I believe that the biggest constraint to utilizing technology would be the cost to initiate these technologies throughout the district.  But if we can afford it, then the sky is the limit in terms of preparing our students to be able to compete in a technologically advanced global society.  I believe the biggest skill that we need to teach students is to how to research or gather information properly in order to promote efficiency.  THey need to be problem solvers and we need to teach them how to solve problems in a methodical fashion.  I will need to get acclimated to being a facilitator rather than a lecturer in my classroom.  The teaching and learning will come from not just from the teacher but from the students as well.  They will be able to teach and learn from each other.  The creative aspect of technology has no ceiling also.  The students can be very creative with their work that will lead to innovation with new projects and other tasks.  There are numerous ways that I use technology now but I will have many more with this class.  We can use these technologies to have the students check notes from home.  I will utilize podcasts in class as well.  Wikis will be prominent as well as other applications that I will learn. 

I would use this technology to promote higher level thinking.  Promoting higher level thinking in the classroom is extremely important.  This technology allows the students to collaborate with one another in a pressure free atmosphere with all of their resources at their side to use in a time frame that can be adapted to their needs.  The students are able to share thoughts, research if needed prior to responding, and make connections to their lives and the lives of others. 

As a library media specialist, I have always been interested in the story. The new technology, specifically digital storytelling, allows students to create engaging, interactive stories. This creates heightened interest in projects and allows students to design stories with various forms of illustrations and to present facts in compelling ways (charts,videos,maps).In addition, they find ways to personalize their stories and make them unique.

Dorian and I are also brainstorming on how to utilize the new tech to develop an integrated project (bbok discussions….) between levels

Here is a link to the wiki page that we’ll be using during the workshop.

Emerging Technologies Wiki Page

Our group will meet in the Board Room from 7:45 AM - 2:45 PM on the following dates:

• Tuesday, February 20 Tuesday, March 6
• Tuesday, March 13