Teacher's Point of View

Who better than to tell us how technology can improve our students' learning than those who see what it can do everyday? The wonderful teachers we have in our classrooms can provide a great "from the trenches" view of what the money this referendum would provide to our students. An article that I read recently gives concrete examples of this perspective.

The article, "Technology's Value in Education" reports the results of a national survey of K-12 teachers. This survey asked simple and concrete questions about the ways that these wonderful individuals use (or would use) technology to maximize their students learning. These statements could be used as great "sound bites" when talking to anyone about the potential that the referendum could provide to our students.

Classroom Benefits
Technology:

• Improves academic performance related to a variety of skills including math, writing, collaborative problem solving, organization/planning, visual and information literacy, creativity, risk taking, project based learning, and interpersonal skills
• Increases student attention
• Can be more effective than teachers in conveying some information

Parent Involvement
Technology:

• Can be used to "electronically extend the classroom and school to parents and the community
• Leads to greater parental involvement
• Increases homework completion rates

Teacher Efficiency
Technology:

• Increases efficiency in attendance tracking, lesson planning, and other routine tasks
• Can be "extremely" or "very" useful for administrative purposes
• Changes how teachers teach (for the better)

Though this laundry list provides some short yet effective points, I would challenge teachers in the district to share their personal perspective. A story is often much more convincing than facts(as evidenced by the last entry to this blog). So teachers, help yourselves and your students and post comments to this post that answer the question, "Does technology improve the learning of your students? If so, how? If not, why not?" If we work together, we can pass this referendum!

Cordially,

Jackie Park
School Board Member and Parent of two children in the district

Full Article Citation

Rother, C. (2003). Technology's Value in Education. T H E Journal, 31(4), 35-38.

Help Wanted: Technology for Struggling Readers

Ever since my son entered first grade, my family and I have been fighting a battle. You see, Steven has a learning disability and struggles immensely with reading. He has a hard time doing it, and thus has grown to hate it. As a father, this is very difficult to watch; I want to protect my children from all hardships. However, Steven's learning disability has left me feeling helpless. He is now in sixth grade, and still struggles immensely. So, when I located an article about technology that can help kids like Steven, I then became an adamant supporter of the referendum.

This article describes programs that are being used in Milwaukee Public Schools and at Milwaukee Public Library to assist students who have learning disabilities that cause them to have difficulties with reading. Kits called "Start to Finish" include a book, an audio version of the book, and a CD-ROM version of the book (which reads the book to the student while the text is displayed and highlighted on the computer screen), and a quiz to check comprehension.

Though the description of the program was a motivator, even more inspirational was a success story that was revealed in the article. A seventh grade student (of whom the description reminded me very much of Stephen) with a learning disability had been fighting a difficulty with reading for many years, and thus had grown to strongly dislike reading. Her teachers started her on the Start to Finish Program, and within months she was excited to be scoring 90% on the follow-up questions and checking out books from the library media center for the first time! The library media specialist who observed this occurrence stated, "With it [this technology], these kids feel more successful as readers."

The article then goes on to quickly highlight other similar technologies to assist students with learning disabilities. Some examples are as follows:

1. News -4-You
   An online newspaper that, "presents stories using simple vocabulary and rebus-like illustrations accompanying the words."
2. Quictionary Reading Pen
   A pen that can scan words in a text and pronounce the word (as well as give a concise definition).
3. Write: OutLoud
   A word processor that can read aloud and assist students with the editing and revising of their composition; ideal for students who have difficulty writing.
4. WYNN for the PC
   Reads web pages and computer screens aloud; would be great to assist students in doing research or completing other assignments online. There is a similar technology (WYNN TestTaker) that reads tests and quizzes, which would alleviate the need for a teacher or paraprofessional to read tests to students who have this provision in their IEP.

Some in our community may think that it is frivolous to spend money on technologies that only serve a specific population. However, it is my observation that there are students who are struggling readers who have not been identified as having a learning disability. Also, I would invite anyone who opposes spending money on assistive technology to be a part of my family for even a few days. Their view will then be changed when they see how difficult it is to watch my son struggle day in and day out. I don't think they'll have any opposition to passing the referendum!

Signed,

A Hopeful Father
(Scott Evers)

Full Article Citation

Minkel, W. (2004). New Ways to Learn. School Library Journal, 50(1), 24-26.

Lessons from a One-to-One Program

A new trend in school technology programs is something that is referred to as a "one-to-one" program. In this type of program, each student has his/her own laptop. Though we could only dream of having this much technology in our districts, the benefits of this type of programs could be applied to any type of technology use. I read an article recently that discusses these benefits. I think that the points made could equip us very well as supporters of the referendum in our district.

Benefits of technology include:

1. Closing the achievement gap
   If we have more technology available in our schools, it would be accessible to students that might not otherwise get to use technology. Closing the gap in achievement between students of higher economic background and those of lower should be a constant priority for our school district!
   
2. Preparing our students for the 21st century
   Our students are entering a completely different society than we did when we completed our K-12 education. Students are required to, "learn, think, and analysis" in order to keep up with society's demands. Technology can help facilitate the kind of learning that is necessary to prepare students for this by allowing students to access, analyze and critique information and then create, "authentic products."
   
3. Engage students by making the school setting more like the environment of the rest of their world
   As you have most likely observed, students are constant consumers of technology, and this interests them. So why not use technology to engage them in learning. By using instructional technology, teachers can assist students in, "spending more time on task, working independently, enjoying what they are learning, and learning in places outside of the school walls." All of these components add up to more learning!
   
4. Improvement in writing skills
   More technology can add up to more chances for students to write more and edit and revise their writing more easily. This causes students to take more responsibility for their work and feel more confident about it. There are a variety of softwares available that make writing more exciting (such as allowing students to produce their own comic book).
   
5. Opportunities to look at information through multiple lenses
   If our schools have more technology integrated into them, students have access to more information. This allows students to look at a subject or issue from many different perspectives and do research more in-depth. Students then know that much more about that topic and will remember what they learned for a longer period of time.
   
6. Integration of technology into instruction more consistently
   It is logical that if teachers have access to more technology, they can use it as instructional materials more often. The sky is the limit if this is the case. Teachers could use video clips from United Streaming or YouTube, sound clips, PowerPoint presentations, and on and on. Similarly, when teachers decide to involve students in a project that involves using technology, there is less hassle (i.e. scheduling time in a computer lab, library media center, or with a mobile computer lab) in doing so.

I don't know about you, but each one of these benefits in and of itself makes me want to donate all of my assets to the district so that they have sufficient funding for technology. Though I can't do this, I can do all I can to make sure that this referendum passes. So, PLEASE use the information above in your conversations with those who might oppose. If you wish to read the entire article that this information is from, see the citation below!

Respectfully yours,

Brad Anderson
Community Member and Local Business Owner

Full Article Citation
Warschauer, M. (2006). Going One-to-One. Educational Leadership, 63(4), 34-38.

Ways to Maximize Our Technology Budget

As a parent of three children in the Gold Lake district and a member of the PTO, I feel that it is absolutely imperative that this referendum passes. Even if it does, we need to do everything we can to use the funding we have to the maximum extent possible. Recently, I ran across a very short but effective article on how to do this. This article was in the January 29th edition of Computer World magazine, and was written by Opinion columnist Paul Lamb. (see the bottom of this post for the full citation).

Lamb lists the following ideas as ways to maximize technology budgets:

1. Investing in simple, affordable tools
   A laptop that costs a mere $100 is in productive for developing countries. Why could we not tap this resource?
2. Partner with local technology businesses
   Contact local technology businesses to see if they might be willing to help the district purchase the hardware and software it needs. Then, the school would provide the business advertising by posting signs that say the technology was donated by _________. We also might consider contacting national programs (such as the Gates Foundation).
3. Develop a website that explains how technology is improving learning in the our classrooms.
   This website would feature student products and testimonies from teachers and students, as well as research that shows why technology is beneficial for learning. We might also consider starting a sponsorship program on this sight, where community members can see the unmet technology needs within the district and have an opportunity to donate money toward that need.

In addition to these ideas, Lamb also states that there a variety of resources to help groups apply these methods. These resources include foundations, university based research and development programs, technology companies, community technology programs, state and local technology task forces, among others.

The most important point I raise in bringing this article to the public attention is that we must show our opponents that we are not simply beggars or moochers who try to squeeze every penny from everybody else and then spend it frivolously. We need to demonstrate that we are doing all we can to keep new technology in our schools, but need the funding from the referendum to assist us in doing so!

Sincerely,

Erin Smith

Full Article Citation

Lamb, P. (2007). Us, Not You, for Person of the Year. Computer World, 41(5), 22-23.

Welcome!

Hello parents and community members!

Welcome to the official blog of SOC it to 'em, a community group that is fighting to Save Our Computers (SOC) in Gold Lake.

As you all know, there is currently a technology referendum being debated in our school district. If this referendum fails, technology will be virtually deleted from our students' education. This blog is a place to share ideas so that this does not happen.

In order to help inform those citizens in our community that believe our students' education will be the same without technology, we as advocates need to give solid reasons as to why technology improves education. I have set up this blog so that you might share resources that you have encountered.

Happy Blogging!

Morgan Hansen
SOC Public Relations Chairperson