Assignment #1 (Technology Literacy)

There is not one specific grade I would like to teach more than the other in high school, grades 9th through 12th all interest me! From what I observed thus far, most all grade levels in high school use the same types of technology. Technology equipment such as projectors, computers, and smartboards are all options of use in the classroom. In addition computer software is being heavily integrated into the classroom curriculum and proves to be helpful for students and teachers. Tools such as the Internet, spreadsheets, databases, and wordproccessors are all consistently used by students. The Internet will be one of my best friends while teaching history. I would like to start out every class period with a You Tube video that relates to what I am teaching in my history class that day. Furthermore the Internet will be helpful for research projects, history games, and activities. The second way I would like to incorporate technology into my classroom is through a website. This website would serve as a tool to distribute information, connect with my students and parents, and provide an "open forum" on the curriculum we are covering in class.

I read an article called More than Bells and Whistles? Using Digital Technology to Teach American History that talks about the improvement of teacher's classrooms because of the use of technology. This article's emphasis was on the willingness of the teacher and the integration of technology into their classroom. It gave different examples of how History teachers have used technology in their classroom and why it was a success. For example one teacher uses an interactive textbook only online. This is more engaging than just reading a traditional textbook. Furthermore this article noted that teachers using email in the classroom does not count for "real" integration of technology into the classrooms. I learned various things from this article. First, it was interesting that the institution of educational technology included email. In my perspective the use of email is old news and is not the most effective attempt to incorporate technology into the classroom. Secondly, even though it is mostly college professors that post their syllabi online, it still seems like a good idea to use in high school classrooms as well. A hard copy would be provided as well, however an online copy would help parents be informed. Lastly, I learned that students are intrigued by instant access. So more independent research work on the web would be more applicable to their generation as well as in the history classroom. In addition, this prevents me as a teacher to lose their attention spans or lecturing them to boredom. Overall this article helped me understand my future students generation and how technology effects them in the classroom, more specifically in the history classroom.

Kornblith, Gary, and Lasser, Carol. "More than Bells and Whistles? Using Digital Technology to Teach American Histoy." The Journal of American History, March 2003: 1456-57.

There are 5 NETS standards for teachers, they are the following: teachers must Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity, Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments, Model Digital-Age Work and Learning, Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility, and Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership. These standards are important to teachers because it gives them a foundation to work from in learning how to enhance their students knowledge through their subject using technology. In addition teachers can use these guidelines to organize their curriculum and include technology for their students. Lastly, these standards challenge teachers of all generations to enhance their own technology skill and learn through technology as well. Students however, have a different set of NETS standards, they are the following: students develop Creativity and Innovation, Communication and Collaboration, Research and Information Fluency, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision making, Digital Citizenship, and Technology Operations and Concepts. These standards are important for students because it challenges them to develop new knowledge through the use of technology and provides them with long term professional skills once they get out of school into the world. Furthermore, these standards will eventually create "technological minds" that can better in the future teach others. Overall the NETS standards for teachers and students are important for the continual enhancement of knowledge and the incorporation of the "new way" to learn.