"The constantly changing landscape of educational technology can be thought of as a series of transactions from older tools to newer ones" (Thornburg, 2009). With Thornburg's words in mind, we too are facing many transformations at my school when it comes to integrating new technology. One of the most prevalent changes is the incorporation of the document camera. Even though there are many types of document cameras being integrated, the most popular brand is the ELMO and can be located at http://www.elmousa.com/index.php.

What needs does the document cameras meet in our school? Document cameras not only let you project information and books on to SmartBoards, but they also let teachers move the camera's arm to project from different angles. As the arm moves, it allows the camera to show views of the object's side, front, and top positions just by making slight adjustments. Secondly, document cameras allow teachers to zoom in and out on an object or perform tasks, like experiments, live so the entire room can see them at the same time. As the teacher manipulates the arm, more students are able to see the demonstration without getting in each other's way or moving up to the front. In addition, document cameras are able to connect to a microscope and go into "microscope mode" so everyone can see magnified images on a slide. Being able to see microscope images as a class, allows teacher to cut down on the expense of buying a classroom set of microscopes and slides.

 

In addition to positive effects, there are some negative aspects of document cameras. First, some of the document cameras are only being used as glorified overhead projectors even when they can do so much more. Teachers are only focusing on their simplicity rather than their ability to be an interactive tool. To fix this problem, we can provide training for teachers on how to use it in more interactive ways. In addition, the ones that we have at our school tie teachers to one place in the classroom. They do not allow teachers to walk around the room and monitor students' progress as they complete assignments. This problem has a solution, but it requires another type of innovation called a slate. Purchasing this tool would cost extra money to purchase and time to train teachers on how to use them. Lastly, the only other negative aspect of the document cameras is the fact that we do not have enough money in our budget this year for everyone at our school to have one in their classrooms because of their price. Although we have several documents camera at our school, I hope that we will continue to integrate their innovativeness within our classrooms.

 

Thornburg, D. D. (2009a). Current trends in educational technology. Lake Barrington, IL: Thornburg Center for Space Exploration.

Module 5 responses

I responded to KCDavis and Burian Kitchen's blogs.

EDUC 7105: Module 5 Motivation

At my former school, I was a Master Technology Teacher. Part of my responsisbility, as such, was to teach teachers how to use and create interactive lessons using Promethean ActivBoards. Doing so, required me to step into a leadership position at school and truly see teachers' resistance to technology in a different light. Although teachers in this system resisted, I believe in the technology strategies and changes being made. Many teachers hid behind closed doors hoping that "out of sight, out of mind" would mean not having to participate or use the material. Others believed that if they fussed about it long enough, they would not have to use the equipment and their problems would magically go away. Had I, at the time, been aware of John M. Keller's ARCS model for motivation, my colleagues outcomes could have been different while learning how to integrate technology into their classrooms. According to Driscoll (2005), Keller's theory"assumes that students' motives (or values), together with their expectancies (efficacy and outcome expecations), will influence the degree of attention and effort they will supply to a learning task" (Driscoll, 2005, p. 332).

Had I applied Keller's ARCS model, it might have looked something like this:

Attention: When starting a new lesson, I could have intrigued the teachers by showing them a new gadget to use when teaching a lesson like the reveal tool in a miniature form. When using the reveal tool with a bit of imagination, it can become a magic wand, x-ray machine, or magnifying glass.

Relevance: During the lesson, I could help teachers see the relevance of the tool. Using the tool in this manner, will be more intriguing to the students and make any of their lessons more interesting.

Confidence: One way to help teachers gain confidence is to walk them through creating the reveal tool using simple steps, so it will be easier for them to recreate it on their own. By breaking down how to create the tool and how to use the tool, I can help them be more confident when creating interactive lessons using their grade level curriculum.

Satisfaction: Once teachers see how easy it is to use the tool in one lesson, they will be more willing to create more lessons using the reveal tool to make interactive lessons. In addition, as teachers participate in the lessons, they could have a positive consequence such as receiving SDU credit to make them more willing to create more interactive lessons.

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

module 3 comments

I commented on Burian Kitchen and Duane Colman's blog for Module 3.

Module 3 Blog Post

Humans, in general, are very selfish creatures. By looking at our history, one would conclude that competition is good (chariot races, olympics), greed leads to success (corporate businesses), and war is inevitable (Middle East). These qualities have overshadowed human societies since the beginning of modern time. Therefore, I doubt Howard Rheingold's altruistic view (2005), which alleges that it is basic human instinct to "interact and work as a group." An instinct is something that comes naturally or relfexive if you must, but working together takes work.

I do agree, however, with the fact that survival is one of our basic instincts. If that means we must "interact and work as a group" as Howard Rheingold discussed, then humans will do what it takes to survive. After reflecting on the video, the concepts that "there is strength in numbers," and "it takes a village to raise a child" came to my mind. Both of these represent the benefits of working collaboratively. I then began to ponder the benefits of wolves working together. Although they have to work continually to keeping their pack together, the benefits out weight the consequences of being alone in the wilderness. With this thought in mind, I reexamined Rheingold's concepts and became intrigued about the possibilities that collaboration can provide. With a little help from a friend, maybe, just maybe, there is hope for human kind after all.

How can technology facilitate collaboration among learners based on constructivist principles? "The computer offers an effective means for implementing constructivist strategies that would be difficult to accomplish in other media" (Driscoll, 2005, p.406). In the video, Rheingold examined the benefits of open source platforms and peer-to-peer productions. He pointed out, "…new forms of cooperation enabled by new technologies create new forms of wealth, we may be moving into yet another economic form that is significantly different from previous ones" (Rheingold, 2005). Therefore, collaborative platforms are necessary so collaborative efforts can ensue.

This week our group examined Cloud Computing when we explored the Horizon Report. Cloud Computing allows users to share web-based applications for editing, word-processing, social networking, and media creations (New Media Consortium, 2010). One example of that our group used was Google Docs. This web-based platform allowed our group to effectively communicate, collaborate, and construct our ideas about the effectiveness of a specific emerging technology to solve a current work place problem. The resourcefulness of this type of platform allows learners to collaborate while maintaining the developmental and motivational needs of a constructivist environment.

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

New Media Consortium. (2010). One Year or Less: Cloud Computing, 2010 Horizon Report: K-12 Edition. Retrieved from http://wp.nmc.org/horizon-k12/chapters/cloud-computing/).

"Howard Rheingold: Way-New Collaboration" http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/howard_rheingold_on_collaboration.html

Module 2 responses

For Module 2, I responded to Amanda Dickerson and Burian Kitchen.