Genevieve Weems

EDU 214

Midterm project

20 March 2017

Application Web Address Age/ Describe how the application is

Grade used in the lesson plan

Word https://www.teacherspaytea 3,4,5 Students will type an answer to the

Processing chers.com/Product/Quote- question “What does it mean to

of-the-Day-Word- you?” using word processing

Processing-Activity-380054 software.

Word https://www.teacherspayteac 3-8 In this contagious activity, students

Processing hers.com/Product/CRAZY- uses a word processing program to

Stories-A-Word-Processing- work together, develop their

Activity-for-Grades-3-8- keyboarding and word processing

626318 skills, and have tons of fun creating

crazy stories.

Spreadsheet http://instructionaltechtalk.c 5-8 Spreadsheets are coded to show

s om/using-google-sheets- certain colors in their squares, the

create-pixel-art/ colors are then arranged to create art.

Spreadsheet https://www.teacherspaytea 5-9 This great holiday activity shows

s chers.com/Product/12- students how to uses a computer

Computer-Spreadsheet- their true love's gifts in today's

Activity-1010905 dollars.

Presentation https://www.teacherspaytea 2-8 Teaches the basics of how to uses

Software chers.com/Product/Teach- PowerPoint along with tasks the

how-to-uses-powerpoint- students can try.

part-1-1066007

Presentation https://www.teacherspaytea Pre-K - An instructional PowerPoint of how

Software chers.com/Product/How-to- 8 to uses Prezi for kids, going from

uses-Prezi-1054464 creating an account to working with

your created Prezi.

Teacher Interview

CCSD uses Infinite Campus for tracking grades and behavior. It is also a tool use for

parent communication, as it is where they print report cards and progress reports from. She uses

Microsoft word for writing reports, and Curriculum Engine for writing her lesson plans. Another

tool is her class websites She posts assignments and due dates there, as well as link to

educational websites. Although she personally doesn’t use it, some of her coworkers use

Remind101, a phone app, to send text messages to parents. A few use a website called Class
Dojo to track behavior. Parents can log in and see how their kids are behaving that day. She

thinks the internet is the best tool she has for facilitating the teaching and learning process. It’s

where she finds new lesson ideas, it’s also very useful when she need visual aides to help the

kids understand an idea they may be struggling with. I pointed out that the internet is not

software, and gave some example of software. Then she said either Smart Notebook

or PowerPoint. She uses her Smart board all day, so that is important to her. She will still

sometime use PowerPoint to put together her visuals for her lesson though.

When it comes to whether she is self-taught or schooled for technology she is little of

both. she started using her Smartboard on her own, and kind of figured out the basics, but then

she took a PDE on it to become more familiar. When it comes to PowerPoint she is self-taught.

Since teachers have to take classes to renew our license, she will usually take classes that are

technology based. She usually takes one class a year. She teaches the kids the basic of how to

uses the Smart Notebook software so they can use it when the need to come write on the board,

she doesn’t teach them all that it can do, because they don’t really need to use it to make lessons

or anything.

She does feel like there is simply not much new tech at her school. It seems like the

middle-class school like the one she works at get overlooked sometimes. They are not Title 1, so

they don’t get that funding, but they are also not in one of the more affluent neighborhoods, so

they lack the parent financial support that some other school enjoy. There really isn't a strong

push to get the kids to use the computers for anything other than the monthly testing. It is a

challenge to find time in a lab to simply teach them how to type, let alone to do any fun projects

with software.
 The only time she is irritated with technology is when it doesn't work right. There is

nothing more frustrating than having you whole lesson thrown off by the internet going down, or

the computer not working right. What would make it better is having newer, and more

technology. It is frustrating that she doesn’t have more time to teach her student show to use the

software they will need to use in high school, because they don’t have enough computers on

campus to allow us to get into a lab more frequently. The majority of the computers they do

have are used for monthly testing, so they are always booked with classes taking tests.

8. How do you use technology to help you communicate with parents?

9. Do you attend classes to stay current with technology? How often?

10. Do you think your admin values technology?

The admin I interviewed worked as and ECS for two years, until the schools district no

longer supported the ECS model. They changed to having a Site Based Technician to maintain

the hardware and software, and Digital Coaches to train on the software and support the students

and teachers when integrating technology into the curriculum. She was a Digital coach for two

years, until CCSD eliminated the position. There is currently no position supported by CCSD to

support technology training the district. If schools want to employ a Digital Coach, they need to

pay for the position out of their own budget. As a Digital Coach she supported at 9 different

schools.

The school district does have a tech plan. It is located

here: http://ccsd.net/resources/technology-information-systems-services/ccsd-tech-plan-2012.pdf

All schools have technology plans. They are created by a technology team at each site. The

school's tech plan is designed to support the school's performance plan. There are a couple of

different ways that schools can get new technology. CCSD regularly refreshes computers at

schools, replacing some of the older machines for newer ones. If the school has money in their

budget for it, the principal can order the materials. Sometimes the specialists or individual

departments might choose to use the money in their budget to buy technology. For example, the

library at one of the school she worked at used the money they earned through fundraising to buy

Chromebooks for library use. They must purchase materials through the CCSD approved

shopping list so that it is eligible to be maintained by CCSD tech support. The first person they

should go to when they need help is the Site Based Tech, or SBT. The SBT uses a program

called Quick-it to submit and track orders. The SBT will request help from the districts support

team if there is an issue they can’t take care of.

are sure to find courses to help them learn to integrate their technology more

effectively. Sometimes, trainers come to the schools to teach the staff how to use their

technology. Up until last year, that was the job of the Digital Coach. All school shave a

technology committee, but some are more active than others. The influence they have in the

school really depends on the emphasis the admin puts on technology. Some do, and some don't.

A couple of the schools she worked at had a strong STEM focus, and they had an annual STEM

night, in which families could come into the school to see how technology was being integrated

into all parts of the curriculum. The best feature at the schools she worked at are schools that

have easy access to technology, teachers that welcome using it in their lessons. The greatest

problem are when schools lack funding to purchase current technology, and the lack of training

for teachers.

Some schools, due to different funding sources, have more technology than others. It

makes it had to work at different schools when at one school there are ample new computers for

every kid to use. Kids need to have time to use the computers and the software, and be taught by

teachers who understand how to use them as well. The best to ensure this happens is by having a

principal with the vision and leadership skills to guide school in that direction.

She thinks it should happen, but she is not sure it will, but she has hope because of CCSD

using Google Apps for Education. She believes that because this a free suite of tools, it levels the

field for students to have equal access to quality tools. Chromebooks are reasonably prices,

making them an easily achievable purchase for most schools. Kids need to know how to use

computers, obviously, but more than that it matters because technology has the potential to

change the way kids learn. It has the potential to transform the way teachers educate the students.
she believes, for the most part, they do. It is always frustrating when it doesn't work right.

Another complaint is that there isn't enough training on how to use it. However, if teachers are

shown how the technology can improve their lives, and how it can enhance the lives of their

students, usually they are very willing to use and teach with technology.