Technology for Pre-K

The world is rapidly changing with the advancements of 1000110101's. It seems that everyday we are becoming more and more digital. Imagine the world for a Pre-k student who has always known digital this and digital that. For them it is not a changing world but the only world they know. Digital mediums will be their primary and perhaps only source for entertainment, communication and even learning. With this in mind it is important for pre-k students to be given the tools that are relevant to 21st century learning without limiting them because of our own technological limitations. They should be embedded in digital learning, given the access to digital learning devices and not just crayons and paper. Their learning should be built on a spiraling curriculum that builds and overlaps on prior knowledge. They should learn with digital tools while learning about digital tools. It is time that the crayons become electric.

STaR Chart

Teaching and Learning according to the Texas STaR Chart

The vision of the Teaching and Learning portion of the Long-Range plan for Technology, 2006-2020 is that technology will become the great equalizer for the growing diversity represented in the classrooms of Texas public schools. Technology can motivate students and enhance the learning process by providing students and teachers with the tools necessary to bring teaching and learning into the 21st century. The goal is to eliminate the great digital divide by providing students with the instruments and infrastructure to support modern and postmodern learning in an environment that is available and accessible from anywhere and at anytime. Learning will become more individualized and personal. Post modern learning will bring the world to the classroom and expand the classroom beyond the confines of the school building. Today most, if not all schools have Internet access, however many are limited by shared bandwidth and computers. To make learning personal each student needs his own personal device and each campus needs the infrastructure to support wireless high speed connections. Textbooks are becoming outdated as personal learning devices can make them available in a digital format using audio and video components rather than just pictures. Students will be able to highlight notes, record lectures, capture video and collaborate online at anytime with others on classroom projects while also exploring their own interest and documenting their findings. Some of these things are occurring on campuses now including my own campus with the use of ipods, however we must be careful not to put the cart before the horse by buying tech devices with no plan nor purpose of how to integrate them into the learning arena.

Campus Wizardry

I am a geek, which means I crave, lust after, jones for all things technological. I am also a teacher which means I am an overworked, underpaid glutton for punishment serving a client base of 5-12 year olds. When working with teachers who are primarily, for the most part, non-geek it is easy to become jaded after 14 years of solving technological mysteries of unplugged printers, re-starting computers, audio-visual connections and wireless passwords. It is rare that a teacher presents new information or shares some marveled new device but more common for them to present new ways that they have broken something. When I share new gadgets or information it is simply touted as "fancy" and for the most part ignored. When I show the students how I can control the computer with a wii remote they are amazed and beg for the chance to use it. When I give a demonstration of midi controllers using an ewi 4000s they can't wait to go home and ask their mothers for one. The staff refers to this midi wind device as an electric clarinet. When interacting with and observing students and teachers appreciation for and use of technology it is clear that most teachers would be graded on a sharp learning curve while students who marvel at technology are limited in their access and use of digital tools. After compiling data from a recent tech survey I was surprised to find out how many teachers wanted to integrate audio and visual components into their lessons and wanted training with powerpoint. Our campus does not yet provide consistent training for incorporating technology in the classroom and it is done on a personal level by myself and others with higher level abilities. When reviewing my own shortcomings I have forgotten how to manually manipulate spreadsheets because I have become so dependent on templates.(Which are a great time saver) However when looking at the level of technology integration on our campus I believe that my biggest weakness has been not being more influential in helping teachers become more tech savvy. Although I am capable of functioning in the digital domain with few shortcomings I have neglected my duties as a good teacher who motivates and excites the students preparing them to seek out learning on their own. Geeks love to brandish their technological wands of wizardry as tools of power and amazement while good teachers love to watch students discover their own wands of amazement through the power of learning. If we are to lead others into the digital domain there should be a roadmap for students and teachers to follow with honest assessments of where everyone is and how to move us to where we want to be. My part in this transformation is to relinquish my wand, come from behind the curtain and empower teachers with their own brand of "magic".