Session 1: Course Orientation
Response to Topic:
Technology Use - I live and die by technology these days, that could be due to the fact I am a technology teacher most of the day and that I am in a masters program dealing with technology :-). In my free time I use technology to do all sorts of things as well, so I would agree with Dorothy when she said, "I would be lost without technology in my classroom..." I even infuse technology with my classes that would typically not require technology.
Communicating to Others - I have found that email, blogs, podcasts, and the like has helped me to be a better communicator in some realms, and it has also hindered my communication as well. I use Power Points, LCD, Virtual Class, and other technologies to teach my classes and to perform staff developments. Without using technology I would not be in the same place in my same profession. In addition, I look at this class and the way we will all communicate in this class without many of us ever 'seeing' each other ever. That is cool and weird at the same time.
Supporting Technology - I am very involved in this area at my site, district, at home, and with my friends. When ever something is needed to be 'fixed' I am the go to guy. At times I wish there was no technology, like this morning, but then other days I love to solve those tech problems. :-) By harnessing the power of this masters program and technology itself I have helped my technology support by sending out weekly emails to my staff with the commonly asked question for the week or one I forsee coming down the tubes. This allows me to communicate to a large group of people at once and hopefully lighten my 'tech help' role.
Learning Contract
How many projects will I do?
Well I want the "A" so three is on the list. I am unsure of how I want to look at this. I might look at this from all three if that is ok. I wear all three hats at school and it would be neat to a preoject from all three angles. I might put in an application for the CUE conference as one of my projects. I also like the Podcast option, plus I get to work on my Podcasting class skills from this summer.
Session 1 Activity Log:
Simple: I made my blog and hit the blog tour starting 1-12-7
I hope I answered everything, and I look forward to our discussions online.
See you online,
Dale :-)
posted by dengman @ 11:36 AM
13 Comments:
Hi,
I teach Algebra and Geometry at Colton High School and I am intrigued by your mention of 'Virtual Class'. What is this?
Hello,
I like your comment about technology having helped you become a better communicator in some realms but hindered you in others. I relate to this statement. Technology is here to stay and is definitely an integral part of our society's well being. However, I feel that it can help prevent a more personal approach and part of the responsible educational leader is to find a way to close this gap.
Dale,
I have also found that emails have helped me become a better communicator and also hindered my communications as well. I like emails because it allows me to send the same information and communicate with all of my faculty at once. But that only works with the faculty who check their emails on a daily basis.
It sounds like you definitely have your hands full of technology. "See" you in class.
James
Virtual Class is a computer management system that is ran through your keyboard voa a keypad. It allows you the ability to control computers (lock, shutdown, broadcast, show their monitor to others) without any fancy software. It is an easy install and works great. I have used it for a few years now. It is from Farstone (www.farston.com I think).
Rosa, I agree with you about the personal approach and can disagree at the same time. With specific people I have a more personal relationship with them via the technology, and others I have less of a relationship with them because of technology.
James, I agree with you about the email and that the staff that reads it gets informed. When I write them up I think about my weekly staff meetings I attend and how much info I actually 'listen' to and hope that the majority of the staff gets informed :) All too often though I find myself repeating exactally what I sent out in the email a few more times face to face the day or two after I send out an email :-)
See you online.
Dale
Hello Dael,
Glad to see that you're in the class. I totally agree with your assessment of technology; at times it is a blessing and others it becomes a curse.
The virtula classroom sounds quite exciting.
Robert
Hi Dale,
I like your "Virtual Class", are you willing to share your ideas? I agree with you about technology helping you to communicate better, it has actually allowed me to reach out to more people than I would have time to by the phone. The hindrance for me would be my ignorance of all that technology has to offer and finding the time to try it. But, that doesn't mean that I won't try!!! :-)
Hi Dale,
I agree with you, beeing the go to guy in regards to technology may take be sometimes a bit of extra work, in my case like yours i'm sure I enjoy it because I can see that my analytical and problem solving skills keep improving and they allow me to do better in my master's courses. I'm glad that everyone in this class is very interested in technology and most of all how to improve the integration in education.
Well, Dale, here we are again. I too want the "A" so I plan to do all 3 projects, sanity permitting. I was interested in perhaps doing the podcast project. I was wondering if you would be interested in collaborating on that project as Dr. Newberry suggested. I was unable to take the podcasting class this sunmer, but I know you did. I would be really interested in learning. I would be honored if you could teach me. I always found you to be a good partner to work with. Please let me know what you think.
I too am looking at the conference thing too. I am also working on the Verizon grant that I recieved from Dr. Leh last quarter.
Looking forward to hear from you.
Great first session post Dale. I'm looking forward to seeing your project proposals as I expect to see some interesting things. Several (ok MANY) years ago I had a position not unlike yours. I ran the technology infrastructure at a school while holding a number of teaching roles. This allowed me to see things from all three (teacher, adminstrator, support) perspectives too.
Now I'm am not familiar at all with virtual class. I have however recently heard about a thing called Smart Boards, are they similar?
Virtual Class (http://www.farstone.com/ or http://www.farstone.com/software/virtual-class.htm) is a computer managment software that is easy to install and run. It allows you to shut down a kids computer by pressing a keypad without disturbing your presentation because of an additional keypad.
Virtual Class is quite different than a Smart Board product.
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