Educational Technology Hot Spot

Thank you for everyone who helped me create the Technology Thursday's Initiative.  I can't wait to implement it next year.  If you have any more ideas throughout the summer, please don't hesitate to e-mail or call me.  Have a wonderful summer!

My goal is to send out an e-mail in the middle of August to the Technology Thursday's Committee and to the staff asking for volunteers to join the Facilitating Committee.  We will plan to meet a couple of times together before the school year begins to ensure that everything is in place to begin the initiative at the start of the year.

I know everyone is busy with the end of the school year.  Only 7 more days left!  I have had a chance to talk with many people in passing about the Initiative.  If you have a minute, please look at the Initiative as it is coming together to give some input and ideas.  Thank you!

•  Applications are always accepted, but are only reviewed February 1^st, June 1^st, and October 15^th.
• Professional development must improve practice, curriculum, and student achievement.

• pursue degrees;
• pay indirect costs, grant administration fees, or salaries; and
• support travel costs or conference fees for more than one person.

• public school teachers in grades PreK–12;
• public school education support professionals, or;
• faculty and staff at public higher education institutions.  

Help me develop the vision statement by replying with your thoughts, opinions, and feedback.

The purpose of the Technology Thursday's initiative is to support educators in the integration of technology in the classroom.  The goal of this initiative is to increase the student engagement level and improve the student achievement.  With the use of technology, educators can provide differentiated instruction to students and assess them using a variety of different methods.

"We know now - based on decades of use in schools, on findings of hundreds of research studies, and on the everyday experiences of educators, students, and their families - that, properly used, technology can enhance the achievement of all students, increase families' involvement in their children's schooling, improve teachers' skills and knowledge, and improve school administration and management" (http://www.nsba.org/sbot/toolkit/tiol.html).

The goal of this initiative is to increase student engagement and enhance student achievement.  In order to achieve this goal, a committee will be formed and meet the first Thursday of each month to teach other educators a new technology program or resource.  Following the meeting, the committee members will support the educators in the use of the new program or resource to ensure they are successful in the classroom.  The goal is to encourage at least one educator per team to attend the Technology Thursday's and try out the new technology program or resource.

Hello Committee Members,

I have created a Google Site that has our Tech Plan.  Technology Thursday's Initiative

Please visit the site to stay updated as our Tech Plan develops.

I need your help.  Please take a couple of minutes to complete this survey: Faculty Educational Technology Needs Assessment Survey.  The results from this survey will help my team determine what our steps will be to create a plan for our Technology Initiative.


Here's the background...

With the increase in technology, new software and programs are being created on a regular basis.  Our students are immersed in technology and we, as educators, need to keep up with the new technology.  The plan for my Technology Initiative is to create a small committee of educators (teachers, administrators, instructional assistants, etc.) who are willing to meet monthly to become familiar with the new technology.  This committee will provide small workshops afterschool to keep educators up-to-date on the new technology.  The workshops will be hands-on learning and the educators will walk away the knowledge of new technology and some lessons/activities integrating the new technology.  Often times we attend workshops and in-services and are taught new programs and resources, but we don't get a chance to use and play around with the new program or resource.  Most teachers put the new program/resource aside and don't use it because they don't have time or are not sure how to integrate it into their curriculum.

The committee will visit classrooms to ensure the educators are comfortable using the new technology and will provide support.  The hope for this committee to ensure that educators are comfortably using technology on a regular basis.  This will help prepare students with the 21st century skills they need when they graduate.

I would like your help to make my Technology Initiative a success.  Please respond with your thoughts and feedback below to help promote discussion about the Technology Initiative.  The results from the above survey will help determine what educators are most interested in learning.  My hope would be to start with a couple afterschool workshops and expand the initiative from that point.

Welcome to the Educational Technology Hot Spot!  Together we will discuss and share about new technology and how we can use it within the classroom.  We can share our plans to help integrate more technology in the schools.