Module 3 Posting

Many of today's teaching standards promote the use of technology within the classroom.  All of the ISTE Standards involve the integration of technology and it's use within the classroom to facilitate learning.  Their purpose is to make today's students operate in today's digital age.  There are several references to the use of technology in the WVPTS, as well.

As a substitute, I do not have one permanent school that I work at.  Typically, I visit different schools every day, and in different counties.  I suppose one way I could start and go about accessing the technology needs is to pick the school I work at most frequently and see if there are any teachers who would be willing to assist me with information about certain technology needs in their classroom or school.  As one of the schools I substitute frequently at was my PDS school for most of my undergrad, I don't think this will be a problem.  I think the best place for me to start would be to find a group of teacher that I can easily access and interview them on their concerns for what technology might be needed within the school.

Chapter 5
There are so many free resources out there that are available to everyone.  Social media is simply one of them.  The use of Facebook for communication seems to be beneficial, especially since so many people have it available to them already.  I think the use of workshops is also very helpful.  My mother has never been the most up-to-date on technology trends and has a difficult time even checking her email, so Facebook and Twitter would be completely foreign to her.  Having a workshop, though, where she and other parents like her could go to learn about the communication resources in place with the school, whether it's through Facebook or Twitter or something else, would be helpful.  If parents don't know how to use the technology, then it's not really going to have to desired effect.

I have seen several schools who have also started using websites to put classwork and notes out on the web.  This has mostly occurred in schools where all the students have iPads and carry them around daily.  I think this is a really good idea even in schools that don't have that implemented, however.  Then, if a student misses school, they can get the notes and assignments that day, and not have to wait until they return to school to get it.  It makes this a lot more effective than the old school homework request.  Also, parents can access the information as well and see directly what their students have been doing in class.

Chapter 6
Throughout every school I visit, there is relatively no social media presence made by the schools.  Social media (Facebook, Youtube, etc.) are blocked from the school computers, and can only be accessed by a teacher if they put in their information.  This was very frustrating for me when I was student teaching as I used Youtube videos in many of my lessons.  I had to learn how to download videos to show in the classroom, because simply accessing the site took far too long.

I was present several days in one school while the teachers were planning the R&R reward for their students.  They were discussing the different rooms that would be available to the students, which included movie rooms and an "electronics" room.  However, the principals had said that the students were not allowed to use their phones or any other device that could access social media, which the teachers pointed out was basically every device out there.  This shows just how big a thing social media is nowadays.  All the devices we have at our disposal (phones, iPods, iPads, etc.) have access to the apps that allow students to get onto them.  This particular school is very against social media, which I do understand, but so much to the point that some resources, like cellphones, can't be used.

Though this school has always seemed a little more extreme in their cellphone and social media policies, I've seen similar attitudes throughout many schools and many counties.  There is a great bias against social media and the harm it can do.  However, I think most just focus on the downfalls, and that hinders the good that these outlets could potentially provide.