1. Something I have been thinking about, especially after reading Andrew Vicar‘s blog post, and Jeff‘s writing about it, and the comments, is to create some sort of IT skills self assessment for my students for the end of the year. I think this would be useful because it would make clear many of the skills we have done through the year. The students would also be very aware of what they have learned, and would be helpful for their teachers for the next year. I’m not sure which tool I will use for this, I will look into Excel/Numbers/Google Docs to see which one suits us the best. I’d like to work with the students to develop a sort of checklist of skills for our age group, then they could assess themselves. This could also help the whole school environment as it would be helpful for our ICT coordinator. I think this would be a good unit for my Course 5 project because it would show all the skills my students have learned – many which I’ve explicitly taught them, especially after learning something new in my COETAIL course. Some of my concerns about this project are how my students will show their work explicitly and fitting in the time to complete this into an already quite busy schedule. I feel this would require me to really think about what skills I’ve been teaching and how exactly they are helping students. I think the students will need to be quite reflective of their own learning for this project.

2. Another idea I thought about is to do a digital storytelling unit with my class and have them use….. iMovie. I’ve been playing around with it for awhile. During Course 3, I wrote a blog post about my own use of iMovie, and had a few suggestions from other COETAILer’s about perhaps having my students use it themselves. I’ve always put it in the back of my mind and thought it would be too difficult with my age group (1st grade).  I have used other tools to have students tell stories using movies, however they are pretty basic and the are using pre made videos. I’d really like to have the students themselves use the digital cameras and take their own video, then create their own authentic digital story. This would fit in really well with a literacy unit we are going to be doing in the spring called “Everyone Has a Story To Tell”. I think this would be a good unit for me to work with because it would really get me to come out of my own comfort zone. Some concerns I have are that my students are only 6! They will need a huge amount of support with this. An idea I am throwing around, after reading about Flipping the Elementary Classroom is to make how to videos for my students and putting them in an accessible location. I’m also going to see how using iMovie on the iPad works. I have a feeling my students will probably take to it like a duck to water – they absolutely love seeing the videos I create of them, but it will take some diligence and hard work for them (and me).

Picture it – 2007-2010 – I was the Information Technology Coordinator in a girls school in London. Lovely little school, and I was also teaching my own Year 2 class. There I would be in the middle of a lesson when some freckle faced little cherub would knock on the door. “Mrs. Cooper wants you to come up to the computer lab. She can’t figure something out. She’s going to send her assistant Mrs. Rowe here to look after your class”. I would smile, wait for my relief and trudge up to the computer lab to help another teacher to fix something so she could continue with her lesson. And it happened more often then you’d think! In a way it was my fault because I would always go – I should have sent her student back with a message saying that I’d try to help her to figure it out at lunchtime, but I wanted her lesson to go well so I’d always go. I realized I’d created a bit of a monster though as I would get called very often for tasks like changing the printer cartridge. Needless to say I was the first to try to convince the head that we needed more hours for the tech support guy and I also promised myself that in the future I’d have to try a new strategy for helping teachers.

Depending on the value system of the school is a hugely important one when it comes to technology integration. If you have an IWB in your classroom that you absolutely love using, but the bulb goes out and it lies unused for 3 weeks, you have a problem. If all the classes in your school are using iPads but when you get them they are not charged, you have a problem. If your school server is down so when your students try to save their work it is unsavable, you have a problem. And if no one comes to try to help you, all your technology integration is up in smoke. 

I found it interesting to read about the different models of technology integration. Wikipedia defines technology integration as ”the use of technology tools in general content areas in education in order to allow students to apply computer and technology skills to learning and problem-solving”. As I reflect back on my own practice integrating technology in my classroom, I would have to conclude that it has been largely on a trial and error basis. I feel as though I’ve not really ever been coached – I would love to work in a school with a really strong technology team that has people that I can look to for support. I guess that is a big reason why I enjoy this course so much!

As I read through the SAMR and the Technology Integration Matrix, I had to admit that I still have a long way to go. There are some aspects that I feel quite good in and perhaps at the modification to redefinition area of the SAMR model but other areas which I’m looking forward to working on. I found the Technology Integration Matrix very useful as I feel it does give clear goals and sets a vision for where you are, and where you want to go. I will be using this as I try to create a more technology rich environment. I also think it would be a great tool to have teachers assess themselves in the beginning of the year – then set themselves a goal for the year for where they want to be at the end of the year. I feel this needs to be done with the whole school environment on board and working together for this goal.