Teacherkit Classroom Manager Technology - Assignment Example

Teacherkit room Manager room Management Technology and education have become inseparable in the recent years. The relationship between the two can be said to be a relationship of necessity in which there is a need in the education sector to embrace technology. This relationship has led to aggressive production and development of new technologies and applications that assist in the delivery of education content to the students. These applications organize not only the material, but also the class in a way that the classroom becomes manageable and enjoyable (Chen, Looi & Chen, 2009). Embracing technology, therefore, assists the teacher and the students to develop a more personalized relationship, which helps both to learn from one another and to achieve their specific objectives as a unit and in a way, that both enjoy. Teacherkit is a technology developed to enhance classroom management and organization, assisting in the achievement of learning objectives. This paper will provide information concerning the technology and outline a plan through which the technology can be implemented in the learning activities. Introduction In any situation, change is always common and inevitable. Conditions that warrant change is from within and outside the main environment. In the education sector, changes in the environment especially the job market and the technological changes have always guided improvements in the way teaching and learning are practiced. Adoption of a change is however not easy. This is because the change involves the introduction of a new aspect, which requires the users to adopt a new method (Pitler, Hubbell & Kuhn 2012). This report will focus on the implementation of the teacherkit technology in the organization and management of the classroom. The features of this technology allow the teacher and students to interact through their individual devices in one platform. Having been a teacher for more than ten years, my experience with classroom management makes me feel that the adoption of the teacherkit technology will be an important milestone in enhancing organization and management of the classroom. My experience with adoption of change especially related to technology allows me to identify the various barriers to implementation of this technology and hence develop a plan for implementation that will minimize these barriers. This report, therefore, guides on the implementation of teacherkit technology in classroom management. Technological needs The advantages of using technology in the classroom are many and cannot be ignored. Educators regard the adoption and implementation of technology as an important step in making the work of teaching natural and a practice that ensures that various levels of students’ intelligence is utilized and activated (Goldin & Katz 2008). In addition to reducing the monopoly in teaching, technology increases retention levels and helps keep the students in touch with the real life. As technology use becomes widespread among the school going generation today, there is a need for a change in the way teaching and classroom management is done. In order to associate well with the technology generation, teachers should adopt means that the generation can identify with which will enhance their involvement and participation. The teacherkit application can bridge this gap (Collins & Halverson 2009). Teacherkit technology is a simple application that makes it easy for teachers to manage a classroom. It is compatible with many operating systems and devices including android smartphones, tablets, iPhones and computers, making it one of the most affordable and dependable class organization, students’ management and assessment of the students’ behaviors, attendance and learning needs. Features of teacherkit Teacherkit application in any of the compatible devices allows the teacher to perform various activities that concern management of the classroom. First, the technology has multiple platforms that mean that a teacher taking more than one classes will be able to manage the classes separately and effectively from the same application (Figure 1). Further, the application recognizes the aspect of language diversity and has, therefore, multiple languages ability, which allows the teachers to use any of the language they choose. Figure 1. Multiple Platforms The application allows the teacher to add as many classes as possible and manage them. In this way, there is a provision for managing of the sitting arrangement in the classroom and allow the teacher to use specific descriptions for each student indicating their abilities and weaknesses. This enhances the need for personal and individualized focus on students. Further, the application can be used to check and manage students’ class attendance and their tests scores. It also allows the teacher to interact with the students away from the classroom, giving space for feedback and follow-up for the lesson. In addition, the application also allows the teacher to create special accounts for the student through which sharing of lesson information, notes and other education materials is made possible. As an evaluation tool, the application also gives the teacher a chance to view and produce class reports that are used to evaluate the class, lessons, students’ attendance and assessments performance. Figure 2. Students’ forum Figure 3. Students Grading. Barriers to implementation Implementing any change is always faced by challenges. These challenges come from misconceptions, financial concerns and limited information. The implementation of this technology in teaching will face various barriers. First, there has been an increase in availability of applications that claim to enhance teaching and learning, and they have failed to deliver the expected results. This means that to convince the teachers of the technology as a different one will be a challenge (Mcleod, Fisher & Hoover 2003). Secondly, the application requires that all teachers and students to have compatible devices. In as much as this may appear as a simple issue, the economic status of some students and teachers may limit their ability to adopt the technology. The implication of this is that the technology risks to cause claims of inequality in teaching and learning. To address these challenges, there is a need for pre-implementation training and sensitization. This could involve using a section of innovative teachers as the change agents and starting a project from a single unit. This will allow the teachers and the students to learn about the technology from its exact application. In addition, training of all the teachers and students should be practiced to unfreeze them from their initial practice and allow room for change. Further, the education sector should make efforts to embrace technology and assist the students and the teachers in enhancing the implementation of the technology (Khine 2005). Plan to Implementation Implementing change is challenging unless there are viable techniques to be used. This plan is aimed at directing the institutions and the teachers on how to adopt and implement the teacherkit technology for effective classroom management. Planning phase The planning phase for this project will involve collection of information from various sources regarding the implementation of change in an institution. The phase will bring together teachers and educators who are like-minded and whose efforts are directed improving the teaching and classroom management. The players in this phase will collect the objectives of the project and how each is to be achieved. The activities will be arranged chronologically, and timelines set. The planning will focus on the learning and teaching needs that the technology seeks to address and develop objectives that are to be met. From these objectives, an action plan will be developed. With a plan to follow, the project implementation will be easily tracked and managed such that the process can be evaluated and monitored. Education phase To effectively implement the technology, there is a need for the community to be educated on the importance of the technology as compared to the current practice. The education phase will involve comprehensive focus on the pros and benefits of the technology in changing the teaching and learning concepts in the classroom. The teachers who have been introduced to the technology will conduct education of the school communities. In addition, education will involve the developers of the technology and experts in software. This will serve to convince the people of the benefits of the technology and help them adopt change. The education will also be important in developing a pool of innovators who will assist in the adoption process. Implementation phase This is the most important phase in the project. It involves the actual application of the technology in a real classroom. The implementation will first focus on first starting with a single classroom in each school that is participating as a flagship or pilot project. The effectiveness of the technology will then be assessed, and the barriers to success monitored. The project will then be expanded to include more classes and involve more teachers. The implementation will be the application of the arranged action plan, and the implementation will be continually monitored to ensure that it is on course. Evaluation phase After a considerable number of classes have adopted the technology, the project management will focus on finding the shortcomings, as well as the strengths of the project and hence undertake improvements and enhancement programs. Further, the evaluation data will be useful in planning for outsourcing of financial support to address the barriers aforementioned. The success of the project will therefore mean that it will be easier to obtain support from other sources and help roll out the technology to all schools even those where the economic status does not allow possession of the compatible devices. Obstacles to the Project The implementation of the project will be a great success in changing the way teachers manage their classes. It will lay the foundation for future technological development and improvement. However, the implementation is faced by various obstacles (Chen, Looi & Chen 2009). First, most of the schools in the area lack the capital to establish the pilot projects and even to fund the education phase. This will affect the take-off of the project as the project managers have to search for donors to assist in the project (The Education Arcade 2009). To address this obstacle, the project management will be focused on piloting the project in selected schools where implementation will be economical (Petrina 2006). The success of these projects will be necessary to solicit funds to finance the implementation in more schools. Secondly, schools that are in areas where internet connectivity is a problem will not experience same opportunities as those in urban and peri-urban areas. This creates inequality, and the only option is to work with service providers to help improve connectivity. The third obstacle is that in some schools, there is an existing technology, different from teacherkit that has just been implemented (Rudolph et al. 2009). This implies that the change process may not be embraced in these schools. However, a comparison of the projects will be done after the success of the teacherkit technology, and since the devices needed in each of the projects are similar, a shift will be easily implemented. Conclusion Teaching should not be left behind by other fields in embracing technology (Boles, 2011). The art of teaching has to change as the global demands for flexibility are increasing. The teacherkit technology provides teachers with a level of flexibility that combines ultimate control and innovation, if a project such as described above is implemented, the work of teaching will not only become easy but the classes will be more manageable (Rudolph et al. 2009). As the students embrace technology in other areas of life, having the technology to relate to their classroom experience is crucial to the success. References Boles, S. R. (2011). Using Technology in the Classroom. Science Scope, 34, 39–43. Chen, F. H., Looi, C. K., & Chen, W. (2009). Integrating technology in the classroom: A visual conceptualization of teachers’ knowledge, goals and beliefs. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 25, 470–488. Collins, A., & Halverson, R. (2009). Rethinking education in the age of technology: the digital revolution and schooling in America. New York, Teachers College Press. Goldin, C. D., & Katz, L. F. (2008). The race between education and technology. Cambridge, Mass, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=282588. Khine, M. S. (2005). Classroom management: facilitating teaching and learning. Singapore, Pearson/Prentice Hall. Mcleod, J., Fisher, J., & Hoover, G. (2003). The key elements of classroom management: managing time and space, student behavior, and instructional strategies. Alexandria, VA, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Petrina, S. (2006). Advanced teaching methods for the technology classroom. Hershey, PA, Information Science Pub. Pitler, H., Hubbell, E. R., & Kuhn, M. (2012). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, Va, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Rudolph, S., Dau, F., Kuznetsov, S. O., & International Conference on Conceptual Structures, ICCS. (2009). Conceptual structures: Leveraging semantic technologies : 17th International Conference on Conceptual Structures, ICCS 2009, Moscow, Russia, July 26-31, 2009 : proceedings. Berlin [etc.: Springer. The Education Arcade. (2009). Using the Technology of Today, in the Classroom Today. The Education Arcade 10, 09. Read More