State Technology Standards

For teachers to be successfully trained in technology there has to be proper funding as well as adequate resources. The good thing about this video was that it demonstrated how schools in Louisiana began the Challenge Grant Program. It was supported by state funds and reached grades K-12 and higher educational institutions. One of the benefits of this program was that it set a time frame for all teachers and institutions to become technology literate and it had an advisory council to make sure plans were implemented. When K-12 and higher institutions are collaborative in their technology training, they are able to keep their students prepared for the next advancement level of technology. Also, teachers can attend the same workshops or professional developments and they can learn from each other. It is extremely important that teacher training is supported by the community and government officials. Without this support, finding the funds to support training would be more difficult as well as developing state wide plans. In order for teachers to be successfully trained and supported in their professional development they need workshops, proper resources, and constant training. If all classroom environments had the proper technology support, then teacher could better prepare students for the technological advancements in the future.

Options for Virtual Students

On this video, we were introducing to two different families that had enrolled their children in Florida Virtual Schools and how rewarding they felt this program was. The students mentioned several advantages to participating in virtual schooling. What they seemed to like most was its convenience. They could do their work when they wanted and have time to participate in other activities through out the week. One student particularly mentioned that she enjoyed not having the inappropriate interruptions from other students that usually occur in the regular classroom setting. Another student mentioned that he felt he had more materials to work with when taking these on-line courses. Both sets of parents seemed to mention the same positive aspect of these classes. They felt that there was more one-on-one attention from the teacher making the teacher more personally involved. Both families mentioned the teachers calling to speak with the students about any questions or concerns they may have. If states would offer more courses on-line, I think we would see a tremendous increase in the development of children’s abilities by allowing them to work at their own pace. The more advanced students would not be slowed down by others and can complete more challenging assignments. Students with special needs would not feel the peer pressure of those around them and would develop more self-confidence by working to the best of their abilities. One limitation of the virtual schools that the video did not mention is the social factors. Students are missing that peer interaction. However, the triplets from the second video did participate in a sport called “wakeboarding.” For some lower class families, the opportunity to participate in sports and other peer interacting activities could be a challenge

Universal Design

If we could get a “miracle” in education, it would be what this video presented…..universal design. If one of my seventh grade students had access to a universal design textbook, it could put the information he/she reads in a format appropriate for them. It could present the information with more graphics, it could change the text language to the child’s reading level ability, or it could read the text out loud to the student. This could open up a whole new world of teaching to diverse students. We could use universal design to automatically translate something to the language of the student’s preference. One of the major challenges for teachers today is finding ways to accommodate students learning. With assistive technologies, making these accommodations could be quicker and easily accessible. Education could use universal design to create programs for individual students according to their individual needs. For education, this probably means more inclusion classes. Universal design could also mean bigger classes. Teachers will be able to more easily accommodate the special individual needs of students.