Of all of the people in the school building, as a group, no one is more excited about using technology than the students. By sixth grade, most students can create and save a Word document and save it to the appropriate space. Many can design a Power point slide presentation. Most, if not all, can access the internet via web address. Skills that students need to perfect are: conducting a search via Google or other search engines; correcting work through Spelling and Grammar Check; and using e-mail constructively and safely. Students also need to use the computers in an educational tool, not as a free time activity. Many students do not have computers at home, and if they do, very few have internet access.
The focus should be in integrating the curriculum with learning tasks that include technology. This is what helps maintain student interest that is needed to retain knowledge. Teacher training at the school level should be mandatory and include methods of integrating technology. The district initiative does devote space to this plan, but does not mention that it is for teachers to follow nor are the specifics detailed.
Heath does mention that websites will be published weekly that support the curriculum objectives and that the Technology Facilitators would get together to write curriculum that supports the content standards, but these are being put together by staff that have little knowledge of the new curriculum and subject matter.
There is much resistance to learning to use an electronic grade book or electronic lesson plans because they are not mandated in the employee contracts. If staff does not know how to use these simple tools, one wonders where this will leave the students in becoming literate in technology. This is backward thinking. In the next negotiation session, the school board needs to toughen up and demand technological literacy from the staff.
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