Innovation & Change
By
Ervey Valenzuela
ECI-696
Jeff Bloom
01 July 2014
Innovation & Change
What I understood of the reading is that productivity is frequently linked exclusively to efficiency, but in current years the belief has shifted its focus towards the sharing of knowledge and the forms in which technology may foster closer alliances between persons and teams to gain competitive advantage. Furthermore, with an upsurge in the creation of information expected over the next five years, the necessity to find the correct information rapidly is becoming more significant. Today, technology provides advanced capabilities. Educators are going to be affected in the way that they will have to find a solution to use the technology in a positive way, so they will need to apply an adequate instructional design model to take advantage of it and improve teaching as well as students could improve their learning.
When designing professional development activities for technology implementation, it is critical that efforts be twofold: teachers need basic technical knowledge about how to use a tool, as well as knowledge about how to integrate the tool into their existing curriculum (CEO Forum, 2000). In order to achieve full scale change, schools need to ensure that strong professional development programs are in place and that teachers have a variety of opportunities for learning and growth (CEO Forum, 2000; price et al., 2002; Royer, 2002; Staples et al., 2005).
The building principal should attend each training meeting and workshop with her classroom teachers, orchestrated release time, so professors are going to be able to plan together, and help to coordinate efforts with other significant staff. Therefore, this involvement of the school principal will ensure that professors feel they get the time to make require changes in their teaching in order to utilize technology to differentiate instruction. Besides, her willingness to create and protect time transmits to professors that technology integration is a main concern.
There should be a strong technology support to help the professors when technology fails, that they have resources when they are unsure how to use a tool, and that they will be able to get advices about technology usage in the classroom.
The school have to provide support for teacher participation. Therefore, the school should use incentives such as flex time, school supplies, free babysitting for professor who stay late. Moreover, this is going to motivate collaboration in learning chances.
Schools administrator must help to ensure that the use of technology is the main concern, and that teachers feel comfortable trying new things. Moreover, this is going to be accomplish by requiring that every school staff, from the school secretary to the principal, develop personal professional development objectives.
"Probably the most important aspect of a workshop is its tone and climate. The presenters should be organized and enthusiastic. The room should be well equipped and provide a pleasant, comfortable setting. Programs should begin on time with a warm welcome and clear directions. Including time for questions and opportunities to share information ensures engagement and satisfaction. Ending on time and inspiring participants to action make for a satisfying end"( Farmer, 1998). Therefore, we should apply one where each employee is going to have their own mentor who will take care of helping the employee with the process. Other way will be develop spontaneously and over time. Moreover, I think that this is one of the best methods to apply because employees who have experimented mentoring learn more quickly, retain and assimilate into the new processes more effectively.
Today the new norm is to make all the employees successful as soon as possible. Moreover, a mentor is able to help coworkers to succeed rapidly. "Recommendations for such professional development thus include continually cultivating a climate of respect for these educators, building a scaffold of learning that is based on their strengths, and guiding them in considering what it means to be lifelong learners" (King, 2003, p. 52). Also, coworkers are motivated to pursue an informal mentor for every area of expertise the coworker desires to explore or improve. The individual who is going to do the role as mentor is only a teacher and a coach without responsibilities of assessment.
We should ensure the success of our mentor relationships picking employees to mentor who have characteristics such as willing to mentor a coworker, the necessary knowledge, familiar with the process. Lastly, this is going to make coworker’s integration successful within our work unit.
"It is critical that the assessment process does not overload the faculty; that is, the process should not outweigh the benefits. It was also important to us that the assessment duties are spread among all faculty as much as possible with main assessment tasks rotating among all faculty"(Abeysekera, Al-Mubaid, Bun Yue, Hall, Kim, p. 181) . So, we should apply the following assessment strategies:
interview
Investigation
Demonstration
Oral presentations
Peer evaluation
Self evaluation
Problem solving activities
Students will be allow to use the 280 slides tool which is a Web 2.0 because it is a tool where persons can create stunning presentations from scratch and for free. Besides, there is no software to download, and they are able to share it any way they like when the presentation is done. Therefore, students are going to use it for create presentations about the subject share it between the teammates to make adjustments if it is necessary. In addition, students will be allow to use SkyRock which is a social networking site which provides its members free web space where they are able to create a blog, add a profile, and exchange messages with other registered members. Besides, it also provides a specific space for members who create blogs showcasing their original musical compositions.
"As educators learn about technology and educational technology, they become the most effective bridge to incorporate it in their curriculum. Technology learning can open new avenues of learning, perceiving, and problem solving in all disciplines" (Brown, 2000, 2001).
Technology could be use for good or bad, and to implement it appropriately, though, physical educators have to utilize this resource in conjunction with careful monitoring. supply students with directions in relation to Web sites' content validity and helping them develop the ability to assess the accuracy of electronic information is fundamental. Ensuring that students recognize the difference between sources that have put procedures into place for monitoring content validity and those that have not is required to lead them toward obtaining adequately information.
Accordingly, students feel empowered when they find the classroom tasks meaningful, feel competent to perform the tasks, and feel as though they are influencing what is happening in the class. Consequently, when students feel empowered, they report an increase in learning (Houser & Frymier, 2009).
Professors should consider any especial accommodations for the student and of course the safety of the student with a disability s well as the safety of every other student. The first responsibility of the professor is to understand the disability of the student. Moreover, know his/her teaching well, including how to adjust it to accommodate the students with disabilities. Also, know the students with disabilities well; treat them as special, not for their disabilities, but just as professor would treat every other students as special. As professors work with students with disabilities, concentrate on what they are able to do, not on what they are not.
Taking a differentiated approach to instruction means accommodating these differences by tailoring teaching to students’ strengths and knowledge. Teachers can do this by providing materials and tasks of varied levels of difficulty, along with supports, to multiple instructional groups, and by allowing students to work at least part of the time in modes that are most successful for them (e.g., alone or collaborative, auditory or visual, practical or creative) (Tomlinson, 2001).
Hardware:
LCD projector for the teacher station
Desktop computer for teachers station
Document camera for teacher station
Speakers for teacher station
Smart board for teacher station
Headphones for each student
Laptops for each student
Wireless router to provide Internet access to the laptops.
Search Engine:
www.google.com
Web 2.0 Tools
http://280slides.com/
SkyRock.com
Software platforms
http://animoto.com/pro/education
http://www.adobe.com/products/contribute.html
Adobe Creative Cloud
http://prezi.com/
http://www.slideshare.net/
http://quizlet.com/
Support Staff:
References
Abeysekera, K., Al-Mubaid, H., Bun Yue, K., Hall, Sharon P., & Kim, Dan J. Assessing information systems and computer information systems programs from a balanced scorecard perspective, 177-192. http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.libproxy.nau.edu/ehost/detail?vid=7&sid=06c560e1-8eec-4086-8c92-e4008c20fe86%40sessionmgr115&hid=115&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=eft&AN=82250388
Brown, D. G. (ed.). Teaching with Technology: Seventy-Five Professors from Eight Universities Tell Their Stories. Bolton, Mass.: Anker, 2000.
Dede, C., Honan, J., & Peters, L. (Eds.). (2005). Scaling up success: Lessons from technology-`based educational improvement. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Desimone, L. M., Porter, A. C., Garet, M. S., Yoon, K. S., &Birman, B. F. (2002). Effects of professional development on teachers’ instruction: results from a three-year longitudinal study. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 24(2), 81-112.
Farmer, Lesley S. (1998). Workshops for teacher partners in technology integration.
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.libproxy.nau.edu/ehost/detail?vid=8&sid=ed0214dc-4272-452a-93a8-2c8dc359b9d4%40sessionmgr112&hid=115&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=eft&AN=502792677
Houser, M. L., & Frymier, A. B. (2009). The role of student characteristics and teacher behaviors in students’ learner empowerment. Communication Education, 58, 35_53. doi:10.1080/03634520802237383
King, Kathleen P. (2003). Learning the new Technologies: Strategies for success, 49-57.
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.libproxy.nau.edu/ehost/detail?vid=4&sid=06c560e1-8eec-4086-8c92e4008c20fe86%40sessionmgr115&hid=115&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=eft&AN=507840704
Tomlinson, C. (2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms. Alexandria,
VA: ASCD.
Zorfass, J. (2001). Sustaining a curriculum innovation: cases of Make It Happen! In J. Woodward & L .Cuban (Eds.).Technology, curriculum and professional development: Adapting schools to meet the needs of students with disabilities (pp. 87-114).California: Corwin Press, Inc.