A Parent’s Guide toRebuilding and Reforming Our Classrooms with Technology

Marie Casillas, Robert Moushon and Angie Patterson

•Purpose of Education/Training

1. Identify the problem2. Provide solutions 3. Proper training and execution4. Evaluate results5. Improve methods for better

results

Need for change

• “Nation is being taken over by competitors throughout the world” (National Commission on Excellence,1983).

• “23 million American adults and 13% of 17 year olds are functionally illiterate” (National Commission on Excellence,1983).

• “Many 17-year-olds do not possess the "higher order" intellectual skills we should expect of them. Only one-fifth can write a persuasive essay” (National Commission on Excellence,1983).

Need for Change Continued

• “The College Board's Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SAT) demonstrate a virtually unbroken decline from 1963 to 1980. Average verbal scores fell over 50 points and average mathematics scores dropped nearly 40 points” (National Commission on Excellence,1983).

• This all comes at a time when Americans need these skills for new jobs in the field of technology.

How can technology support education reform?

Technology can…Provide students with real-life contexts outside the classroomIncrease problem-solving and processing skillsAllow students to access, review, and share information on their own timeHelp facilitate more active, student-centered learning Incite curiosity and engagement in the learning and teaching processImprove students overall attitude and academic performance in all content areasPermit students to be able to immediately explore a subject or topic Let students participate in more collaborative learning based projects

• Technology’s role in education reform is to….• Make sure all students have access to the most up-to-date innovations• Increase the overall academic achievement of students• Provide more public-private partnerships to foster student learning

successes• Develop more effective educational technology infrastructures in K-12

public schools • Ensure teachers have appropriate professional development with on-

going support on the latest educational technologies • Increase involvement and communication between administrators,

principles, teachers, parents, and students• Develop and promote students’ literacy in technology for their future

educational and career endeavors

Technology’s role in education reform is to...

•Technology and education reform

Challenges to Technologic Reform Key Figures of Technology in the Classroom

and How that Technology is Being AppliedThe National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) 2009 survey of technology use in the classroom reasserts the belief that computer use in classrooms is on the rise.

The ratio between students and classroom computer has fallen to nearly one computer per five students. Almost every classroom has a computer in it with Internet access. (NCES, 2010)

97%Teachers with a computer

in the classroom

93%Classrooms with Internet access

5.3:1Students per

classroom computer

However…A recent study by Larry Cuban (2006) finds that “less than 10% of teachers integrated (information and communication technologies) seamlessly into their lessons on at least a weekly basis.”Just because new technology is in the classroom, it doesn’t mean:

Teachers are properly trained to use it New applications can be integrated into lesson plans right away There is an easy route for an instructor to change their teaching style

PROGRESSION

• Even with smaller budgets, schools continue to introduce technology into the classroom

• Technologic Innovations and corporate competition make obtaining new and powerful hardware easier for schools

• New Internet applications can reduce paperwork and planning time for teachers

• Provides a new way for faculty to engage a tech-savvy audience

• Teachers need training to implement new technologic innovations in the classroom

• Little extra time for training outside the summer

• Cost for sessions, materials and time

• With increased advances in technology, is it worth it to learn a program that could be outdated soon?

• Meeting accessibility standards

CHALLENGES

•What This Research and these Statistics Mean

•Addressing These Challenges by Integrating New Ideas

While new ideas and innovations in technological fields are plentiful…

“Some technology-based projects are more difficult to implement than others” (Groff & Mouza, 2008). While every student may know how to navigate a social network, they’re not all that easy. There are, two dimensions related to any project that could impeded its success: distance and dependence (Zhao, et al., 2002).

DISTANCE

• When tech project are taken out of the classroom, they are less likely to be a success.

DEPENDENCE

• Depending on someone other than the instructor, makes project less likely to be a success.

Research• U

se consultants, attend conferences, see what works and does not

Train• I

nstructors need the appropriate type of training for the correct amount of time

Implement• T

ake advantage of the technology already in the classroom and add where necessary

Survey• B

e open to what works, fix what does not

•A Course of Action to Address these Challenge and Reach Educational Goals

Cuban, L., (2006). Reflection on two decades of computers in classrooms. Frogs into Princes – Writings on School

Reform, 148-158.

Gray, L., Thomas, N., and Lewis, L. (2010). Teachers’ Use of Educational Technology in U.S. Public Schools: 2009

(NCES 2010-040).

Groff, J., & Mouza, C. (2008). A framework for addressing challenges to classroom technology Use. AACE Journal,

16(1), 21-46.

The National Commission on Excellence in Education. (1983). A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational

Reform. Retrieved October 2, 2011, from http://datacenter.spps.org/sites/2259653e-ffb3-45ba-8fd6-

04a024ecf7a4/uploads/SOTW_A_Nation_at_Risk_1983.pdf

Zhao, Y., Pugh, K., Sheldon, S., & Byers, J. (2002). Conditions for classroom technology innovations. Teachers

College Record, 104(3), 482-515.

•References

•CreditsMarie Casillas

• Purpose of Education/Training (2)• Need for Change (3-4)

Angie Patterson• How Can Technology Support Education Reform (5)• What Roles for Technology have been Envisioned in Educational Reform (6)

Robert Moushon• Challenges to Technologic Reform (9)• What this Research and these Statistics Mean (10)• Addressing These Challenges by Integrating New Ideas (11)• Course of Action to Address Challenges and Reach Educational Goals (12)

•Sourceshttp://ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg34.htmlhttp://www.nsba.org/sbot/toolkit/tiol.html#Enhancedhttp://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume40/NextGenerationEducationalSoftw/157961http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech/overview.html#goals2000http://www.wested.org/techpolicy/techreform.htmlhttp://www2.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech/approaches.htmlChalkboard Background: Microsoft Office Online Digital Hand Animation: Microsoft Office Online Flash DatabaseCompany logos: Smarttech, Apple, Citrix, Google (from their respective company websites)