Brainstorming+a+Study

===I need some help! I have been given the task of figuring out what our department needs to teach in terms of the 21st century teaching and learning skills. So ~ I could google "21st century teaching and learning" and then find out what the articles written by others suggest. But ~ those people don't know our students, so what they suggest may not be of use or beneficial for our BSU students. So ~ I thought I'd conduct a mini-action research project to help me figure this out. And here I am....NEEDING SOME HELP. Where should I go first?? DocFord===


 * There seems to be a bit of confusion... this is my AR study for the summer...I always do one each time I teach this course...so I'm asking for some feedback from you...to help me get going on my study. **
 * There seems to be a bit of confusion... this is my AR study for the summer...I always do one each time I teach this course...so I'm asking for some feedback from you...to help me get going on my study. **

So I'm guessing you are in the Gathering Info phase of your AR study - Gathering information! I couldn't agree more with my fellow classmates that we must be prepared for the 21st century with the technology available. Many have listed things I've never heard of as a teacher and some I have been involved with only as a parent with my children's schools. I think you should do some form of survey to see who is using particular technology or has heard of it to determine what might be most important for your BSU students. I also thought the grant writing idea listed by Melissa was excellent as many schools do not have the technology available or channel all their technology fund into one school as a magnet. As educators educating future and current educators, this is a great topic for your AR study! Beth Barrett

As a kindergarten teacher, I would like to know what kind of technology is appropriate for my young children. What skills are important to be teaching them at this stage of their education? We set a very important foundation in kindergarten and I strongly believe that 21st century skills should be a big part of this and our teaching. Missy Bohannon

Doctor Ford, ~ I'm pretty sure this is not the way I'm supposed to respond to your posting, but I didn't understand how to do it otherwise.)

When you talk about your department, do you mean the education department? A big focus that I would like to learn more about is science inquiry, or inquiry projects period. It would be nice to learn how some public schools have focused their curriculum around inquiry-based learning. Secondly, judging from our discussions last week, I think many of us could benefit from learning more about motivating students, and perhaps motivating parents to motivate their children. So far, the things I've learned in classes (and I've learned some great stuff) have not helped me with many of my unmotivated families.

I hope these ideas are helpful. Jennifer DeArmitt

One of my recent BSU classes did some in-depth work around the idea of 21st century teaching and learning. One of the topics we discussed is how our students are engaged in multimedia outside of the classroom, and how capturing their interest through use of technology can make learning a more personal experience. We learned about having students create and share podcasts, create class wikis on a variety of topics, and interact with technology in and out of the classroom. We discussed how our textbooks are only one resource, and that the vast internet can serve as a greater resource for students. I think inquiry-based learning also helps to meet the needs of 21st century learners. Debbie Smith

I agree with many of Debbie’s previous comments. Our students engage in so much multimedia outside of our classroom, that I don’t even know how to use. I feel very behind in this area. I consider myself competent with technology and able to pick it up quickly, but after a year of using a SmartBoard, I am somewhat frustrated. I know there are so many cool things I could do, but how to EFFECTIVELY incorporate it into lessons is my struggle. This is also the same when I bring my students to the computer lab. I feel like I do not know how to use technology as a tool to actually improve student learning. I don’t just want websites to use, I want a list of ideas of what other classrooms have done with them. My students are excited to go to the computer lab every week and use the SmartBoard, but I don’t think as much learning as I would like to see taking place each time. To summarize what I am trying to say, I want to know how to efficiently and successfully incorporate technology (that most schools have access to) in my class. -Amanda Bedel

Technology is going to be a huge component in our students' lives as they become adults. Look how much our world has changed in just the past 10 years! I didn't even have email when I was in college and I graduated in 1998! As teachers I feel we are kind of behind the times with the use of technology. I currently have my 3rd graders do several powerpoints a year. There are some educators in my building who are not able to do this because they don't know how to use powerpoint. Educators can't let this happen. Just because we are not comfortable with technology doesn't mean we can't limit our students. I find when I do use technology in the classroom it creates an experience that the students of today can identify with and they seem more engaged in the lesson. We have to create experiences for our students that are meaningful and they find useful. Reading out of a textbook is not useful to them. How can we use technology to create useful, meaningful, engaging lessons for our students? Amy Brandau

Dr. Ford,

I am a 5th grade teacher at a very technology driven school. All of my students have laptops, I have a laptop, Elmo, and a Smartboard. My students are able to locate articles using our library's website link to Webpath Express. They check out books on their own using a scanner. My students are also very knowledgeable about Powerpoints, web searches, and online educational games. We use our own online learning community called "Launchpad" to have chats and post to forums. Once a month my students take benchmark tests on their laptops and this year we took ISTEP on our laptops for the first time. I don't think there is a day that goes by that we don't use our laptops. As an educator of these very technologically advanced students I would like to learn more about using my Smartboard, blogging and wikis in the classroom. I have so much technology at my finger tips and I add a little more to my expertise each year, but would like to continue to learn more. I think teachers could greatly benefit from learning about online learning communities such as Moodle to enhance student engagement. Another route for educating teachers might be how to apply for grants in technology because many schools don't have the funding to buy computers for each classroom. The kids already know how to use the technology (many of them anyway), I think it's more about getting the teachers more comfortable with using the technology.

Melissa Gannon

﻿I've taken a couple of your courses before and I've found it very helpful to be required to use and learn about new technology and programs. I feel very comfortable with creating blogs, Wiki's, creating Prezi's... By learning this technology has made me more likely to use it within my classroom. My main problem is that I don't have technology available at my school. We have 4 computers per classroom and no computer lab/cart. It makes it challenging to implement the technology.

Through Ball State, I've appreciated the professors that have utilized the video lectures. It feels as if I get to know them and learn more from them. -- Lizzie Pope

Dr. Ford, I have to agree with the others in the class that of all the things I have learned while taking my masters, technology in the classroom is the one thing that was not covered and the one thing I believe I really need to know more about. I know this is an area all of the teachers in my grade level struggle with. We have laptop time daily to work on Acuity skills, but we need some other ideas so that the kids do not get burnt out on test pracitce. We also have computer lab time each week and are constantly asking eachother what we are going to do in there this week. I not only want to find new ways to use technology for my class but ways that will enhance student learning and go along with the standards I am already teaching.

Courtney Scholz

Dr. Ford, I teach at a lower technology school. We have smart boards in our classrooms so that is wonderful, but our classroom computers- the 1 of 3 that works regularly, has very little on it and is slower than molasses. In a technology driven world it is important to know what technology basics schools need to have to enhance their learning experiences. I think some schools are not aware where they can get the best bang for their buck on technology. For example, you can buy a microphone at Wal Mart for $15. You can download Audacity for free. This microphone can be used to make podcasts by students for fairly cheap prices. If schools knew how easy it truly was more of them may look into spending money on microphones. Does this make sense?

I think you need to focus on what schools need to enhance already great learning experiences for our students.

Shelly Engle

I think that a direction you could go would be to teach us (your BSU students) the best and easiest ways to incorporate technology into our classroom for multiple subject areas, with limited resources. I teach with Shelly, and like she said, we are definitely at a lower technology school, besides our smart boards in our classrooms. I am terrible about incorporating technology into my classroom simply because I don't always know what the easiest things to use are out there. Sure, I take my class to the computer lab once a week for their 30 minutes. But, I know it's not enough. The computers in our rooms are so old, that they barely work half the time. We are getting a new computer lab, but with used computers, so I'm not sure it will even be worth it. I would like to know how to make good use of the my time allotted. What are some cool activities that I could do with my kids that don't require high speed internet and top of the line computers? I have hard rumors of our school eventually moving towards have iPads for each student, but for now, I need to learn how to use the little technology I have.

Hilary Parker

Dr. Ford, As you know, many of us are teachers hoping to learn valuable information that is applicable to our classrooms. With that said and with regards to 21 century education, I think it is profoundly important to learn various forms/methods of implementing 21st century tools. Some questions I ask myself when considering 21st century learning and teaching is; what are some available 21st century tools? How can we find or learn about these tools? What are some ways of implementing 21st century tools? What is the benefit of implementing 21st century teaching in my classroom? I hope this help......

Thank you, Malynda Fields

Dr. Ford, Sorry if I am not doing this correctly, I tried to write my comment under this one, and it won't let me type anything. I agree with most that technology is one of the most important tools in the 21st century. So many kids know how to use basic technology (ie. internet, social networking, games, etc.) however they need much more to be successful and knowledgeable about technology. I have to admit that this is my first wiki experience. I have never been asked to participate in these discussions and use these tools before enrolling in my masters program at Ball State. I found it difficult to use Blackboard for the first time, but I have become more comfortable with it as I have progressed through my classes. There are some things that our students cannot teach themselves and I wish I new more than what I do. I would love to take some classes on technology and ways to use it in my classroom and with my students. Technology is only going progress as time goes by and we need to be able to progress with it in order to pass it along to our students.

Thanks, Kelly Weaver

I am not sure if this is how I post...I am going to go with it and see how it turns out!

I think in wanting to know more about educating our youth in the 21st century I want to know more about technology. What can I be doing in my classroom in regards to technology to benefit my students. What can I be getting away from so I can find more time to incorporate technology. Should we be wasting our time with handwriting and spelling because soon everything will be typed and spell checked. Also, how do we get our parents motivated to help their children. How can we get parents to see the importance of education like we do. It is shocking to me the number of parents that feel education and discipline take place at school alone. How can we facilitate an understanding of teamwork in their child's education. Audra Jahn

There are a lot of 21st century teaching techniques that I would like to learn more about and learn how I could incorporate them into my own teaching. There is a lot of __application software__ out there that teachers can get for free to help enhance their lessons. Where are these found? And which ones are most beneficial and easiest to use?

I would also like to learn how to incorporate a blog into my classroom. What is the best website for having your own classroom blog? How can blogs be incorporated into my lessons? I would like to find ways to work a __blog__ into my literature circles for groups to share their thoughts.

Other things that I think are essential for teachers to learn about and become familiar with are __interactive white boards__, __pod casts__, __web quests,__ and where to find __virtual manipulatives__. Indiana is pushing teachers to rely much less on textbooks and to get the majority of our resources from the internet. Teachers need to know where to go and how to best utilize them in the classroom.
 * Daniel Wheat**