Chapter 4 - Bryan Pechhtl

Chapter 4 Reflection

3 Ideas of Learning:

Three items jumped out at me in Chapter 4 this week. The first item was NET.S Standard II on page 60, dealing with the ethics of technology in the classroom. I have always tried to be a good model for my kids whether its downloading music or videos from the internet. There are a number of my colleagues in the past, however, that freely admitted to having improperly gained music. I have always been aware that kids will (like adults) look for an excuse to justify questionable behavior. I found an online curriculum last year that helps teachers educate kids about the illegality of just such practices.

The second point from the article dealt with research, on page 63, under NET.S Standard V. The authors indicate that students must carefully cite their sources when using any. A number of my students apparently have never been taught this concept, as they don’t see anything wrong with copying and pasting entire sentences, much less garnering information during research. It is the easy way out and it gets the assignment completed, I suppose, so that’s why they choose to do it. I don’t know if it’s also because the kids don’t have an in-depth understanding of research and how it’s supposed to contribute to their thoughts, not make up their thoughts.

Finally, the integration of the NET.S standards throughout the curriculum really struck me, as well. There is a tension or pull from administrators wanting teachers to include local or state curriculum standards, national curriculum standards, and now technology standards. Some of my colleagues’ lesson plans amaze me. They actually include each standard being taught in their daily lesson plans. I don’t know if other teachers are doing this, but it is extremely time-intensive. I think the idea to be familiar with them (the NET.S Standards) is a great thing, but to cite them in a daily lesson plans gives me the impression the authors of the text haven’t been in a primary or secondary classroom in some time.

2 New Ideas for Tech Integration:

1st: As I was reading on page 57 where NETS.S I talks about basic operations and concepts, I thought about my 7^th grade class this past Friday. We started a project where they would not be able to complete some work, so it would have to be saved on the computer. I like to have students save it on the network because they can access the project anywhere in the school instead of just the one machine. However, the vast majority didn’t know how to do what I consider a basic operation. So, on Monday of this next week, I will be starting a class with a mini technology lesson in my classroom to show students how to save their work to our school network.

2nd : The NETS.S II also gave me an idea about teaching a lesson to my students about copyright infringement and stealing other people’s ideas. I found a curriculum online (http://digitalcitizenshiped.com/) that has some great examples and ideas and is intended for teachers to teach students about the correct usage regarding research and citation and music, among other things.

1 Technology Integration Concern:

My concern about integrating technology in the classroom goes back to a point I made earlier, that is about knowing which NETS.S I am using in regards to a particular days’ lesson. Is this going to be something that administrators are going to be worried about? Probably not, as they have AYP, IEP, and other pressing issues. Do they want us to utilize technology in the classroom? Absolutely. I’m just wondering if in the future we’ll have to account for it in our lessons, again, taking away time from actually teaching our students.