Toby Johnson Middle School Digital Learning Inventory
Summary of Technology
Each of our classrooms at Toby Johnson Middle School has a teacher computer with Windows 7operating system and Microsoft Office 7 software installed with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Publisher. Most classrooms have an LED projector, a document camera, and video streaming for school wide bulletins. There are computer lab classrooms, library computer labs with two banks of 20 computers, and a mobile cart of 30 laptop computers which can be scheduled if they are available. One particular teacher uses these primarily for their class. The Special Education classrooms have between 3 to 6 student computers. We have three computer lab classrooms that have 38, 34, and 32 computers for our computer technology classes, yearbook, Photo Shop and video productions. The video productions class has a mix of PC’s and Mac’s. They use Final Cut Express and Imovie for their productions. Some teachers do utilize wiki pages and blogs for their classrooms.
Teacher Websites
Our school currently subscribes to Schoolloop, which allows each teacher to have their website or teachers can create their own website. Teachers are able to post brief biographies, pictures, team, school and classroom information, news, resources, documents and websites. All teachers are encouraged to use Schoolloop. It allows for e-mails between teachers, parents, and students, as well as posting grades, assignments, and any attachments such as PowerPoint notes. Students are able to e-mail one another, and groups can be created for teacher and student use. The use of Schoolloop varies among teachers, but all use it as their grade book and parent/student contact for those who are registered.
The district also has their own wikispaces and edublogs that all district teachers are able to utilize.
My Classroom Technology
Technology is used daily in my classroom. PowerPoint’s are embedded with video clips or internet
links using a LED projector. A document camera is used to model the assignments and give feedback on student
work. Since videos can add to the lesson and curriculum You Tube videos are used frequently. Using the www.myavidonline.org I access video and audio teacher and student information. Videos and lessons are
available to share with students. Recently I have also created a Wikispace that will be utilized in my classroom as well as an edublog.
Websites & Tools Used by TJMS Teachers
AVID Online/MyAVID – An informational site regarding AVID, resources, blogs, and curriculum development. There is an availability of AVID curriculum, training resources, videos, blogs, and discussion forums.
California Career Zone - Provides career assessments and exploration.
California Leans – An instructional resource portal for teachers and students. This had previously been at no charge to the teachers and district, but now is fee based. The site contains curriculum plans, videos, staff development, media resources and World Book Encyclopedias.
Cicero – This is an online K-12 fee based digital resource focused on United States History consisting of lesson plans, primary sources, standards, rubrics, assessments, activities, videos, games, and interactive maps.
Drive of Your Life- Interactive career exploration website for students utilized by the special education department and other teachers on campus.
Edublog- Teachers utilize edublog to keep students, parents and staff informed.
Elk Grove Unified School District – The district website has information regarding curriculum, Common Core and content standards. It also includes several links, blogs and tools for using the internet safely.
eShare - Students at the school are able to upload photos to eShare for the yearbook from online or an app.
Facebook – The yearbook class and the 8th grade Washington D.C. travelers each have pages to communicate with students and parents.
Final Cut Express – A MacBook video editing program used in video productions.
eDesign and eBusiness – Both of these sites are through Herff Jones who is the publisher of the school yearbook. eDesign is the program/site yearbook staff designs the yearbook. eBusiness then tracks the online yearbook sales.
Glogster - Allows students to create collage type assignments while embedding text and links to resources.
Holt McDougal Online- The social science and textbooks are supported on this site. Teachers supply students with a password and students are able to access a digital version of their textbook.
iMovie – A Mac Book video program used in video productions class.
Khan Academy – An interactive site for students and teachers. Students are able to complete math practice; teachers can monitor progress of students. An array of video clips is also available.
National Geographic Photography - Provides photos from around the globe on a variety of topics.
Pulitzer Center - Website that has lesson plans, articles and pictures related to global topics.
SEIS – Special Education Information System is the secure website the special education teachers use to write their IEP’s. SEIS allows for easier and quicker information regarding students when students move between schools.
Schoolloop – This is an all encompassing site that allows for a grade book, document management system, email, and staff websites. The site allows for discussions groups between students and teachers, and easy access to email for teacher, students and parents who are registered. All teachers use the grade book and email components. There is a translation component allowing the viewer to change the language setting to one of nine languages besides English, allowing for all parents to have access to their child’s school news and grades.
Science Fridays- A website that the Science teachers use to embed video science clips into their PowerPoint presentations.
Teacher Tube - Allows teachers to access video clips for classes and save their own videos, this site is blocked for students.
You Tube - Allows teachers to access video clips for classes and save their own videos, this site is blocked for students.
Welcome to the Web - Allows students to learn about the internet, on-line safety and tricks to use the internet more effectively.
Wikispaces - Teachers utilize wikispaces to keep parents, students and staff informed.
Evaluating student technology literacy
The computer technology classes test student’s technology literacy in several units including keyboarding, word processing, spreadsheets and data, multimedia presentations, computer concepts, and publishing. A series of
assignments leads to a culminating project demonstrating mastery. Students must obtain an 85% on each standard to pass the standard.
Students suggestions for incorporating technology
Students would like to be able to use Kindles, I-phones, I-pads, and laptops in all classes. They would like to be able to obtain all textbooks online, so they do not need to carry their books, and have access to them at all times, even in classes. Also, they would like lessons to be in digital and/or audio format so they have the ability to refer back to them at a later time. Students are interested in completing projects in a digital format such as Glogster rather than only creating paper projects and would enjoy making videos for presentations.
Tools to Assist in Achieving District Objectives
Having access to laptops or IPads on a regular basis for student use would be a benefit to both students and teachers. Teachers would be able to integrate more technology into their lessons and classrooms without the worries of how students will access it when they leave for the day. The IPads are less expensive and smaller than traditional laptops so they would be easier to store. By having these items teachers would be able to facilitate research, differentiated lessons, opportunities for individualizing student learning plans, as well as classroom to classroom collaborations. Professional development opportunities would need to be made available to teachers and staff who would want to take advantage of using additional technology in the classroom.
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
My school has a strict no electronics policy. Students are prohibited from using any electronics during the school
day. The administration does believe there will be an emergence of the electronic on campus to use throughout the curriculum in the near future. The conversation to begin incorporating these devices needs to occur soon.
Solutions/Suggestions
Toby Johnson Middle School is using technology in their classrooms, but it could be optimized to better prepare our students. Additional classroom sets of laptops or classroom sets of IPads that are readily available to teachers and classrooms would be optimal. Additionally, the administration, teachers and parent representatives need to begin the conversations regarding “Bring Your Own Device” to school to assist with teaching and learning. Teachers who are willing to implement this in their classrooms could be allowed to do so. Professional development for teachers to assist in teaching technology and implementing digital learning experiences such as podcasting and other Web 2.0 applications would be necessary. The district does offer some professional development courses for integrating technology (such as Google Docs, wikis, and Edublogs) and how the technology relates to Common Core. There would need to be release time for teachers in order to observe those teachers who are utilizing technology in the classroom, so digital experiences could expand. Due to extensive funding problems and concerns in our district and state at this time we need to apply for various grants or solicit donation from local businesses to obtain funding for the technology and professional development. With this being stated, there are many teachers at my school who are using technology to enhance learning. There is more technology implementation than I originally thought. Our school does have a ways to go to be using technology to its fullest potential and benefit to students.
References for Integrating Technology in the Classroom
Each of our classrooms at Toby Johnson Middle School has a teacher computer with Windows 7operating system and Microsoft Office 7 software installed with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Publisher. Most classrooms have an LED projector, a document camera, and video streaming for school wide bulletins. There are computer lab classrooms, library computer labs with two banks of 20 computers, and a mobile cart of 30 laptop computers which can be scheduled if they are available. One particular teacher uses these primarily for their class. The Special Education classrooms have between 3 to 6 student computers. We have three computer lab classrooms that have 38, 34, and 32 computers for our computer technology classes, yearbook, Photo Shop and video productions. The video productions class has a mix of PC’s and Mac’s. They use Final Cut Express and Imovie for their productions. Some teachers do utilize wiki pages and blogs for their classrooms.
Teacher Websites
Our school currently subscribes to Schoolloop, which allows each teacher to have their website or teachers can create their own website. Teachers are able to post brief biographies, pictures, team, school and classroom information, news, resources, documents and websites. All teachers are encouraged to use Schoolloop. It allows for e-mails between teachers, parents, and students, as well as posting grades, assignments, and any attachments such as PowerPoint notes. Students are able to e-mail one another, and groups can be created for teacher and student use. The use of Schoolloop varies among teachers, but all use it as their grade book and parent/student contact for those who are registered.
The district also has their own wikispaces and edublogs that all district teachers are able to utilize.
My Classroom Technology
Technology is used daily in my classroom. PowerPoint’s are embedded with video clips or internet
links using a LED projector. A document camera is used to model the assignments and give feedback on student
work. Since videos can add to the lesson and curriculum You Tube videos are used frequently. Using the www.myavidonline.org I access video and audio teacher and student information. Videos and lessons are
available to share with students. Recently I have also created a Wikispace that will be utilized in my classroom as well as an edublog.
Websites & Tools Used by TJMS Teachers
AVID Online/MyAVID – An informational site regarding AVID, resources, blogs, and curriculum development. There is an availability of AVID curriculum, training resources, videos, blogs, and discussion forums.
California Career Zone - Provides career assessments and exploration.
California Leans – An instructional resource portal for teachers and students. This had previously been at no charge to the teachers and district, but now is fee based. The site contains curriculum plans, videos, staff development, media resources and World Book Encyclopedias.
Cicero – This is an online K-12 fee based digital resource focused on United States History consisting of lesson plans, primary sources, standards, rubrics, assessments, activities, videos, games, and interactive maps.
Drive of Your Life- Interactive career exploration website for students utilized by the special education department and other teachers on campus.
Edublog- Teachers utilize edublog to keep students, parents and staff informed.
Elk Grove Unified School District – The district website has information regarding curriculum, Common Core and content standards. It also includes several links, blogs and tools for using the internet safely.
eShare - Students at the school are able to upload photos to eShare for the yearbook from online or an app.
Facebook – The yearbook class and the 8th grade Washington D.C. travelers each have pages to communicate with students and parents.
Final Cut Express – A MacBook video editing program used in video productions.
eDesign and eBusiness – Both of these sites are through Herff Jones who is the publisher of the school yearbook. eDesign is the program/site yearbook staff designs the yearbook. eBusiness then tracks the online yearbook sales.
Glogster - Allows students to create collage type assignments while embedding text and links to resources.
Holt McDougal Online- The social science and textbooks are supported on this site. Teachers supply students with a password and students are able to access a digital version of their textbook.
iMovie – A Mac Book video program used in video productions class.
Khan Academy – An interactive site for students and teachers. Students are able to complete math practice; teachers can monitor progress of students. An array of video clips is also available.
National Geographic Photography - Provides photos from around the globe on a variety of topics.
Pulitzer Center - Website that has lesson plans, articles and pictures related to global topics.
SEIS – Special Education Information System is the secure website the special education teachers use to write their IEP’s. SEIS allows for easier and quicker information regarding students when students move between schools.
Schoolloop – This is an all encompassing site that allows for a grade book, document management system, email, and staff websites. The site allows for discussions groups between students and teachers, and easy access to email for teacher, students and parents who are registered. All teachers use the grade book and email components. There is a translation component allowing the viewer to change the language setting to one of nine languages besides English, allowing for all parents to have access to their child’s school news and grades.
Science Fridays- A website that the Science teachers use to embed video science clips into their PowerPoint presentations.
Teacher Tube - Allows teachers to access video clips for classes and save their own videos, this site is blocked for students.
You Tube - Allows teachers to access video clips for classes and save their own videos, this site is blocked for students.
Welcome to the Web - Allows students to learn about the internet, on-line safety and tricks to use the internet more effectively.
Wikispaces - Teachers utilize wikispaces to keep parents, students and staff informed.
Evaluating student technology literacy
The computer technology classes test student’s technology literacy in several units including keyboarding, word processing, spreadsheets and data, multimedia presentations, computer concepts, and publishing. A series of
assignments leads to a culminating project demonstrating mastery. Students must obtain an 85% on each standard to pass the standard.
Students suggestions for incorporating technology
Students would like to be able to use Kindles, I-phones, I-pads, and laptops in all classes. They would like to be able to obtain all textbooks online, so they do not need to carry their books, and have access to them at all times, even in classes. Also, they would like lessons to be in digital and/or audio format so they have the ability to refer back to them at a later time. Students are interested in completing projects in a digital format such as Glogster rather than only creating paper projects and would enjoy making videos for presentations.
Tools to Assist in Achieving District Objectives
Having access to laptops or IPads on a regular basis for student use would be a benefit to both students and teachers. Teachers would be able to integrate more technology into their lessons and classrooms without the worries of how students will access it when they leave for the day. The IPads are less expensive and smaller than traditional laptops so they would be easier to store. By having these items teachers would be able to facilitate research, differentiated lessons, opportunities for individualizing student learning plans, as well as classroom to classroom collaborations. Professional development opportunities would need to be made available to teachers and staff who would want to take advantage of using additional technology in the classroom.
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
My school has a strict no electronics policy. Students are prohibited from using any electronics during the school
day. The administration does believe there will be an emergence of the electronic on campus to use throughout the curriculum in the near future. The conversation to begin incorporating these devices needs to occur soon.
Solutions/Suggestions
Toby Johnson Middle School is using technology in their classrooms, but it could be optimized to better prepare our students. Additional classroom sets of laptops or classroom sets of IPads that are readily available to teachers and classrooms would be optimal. Additionally, the administration, teachers and parent representatives need to begin the conversations regarding “Bring Your Own Device” to school to assist with teaching and learning. Teachers who are willing to implement this in their classrooms could be allowed to do so. Professional development for teachers to assist in teaching technology and implementing digital learning experiences such as podcasting and other Web 2.0 applications would be necessary. The district does offer some professional development courses for integrating technology (such as Google Docs, wikis, and Edublogs) and how the technology relates to Common Core. There would need to be release time for teachers in order to observe those teachers who are utilizing technology in the classroom, so digital experiences could expand. Due to extensive funding problems and concerns in our district and state at this time we need to apply for various grants or solicit donation from local businesses to obtain funding for the technology and professional development. With this being stated, there are many teachers at my school who are using technology to enhance learning. There is more technology implementation than I originally thought. Our school does have a ways to go to be using technology to its fullest potential and benefit to students.
References for Integrating Technology in the Classroom
Edutopia Moblie Learning Guide | |
File Size: | 2222 kb |
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Tools and Resources for Global Classrooms | |
File Size: | 693 kb |
File Type: |