Group+2

Group 2: Vanessa, Mark , Cheryl

====Vanessa: Ok, here's a letter, very basic, that maybe we can build off of, add to, delete from, and edit to create our final product. Honestly, I won't be offended if you change anything, I know I didn't get an A in Writing class!!! ====

To Whom It May Concern,
====Our names are Vanessa Graan, Mark Montanye, and Cheryl Frankwick. We all have children in your district, and are writing to you regarding the use of technology in their schools. With the growing importance of technology and its impact on our everyday lives and our future, we believe that how technology is used in our children's education is very important, as they are our future. ==== ====We feel that our children need to be exposed to and taught to use the technology tools that will help them learn, create,  think critically, and communicate better, as well as prepare them for their future career opportunities. Technology has many powerful benefits, but we also feel that our children need to be taught how to use technology in positive ways. With the use of technology comes a lot of responsibility, and our children need to be taught how to use technology. ==== ====The following are some suggestions that we have in regards to the use of technology in our school district to better our children's education: ==== ====1.) Each teacher should have a website or an interactive wiki to supplement the lessons that are covered in class. Here, our students could ask questions, enter valuable educational discussions, collaborate, have access to assignments that they missed while absent, access online resources to aid their learning, and stay connected. T his will allow our district to save thousand of dollars on paper. ====

====2.) Our children need guidance as to how we can technology appropriately and for educational and civil growth. Along with technology comes a lot of responsibility. It is very important that our children use technology properly and do not abuse the opportunities it creates for us. We need to teach our children appropriate and responsible uses of this technology. We also have to tech our students how to evaluate the millions of sources of information that is available to them on the "web." Students also need a website and or Wiki that is monitored by the school. This can allow them to organize their electronic materials like an "electronic locker." In addition to having a website students will learn how to create and manage their own personal piece of cyberspace which will allow for their own personality and creativity to come out. With this jump to 21st century learning the school also needs to purchase the security that can watch for key words so those websites are monitored so as a district teachers, administrators, and certified staff can help students prepare for 21st century jobs while also be able to hold them accountable for cyber bullying. We expect teachers to monitor our children during classtime to guide their appropriate use of technology. ====

==== 3.) Each student in the district should have their own iPad, that they can use both at school and at home for educational purposes. A s other school districts and teachers across the country have already used the ipad in their classroom there is plenty of evidence out there that shows the advantages of having an ipad for every teacher and student. Aps are created by teachers and students every day that help teach/learn about all of the subjects our children study at school. As students learn different reading strategies and spend money on highlighters, post-it notes, pens, additional books the ipad can take care of all of these issues. There are many blogs by teachers that talk about the tools they have access to in the classroom because of their ipad. Lanschool technologies has created an application for the ipad that allows the teacher to control, blank out, check work and battery power of student ipads in the classroom at no cost in an effort to help classroom management problems with the advanced technology. ==== ====4.) <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Every classroom should also have a subscription to the appropriate Nystrom StrataLogica interactive maps. These interactive maps are digital, respond well with smart technology and are paired up with Google earth so students can study any part of the world or geographic feature that fits into their curriculum. Many students are reading //The Kite Runner//, this would allow students to zoom in and see the physical layout of Kabul, Afghanistan or any other feature from the novel to add to their understanding of the novel. The program allows for layering map information (GIS) and analyzing of physical, urban, political and cultural geography. ==== ==== 5.) <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Our current technology department works very hard and I commend them for that, especially for their diligence at keeping up with the fast pace technology. <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">What will help prepare our students for their future career opportunities we will need to allow for the growth of this technology department. We need technology staff that can not only help train students about the opportunities and dangers with technology in the 21st century but we need a technology department that can train the teachers and staff as well. Training our students for the 21st century is not going to be good enough. We need to teach in the 21st century with 21st century teachers and classrooms. We will also need money for the <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">network infrastructure. New IPads and tools will only work as well as the network allows. ==== ==== 6.) Lastly, we expect for the teachers to be educated in how they can use technology in their classrooms. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Our students are "﻿digital natives” while today’s educators are “digital immigrants.” We need to provide teachers the tools and education to incorporate these new technologies into their lessons in an educational sound manner. Technology in the classroom is dependent on devoted adults who are able to mentor and guide students in the appropriate use of these tools and it is only through teacher training that this will be accomplished. ====



<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">As involved parents we understand the challenges of cost in the classroom with these technology requests. However this is not merely a cost, but an investment. Our children growing up in the 21st century need to have literacy in all the subjects currently taught in our district; math, social studies, science, art, life skills, etc. etc. But these subject areas are not enough. In order for our children to be competitive in the job market locally and globally they also need to be competent with 21st century technology. As concerned parents we agree that it is in the district, and the community’s best interest to invest in the aforementioned technology to give our children and students in the Mukwonago Area School District the training they need to compete against their global competitors. Thank you very much for your time and consideration in these matters and we look forward to discussing this matter in the near future.

Sincerely,

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Technology Part 2 Task:
==**You are a group of parents interested in the enlightened use of technology in your school district. Create a document to present to them outlining recommendations you would like them to consider as they plan for technology integration for the future. Give the rationale for everything you suggest. Make it clear to them what educational beliefs you are working from. Be as specific as possible. Reference any of your readings to support your recommendations.**==
 * To go back to the list of sites from last week, Technology Part 1**
 * Here is the link from Mark: Discovery Education**

lets make a list of things that we feel we would like to include in our letter Checkout group's one's site. Cheri I think we should start with the "Did You Know" Video

Mark - List of items - I pad - Smart Board Technologies (these can lock up computers so kids can't play games while your teaching, I'm sure it can do the same with an i pad. - Smart slate (allows students to control the smart board from their desk)  - Clicker that will allow students to answer questions from their seat. Nobody will see it, that way it protects the privacy of the student but provides instand feedback for the teacher regarding the students understanding of a topic.  - Nystrom logitech maps. Interactive maps that combine with google earth so students can zoom in on cities and terrain from remote areas all over the world to integrate geography into other classes (literature for settings in a novel, social studies, science for physical earth science, math for measuring distance, rate etc).

==Compile a list of issues, questions and challenges facing K-12 education today and in the decade(s) ahead - related to technology change. (include a brief explanation of why you think this will be important):==

Cheri---I really worry about student’s communication skills. Students are communicating with each other with texting or Facebook. No one talks to each other face to face. Oral communication is still a very important skill necessary to function in the working world. Communication skills are one of the top concerns of recruiters.

As technology changes so rapidly, we as teachers should not be afraid to experiment but that requires time so we can incorporate technology to create an engaging learning environment not just use it to use technology.

In “A Portal to Media Literacy” a YouTube lecture by Professor Michael Wesch, he quotes Barbara Harrell Carson, " Students learn what they care about, from people they care about and who, they know, care about them." Can we do this without face-to-face interaction, I believe especially in high school there needs to be caring teachers who truly believe in their students’ potential. This cannot be conveyed through some technologies.


 * Mark - I echo your thoughts about communication skills. It seems not just students but people are losing the importance of face to face communication and how that simple effort sends the message to someone that they are important. The face to face contact helps build relationships in any work environment that makes it a pleasent and more productive environment. However the lack of contact makes is so people do not feel connected to their work and therefor less inspired to perform to the best that they can resulting in a less productive society. **


 * I had a few thoughts from different sites. First the "Did you know" youtube clip. A lot of those facts were staggering and made me think about the future of the United States and how will we stay competitive in such an globally competetive world. Then the last fact hit me . . . "70% of the facts used in the video were 100% made up." That's a classic line I've used before. But when preparing students for the future it is important to teach them to be critical thinkers, challenge ideas and the information that they hear so that they can find the truth. Especially with the growth of technology and access information this also means a drastic increase in access to false information that people can and will take to be true! If we can teach our students to be independent thinkers then they will be successful. **


 * I liked the multiple video clips with students talking about how much technology they use in their lives but how little they use in class. To me this is one of the larger issues facing schools, the technology gap. I see in the future for schools the constant struggle to keep up with the growth in technology. There are so many factors that prevent this from happening and yet it seems everywhere you go people agree it is necessary. The number one factor that prevents schools from keeping up is the financial burden. It is more than just purchasing new technology, it is also knowing how to incorporate it into your classroom. Teachers want to use them but they always say they don't have time to learn it (speaking for myself and from what I have heard from others). The good news is that there are training opportunities and graduate credits that teachers can enroll in to learn about it. All they have to do is pay for it, or continue with out it and keep teaching with no changes (which is much easier). This is why the gap continues to grow between teachers technology literacy and students. Thinking of my school it is so hard to get out of the classroom to do a creative project because we have two computer labs and one traveling cart of labtops . . . for 1,700 students. The accessability is not there. In a globalized world we need to reach out and use the world as our classroom, not the four walls that surround us. We need to escape those walls either physically or mentally with the help of technology. I am intrigued by the website epals. One of my friends sent that to me a couple weeks ago to find a way for my world geography class to connect with the world outside the US. I have not had time to look at it much outside of this assignment and I am interested to figure a way to incorporate it into my curriculum. I just feel like there is so much out there I need to spend time on and work with to bring the 21st century to my classroom I just need to find that time. **
 * A new link from an e-mail with Discovery Education. It seemed fitting. **
 * [] **
 * (Emmy: Thanks for the above link. Take a look everybody!) **


 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">﻿Vanessa: **

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**At first when I was watching the "Did You Know?' video, I was thinking, technology is allowing us to do so much more, the fact said is all from this presentation, that in 2049, a new super computer could be purchased for $1000, that will have computational capabilities exceeding that of the entire human race... Wow! I thought of my own life and how much I use technology today. I hate to admit it, but I don't even think I would know how to book an airplane flight if I didn't have the internet. Google has become my best friend, and I am constantly looking up quick bits of information on my iphone, good restaurants in a new town that I got to by booking a flight online for the best deal at priceline.com! The phone number of the restaurant that I can't even remember the name of, and all I know is that it's a sushi restaurant and somewhere in Milwaukee or Waukesha county... But it can't be all good, so what are the challenges that technology pose to our education? First of all, how do we prepare our students for their future careers, which don't even exist yet, the technologies for them don't even exist, and the problems they will solve don't even exist. Half of what we teach our students will be outdated within two years? Really, we have to teach them to be critical thinkers, lifelong learners, to make themselves marketable, to be open minded, to be proactive... Then I got to the last line of most updated version of the video..."70% of the facts in this presentation are 100% made up." This brings up another HUGE defect of technology. All of what's written on the web is written by us humans. If a random person in passing had told me a fact, I wouldn't hold it as truth as they do not have much credibility. Why should I believe them just because they know enough to post their information online. We really need to teach our students to not abuse the information online, and to make sure their online sources are valid and reliable, because many of them are not.**

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**In "How Twitter Will Change The Way We Live," I read about how "tweets" can be used to hold an open conversation with a small group of people, many points of view and critical thinking may go on, and the conversation could branch out to the whole world wide web, and a conversation can go on between people from all different areas, experiences, even countries. But what are the negatives here? With the "Tweets" that many children and teens make, will there be a decrease in attention span? They are limiting themselves to reading and writing two sentence blogs. Or will the fact that they are reading and writing at all strongly outweigh the negatives. Will the quality of their formal writing go down, along with the quality of the information they read and write? Although more can be said with technology, I think more can be understood with face to face to face interaction.**

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**The article "Moving Toward Web 2.0 in K-12 Education" highlighted a lot of the very positive benefits of using technology as an educational tool. Wiki's can promote discussion, participation, proactivity, passionate interest, expression, collaboration, engagement, and critical thinking. There are negatives to using technology, and so we have to use it carefully, but technology is such a powerful educational tool that we need to address these negatives and figure out how to work with them so that technology can be used positively.**

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**I also agree with what Cheri said about face to face interaction. I once heard a quote, "Students don't care what you know until they know that you care." I do not know who said the quote, but I always remember it and truly believe it. The less we see our students face to face, the less opportunity we have to build a positive relationship with them. In order for them to respect me and what information and practices I have to share with them, they need to know that I truly care about them. Right now, I have plenty of time to build this positive relationship, but if technology is truly growing exponentially, and I believe it is, then what will happen in 2049 to the relationship I have with my students?**