Technology Proficiencies - Research Paper Example

Technology Proficiencies s affiliation Technology Proficiencies Part I: Use of Technology for Curriculum and Instruction (Proficiencies B and D) Using the search term “school district technology plans”, an online such for school district technology plans resulted into a number technology plans from different districts. We chose 3 district technology plans. These were Farmington Public Schools 2012-2015 District Technology Plan, Rocky Point Union Free School District 2011-2014 District Technology Plan and Commack Public Schools District Technology Plan for July1, 2013 to June 30, 2016. I conducted an analysis of the three plans and made a comparison on how they address planning, organizing, coordinating, managing and supervising instructional routines. Additionally, an analysis and comparison of how the plans use technological tools and their application in various learning environments was conducted. Discussing the need to coordinate technology service departments and curriculum departments for the integration of technology and curriculum and how that may be accomplished and the challenges that might be faced The recent past has seen an increase in the use and enhancement of technology especially in the education sector. Shute, & Becker (2010) states that in this era with much emphasis and focus on inclusion and collaboration, educators and stakeholders on all levels need information as regarding the myriad ways in which technology could be used to enhance the performance of students while also facilitating the participation of all students including those with disabilities to fully participate in instructional activities while also improving scholastic achievement. It is without any doubt that technology has the ability of supporting much of the effort meted towards not only curriculum access, but also participation and progress. Consequently, technology not only increases independence, but also empowerment and personal productivity. It is to this regard that it must be understood that does technology not only facilitate the various kinds of interactions occasioning instructions, but also has the ability of transforming static curriculum resources into both flexible digital media and tools (Heinecke, & Adamy, 2010). In educating students, a key document is the IEP document more so in the case of students with disabilities. Not only does the document detail the current level of performance of students, but also sets out the annual goals while delineating the services, support and ancillary aids that could prove effective in accomplishing the goals. It is worth appreciating the fact that the increase in the number of children being served in inclusive settings. This has to a large extent made the IEP being framed more in the context of the school and its curricular offering hence implying the need for IEP team to take into consideration the setting demands of the schools (Zhao, 2003). There is need to act proactively by putting policies and practices in place with the ability to maximize the accessibility of both curriculum and instructional offerings. Findings that planning curriculum and instructions at the outset has the potential of reducing not only time, but also costs and efforts associated with designing a high quality educational program for all students is a reason enough including technology solutions. Amongst the solutions may vary from having dedicated communication devices to having highly conventional personal computers specifically designed to access features like those found in Microsoft windows operating system (Shute, & Becker, 2010). Among other solutions that might be attributed to technology include serving to supplement or transforming the curriculum itself not only into accessible, but also flexible digital resources which follow principles of universal design. To this end, it is without doubt that technology has dramatically increased the independent functioning and still has the capability of increasing curriculum flexibility and it is only logical that challenges of access, participation and progress not only face the individual students, but also at the curriculum level hence the need to coordinate technology service departments and curriculum departments for the integration of technology and curriculum (Shute, & Becker, 2010). However, this cannot be achieved by simply purchasing an accessible compute which though we can appreciate is a step in the right direction; it does not address the challenge confronting educators in the current age. Not only should technology tools work for the individual students, but there is need for emphasis that technology tools work in the context of both the classroom and the school at large. This can be achieved by implementation of the Universal Design for Learning, which is a framework for the provision of not only accessible, but also flexible and equitable curriculum. There may exist various challenges that may face the integration of technology and curriculum. These include providing adequate technology access, equalizing technology access, involving a majority of teachers and providing technical support for technology use and maintenance. As regards providing adequate technology access, it is worth noting that technology-supported project-based instructions require a high level access to the technology tools. This could be further compounded by the fact that most schools are face with the reality of a limited budget for both equipment and software hence leaving them the burden of making hard choices out of what they have. Consequently, a corollary to the challenging of providing adequate access to technology has been the concern with making sure that different kinds of students get equal access. Additionally, even with the alienation of the teacher’s initial fear of getting involved with technology, a major challenge still remains the provision of enough technical support that ensures that teachers will not be discouraged by equipment failures or software behaviour they do not understand. Part II: Ethical Use of Technology (Proficiency A) Conducting an online search using the search term “school acceptable use policy,” for school district policies related to acceptable use of technological policies, I decided to analyze and compare the policies for how they address safe, ethical, legal and responsible use of technology within the educational environment for The School District of Philadelphia, Greenville County Schools Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) and Warwick School District. From the analysis, I identified various policies related to employee and student acceptable use within the educational environment. A speculation of how technology could be used/misused within curriculum and a description of how safeguards may be provided Tan, & Subramaniam (2006) states that the last decade has seen an increase in behaviour pattern of misuse and abuse as regards the use of technology in the society. This outbreak of technology misuse and abuse has been well documented both inside and outside schools. It is without doubt that technology offers incredible tool for both students and educators. As a matter of fact, when used properly, the wealth of information available in the digital world has the ability of advancing education further than it has ever been possible in the past. With just the power of a few clicks, the students have the ability of accessing anything making research easier which can be attributed to the varied and rich display of information in student papers and projects. Despite this, there continues to be an increase less desirable technological habits, popularly known as the misuse of technology within the curriculum context (Underwood, 2007). The first major misuse attributed with the use of technology in curriculum has resulted from technology integration making it to be used as a source of research in classroom; it has instead been turned into a tool for gathering as opposed to a tool for learning. The fact that the use of technology for gathering information is more effective compared to researching using books was not the main purpose of technology in education (Zhao, 2003). The main mistake and worry originating from integrating technology in school is the fact that technology may end up replacing books as tools for researching. It is not lost to us that many integration programs achieve less than desired results in most schools. This has been attributed to other factors like having overly complicated procedures which have tendencies of deterring teachers from embracing new technology and the lack of resources in general. This mostly makes most instructors ignorant and unaware of the various potential hinderances brought about by technology. This has resulted into various negative effects amongst which include taking away valuable learning time, being overused and also turning educational experiences into games for students (International Society for Technology in Education., 1995).  Other misuse and abuse includes hacking into school servers, intimidating and threatening students using emails, illegal download of music, the use of cell phones during class time, plagiarizing of information from the internet and the access of pornographic web sites as well as playing video games during class.. It is worth appreciating the fact that organizations have a key role to play as regards helping learners to develop skills they need to keep safe and secure when using technology for learning, leisure and work. It is important to note that the key factors to effectively safeguarding in a digital environment includes assessing and understanding risks as they apply to leaners and taking mitigating actions while also empowering the learners. Brennan, & Johnson (2004) states that the most effective safeguarding strategy is Becta’s PIES model as it offers a simple way of mitigating against risks through not only a combination of effective policies and practices, but also ensure the existence of a robust and secure technology infrastructure and education and training for learners which is underpinned by standard inspection. It is therefore a high time that teachers and schools need to take a step back and evaluate technology integration in their respective schools and various changes made to use the available technology as effective as possible. The brilliant and powerful tools are too important to be used as simple research tools or time—fillers. Part III: Integration of Technology into Professional Development (Proficiency C) It is without any doubt that currently the emerging issue is not whether technology should be used in education, but is instead ensuring that technology is effectively used to not only create new opportunities for learning, but to also promote student achievement. As regards integrating of technology into professional development, it must be understood that educational technology can never be transformative in its own, but requires the assistance of educators integrating technology into curriculum and aligning it with student learning goals while also ensuring it is used for engaged learning projects. To this regard, it is evident that professional development continues to increasingly become a key issue in using technology to improve the quality of learning in the classroom. A vision for use of technology for communication of curriculum and delivery of professional development within an educational institution Amongst the most serious obstacles impeding full integration of technology into the curriculum is the lack of professional development for technology use. The traditional sit-and-get training session and also the one-time-only workshops have proved to be non-effective as regards to integrating technology into the teaching plans. Instead, what ought to be done is to introduce not only well-planned, but also ongoing professional development programs that is tied to the school’s curriculum goals that have inbuilt evaluation and is sustained by adequate financial and staff support which will also be essential in enabling teachers to appropriately use technology while also promoting learning for all students in the classroom. The vision of enhanced use of technology is mainly anchored on a well-designed professional development program which amongst other things will require new definitions and new resources. This should be achieved by viewing technology as an ongoing and integral part of the professional lives of teachers (Brennan, & Johnson, 2004). Consequently, the professional development needs to be made an integral part of the school technology plan or alternatively an overall school-improvement plan. This should alternatively be achieved by making professional development contain all the necessary components according to most researches. The vision also gives focus to connecting professional development to students learning which makes student learning the ultimate goal of professional development. To this regard, we look forward to schools providing teachers with abundant opportunities to becoming fluent in the use of technology to bolster instruction while also helping students to develop higher-order thinking and problem solving techniques. In addition to this, would be insisting on a hands-on technology use in integrating technology into classroom lessons (International Society for Technology in Education, 1995). This will be achieved mainly when teachers acquire core technology competencies and skills mainly on enhancing student learning an how it can be used in different content areas. It has always been widely proclaimed that in the case that technology is to be used to produce improvements in student achievement, it would be prudent that teachers see a direct link between the technology and the curriculum (Underwood, 2007). Professional development would be capable of demonstrating projects in specific curriculum area while also helping teachers to integrate technology into the content. This would be important especially in helping teachers analyze, synthesize and structure ideas into projects to be used in classrooms. A Plan for Attaining the Vision Including Measurable Goals, Time Line, and Process Vision Measurable Goals Time Line Process Integrating technology into lesson plans Well-planned, ongoing professional development program Tying the development program to the school curriculum goals Designing built-in evaluation in the development program Adequate financial and staff support Ongoing Integration of technology into the curriculum Connection to student learning Increase student achievement Judging the value of professional development activities by how much a leap in student learning is realized Development of higher-order thinking skills Having different learning styles and special needs 1 year Providing abundant opportunities to teachers Variety of learning experiences Acquisition technology competencies and skills Enhancing student learning and its use in different content area 2 years Using equipment’s to boost productivity References Shute, V. J., & Becker, B. J. (2010). Innovative assessment for the 21st century: Supporting educational needs. New York: Springer. Heinecke, W. F., & Adamy, P. (2010). Evaluating technology in teacher education: Lessons from the preparing tomorrows teachers for technology (PT3) program. Charlotte, N.C: IAP. Tan, L. W. H., & Subramaniam, R. (2006). Handbook of research on literacy in technology at the K-12 level. Hershey, Penns: Idea Group Reference. Zhao, Y. (2003). What should teachers know about technology?: Perspectives and practices. Greenwich, Conn: Information Age Pub. Underwood, L. M. (2007). Teachers perceptions of their technology proficiencies and current instructional practices. International Society for Technology in Education. (1995). Learning and leading with technology: The ISTE journal of educational technology practice and policy. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education. Brennan, L. L., & Johnson, V. E. (2004). Social, ethical and policy implications of information technology. Hershey, Pa. [u.a.: Information Science Publ. Read More