played the role of “Superintendent for a Day”, just the same as civilians assume “Principal for a Day”. As Superintendent, I would insist on thorough and timely training for all when introducing system-wide technology enhancements, along with consistency in class rooms throughout each school. I realize this is likely one of the most impractical day dreams I have had, but I have always dreamed big and dared to fail.

Technology Training In Schools

The school system where I am completing my field experience this semester is considered one of the highly technically advanced areas. The technology specialists are outsourced which provides the media specialist some form of relief. During my visits I have experienced teachers who are unwilling to learn the technology in order to teach their classes effectively. On different occassions I have also experienced teachers who were unaware of how to research items in the media center to simple troubleshooting in the classroom. They are very comfortable contacting the media specialist, but at this can be time consuming. The technology specialist is avaiable, but the familiarity lies with the current media specialist. When I approached her about this concern it seems that her "personal" approach is highly favored. The media specialist provides instructions and an introduction to the media center at the beginning of the school. She also offers group training by request throughout the year, if time permits.

Personally, I would provide assistance to the teachers by producing training aids on the most popular requests and individual group sessions if requested for more details and hands-on experience for the beginners. I would also include the teachers in the learning process if I am called to help in a classroom. I believe that all educators should be able to operate the equipment that they are entrusted with in the classroom setting unless other direction is given. This will allow me (media specialist) extra time to complete other projects and provide help to the staff members that actually need the additional assistance.

Technology training-Julie Bigham

The technology skills among the faculty at my school range from the very proficient to the very novice. I have noticed that proficiency is often directly tied to ones age. Younger faculty typically have a greater level of comfort with new technology, most likely as a result of their pedagogy having been completed more recently. At this time, technology courses or staff development is not offered at my school. Faculty can elect to take courses through the county, but I haven't heard many teachers taking the opportunity. I think that one strategy that would work with faculty to support productive staff development is obviously to make the training relevant. I can't tell you how many times I've had to sit through trainings that I felt were unnecessary, and it makes me just totally tune out. Another thing that might work would be to offer training and give PLU's. One problem that I suspect would be encountered is just some people's unwillingness to add something else to their plates. Also, people just don't like to venture outside of their comfort level at times. If I were responsible for technology training, I would just make it available to all teachers. I would likely present it during common planning and only for a few minutes. Or, I would create training aids similar to our recent assignment and post them to the school website for easy access.

TV Broadcasting/Malena

I interviewed Mrs. Bray a media specialist at Carrollton Elementary School. She is responsible for the early morning which runs daily at 7:50am from the media center's video production room. Students are showcased on the morning show and they are third grade students selected by teachers. This elementary only has PK-3rd so the 3rd grade students are the most mature ones and therefore they are responsible for the morning show. Usually the show contains the pledge read by the 3rd grade students, announcements from the principal, and the character education word of the week. Participants are selected by having each third grade teacher choose two students, male and female of different ethnic groups, to participate for the week. At Carrollton Elementary the video distribution equipment is used quite often.
The system is used for broadcast, holiday videos, character ed videos, school produced videos which advertise upcoming events like fundraisers and book fairs.
After viewing gpb.org my favorite section is the Digital Library section which I can now add to my list of resources for the digital storytelling project.

School TV news -Julie Bigham

At South Paulding Middle School, home of the panthers, we have the Panther News Network every day. The Panther News Network, PNN, is organized and run by one of the gifted teachers (she may not be gifted, but the kids in her class are :0). In the morning we have a class period called NBI, or Needs Based Instruction, and this is the time that students work on the broadcast for the next day. The kids for the PNN class are chosen based on their test scores (ITBS and CRCT). Basically, they are kids that are not being remediated in any academic area. About 95% of the students are qualified as gifted. The kids have to go through an audition in the beginning of the year, unless they were members of the crew the previous school year. Crew members must maintain high academic standards in order to remain on the crew. Students are trained in all of the various positions (camera, script, PPT, anchor, etc.) and they work on a rotating schedule. We do not currently have a working video distribution system, however, the teacher that runs PNN is able to pipe out the live broadcast to the various rooms in the building. The only problem right now is that the mobile units are not wired to receive the broadcast, so they miss it. We do play Channel One every morning prior to the PNN broadcast. Teachers at SPMS also use United Streaming often. Classes in the building have mounted projectors that make it very easy to use United Streaming. This year (my first year as the media specialist), I ordered enough LCD projectors for our mobile units, so they can now access United Streaming, as well. Our news broadcast is a combination of power point and live student news broadcast. The morning broadcast begins with a moment of silence and then the Pledge of Allegiance. Next, the broadcasters give any important announcements regarding school events, such as sports, fundraisers, menu for lunch,etc. Occasionally, students will interview members of teams and other students. I think that it is really nice that students are primarily responsible for the creation and execution of the school news.