some guidelines that are good when using technology

http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

The above link is to an article that is called Engagement Theory. The author's premise is that lessons must be meaningful and collaborative with an outside focus in order to create engagement with the students. Although this is an idea that we have heard in education training programs when we learn how to create lessons, this article focuses on the need for the engagement when using distance and virtual education programs. The students in these programs can easily isolate themselves from others and not find the collaboration and meaning in a distance class that would be found in a face-to-face environment. I plan to include these principles in the creation of my curriculum. It will not always be easy to work in collaborative activities, but I would like to use them frequently within my school environment.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2001_April_18/ai_73349784

This article is about a company that received a grant to create software that would increase students' cognitive abilities. The work for this software is based upon research that the company conducted to determine how children develop effective cognitive skills. There are two problems with the rolling out of the software once it is created, though. The first being that the makers want to incorporate the software into schools in a one-to-one setting (not cost effective for schools). The other issue is that there are too few teachers trained in the program for a large-scale release of the software. The makers of the software state in the article that the plan is to increase the cognitive skills of students so they can learn in a fashion similar to those who received some pre-scool education.

I was interested to see this article. I wanted to see the results of their study on cognitive development so I could use it when I make my curriculum software. I will keep an eye out for further development of this software so I may be able to use it for my lower functioning students.

Implementing computer science in k-12 schools

We have learned this semester about ways to make technology more effective, but how much good does that do us if schools do not support the use? Here is a study that recommends the implementation of computer science classes throughout the K-12 experience. This study also provides recommendations for implementation given the current budget and time constraints many schools face. If this study's recs can overcome some of the administrators and districts concerns then maybe we can better verse our students in the use of technology for educational and informative purposes rather than for entertainment.

My background has been that I have attempted to use technology within many of my lesson plans in the past just to find that many students only know how to text or send emails but have no idea how to use Word, Excel, PowerPoint or even use the Internet to conduct research. The study I am giving the link for has four classes that the authors recommend for integration in the current K-12 curriculum. Two of the classes would be for all students (basic skills things) while the other two would be for students with more interest in possibly following an IT career or just want to know more about how to use the technology. I would love to see this integrated into my district better than the current efforts our School Board has mandated for students.

Here is that link: www.ajou.ac.kr/~edu/2003/data/k12final1022.pdf

Software standards

http://www.washington.edu/accessit/articles?206
This link supports what we have been discussing in class for the last few weeks. Software created for the purpose of education needs to adhere to certain standards for accessibility. Keyboard access, color coding, use of pointing devices, flashing items, textual displays and other items all have standards that should be adhered to for universal design. The above link actually has links to several different resources. The one resource I read the most was the Guide to Standards that outlines what to do to accomplish universal design.

As someone trying to create quality educational curriculum software, I want to memorize and adhere to as many of these guidelines as possible so the most people can benefit from my software. Some of this stuff I have never thought of and some are pretty obvious. I hope this helps you all that plan to use software in your endeavors.

Cool Interactive Stuff

http://www.intel.com/education/tools/index.htm
In my search for interactive educational tools (and ideas to use with my curriculum software), I found this site. Intel has part of its site dedicated to teaching tools and K-12 educational interactive software. There are free demos on the site to try out. This software would allow for great group and individual activites that allow a group to discuss some aspect of a topic then debate the findings with other groups. The site says that the software is free.

I am looking forward to finding a way to incorporate this software into my program since it allows for great opportunities for the students. I think think that each subject has a use for this software beyond the standard venn diagrams in math and science. The prioritizing activities would work in social studies, language arts and science. The seeing reasong and showing evidence would also easily be worked into each of the subject areas. If I would have known this was available in my earlier years of teaching, I could have created many more interesting lessons and (hopefully) increased student understanding.

The Media Equation

For those of you reading this blog who may not be taking the same class, I am going to be referring to the following reference for this post: Reeves, Byron, and Clifford Nass. 1996. "Ch 1, The Media Equation," pp. 3-18 in The Media Equation. Cambridge University Press.

I enjoyed reading this chapter. Although it is an introductory chapter, it really made some things clear to me. I realized that I sometimes attributed human behaviors to machines, but I didn't pay attention to my reactions to items coming at me on television or other such subtle items. Since I want to create my own curriculum software understanding this information, I believe, can make my software more effective in assisting the learner gain more information in the most efficient way (including eliciting emotional reactions to some subject areas to help the learner want to learn the information).

My focus has been on encouraging learning by making the educational experience meaningful to the learner. Reading studies such as this one, gives me just one more way of viewing how effective the entire virtual educational experience can be and where it can still grow.

A promising report for virtual schooling

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3673/is_200504/ai_n13633250/

I have started working with Florida Virtual School as the Guidance representative for my current charter school. I have had more students who have completed courses with the virtual school to supplement what they are earning at our school so they can graduate faster. This article discusses mostly the pros (with a few cons) about virtual secondary schooling. I personally love taking my college classes on line (I think I have had one class that would have worked better in person), and I think many high school students feel the same.

In this article two state virtual schools are compared, and the report for the one in Florida seemed pretty positive. This article is encouraging to me since I want mine to be a mostly computer-based school. I plan to allow my students to take classes at the virtual school if they want something I don't currently offer - I would actually encourage it. With more school districts cutting so many positions, they may not have much of a choice but to encourage many students to seek virtual schooling whether from home or from a computer lab within the school.