Facilitates technology-enhanced experiences that addresses content standards and student technology standards.

In a recent conference presentation I attended as Scout Wood Badge Course Director, we were cautioned more than once about "Death by PowerPoint." It is easy to fall prey to replacing time-honored media such as overhead projectors and flip charts with MicroSoft PowerPoint presentations. All too often in the process presentations take on a life of their own distracting students from the content and context for which the session was designed. In our PAVE course (EDUC 6662) we were tasked with reviewing several PowerPoint examples and passing judgment on appropriateness and effectiveness. As a result, most of us had to admit having created presentations in the past that made overuse of words, extreme color, or distracting sound effects.

As educators, we need to convey to our students that technology is a useful tool when used properly. It can be a major distraction or cause of incorrect learning when used inappropriately. Kids love sound, and color, and animation. They will spend more time toying with Clip Art and gadgetry than with content if not monitored and mentored closely - especially during early stages of using a given technology tool, such as PowerPoint. Getting students to buy into the "KISMIF" (keep it simple - make it fun) idea early on will pay major dividends in terms of quality products later. In the "Percent" PowerPoint used as Artifact two, below, I used considerable annimation to hold student interest and attempted to pace the timing of transitions just long enough to allow a brief statement. To further enhance this particular presentation, I think providing a narrative with each slide, using software like Audacity, would allow it to be used as an instrument for tutorial or review.

Artifacts: Percent PowerPoint Purpose| Percent PowerPoint | Learning Community | NETS & WebPages | Software Versatility | ISTE & NETS

Uses technology to support learner-centered strategies that address the diverse needs of students.

As we progressed through the course, PAVE students were reminded over and over that it is not necessary to re-invent the wheel to employ new strategies in the classroom. Rather it is important in terms of the teacher's comfort level to build upon what is already known and practiced in order to enhance student learning by recognizing that each student has personal preferences as well. Some students come to class with basic conceptual knowledge already learned; others arrive with varying degrees of learning disorders that makes mastery difficult. Teaching to the middle bores the gifted students and rapidly pushes the struggling students further behind the learning curve. Differentiated instruction, with or without technology, ensures No Child is Left Behind.

Strategies used to enhance learning in the regular classroom can be expanded to include computer resources. When I taught Local Curriculum Math, the 4MAT wheel was used to address student learning styles as well as include engagement opportunity for the child with attention deficit. In our PAVE instruction, we were introduced to similar mandala as Silver, Strong, and Perini (2000) showed how to integrate learning styles with multiple intelligences. By clicking on the "differentiated instruction" link in the above paragraph, one will have access to dozens of articles supporting the notion that students have diverse needs and their individualized learning styles and intelligence preferences dictate their overall academic success. Whenever possible, teachers need to become more and more familiar with this conceptual departure from the "one-size fits all classroom." I am convinced that technology does not further exacerbate the problem of how to differentiate instruction, it actually provides increased options for individual expression.

Artifacts: Balanced Instruction | Formative Assessment | 4-MAT Lesson Plan

Applies technology to develop students' higher-order skills and creativity.

Art Costa and Bena Kallick (2000) relate how a vignette ("Three Story Intellect") attributed to Oliver Wendell Holmes displays three distinct levels of cognition. Higher levels of skill and creativity are spawned by speculation, hypothesizing, and elaboration. Basic ideas are presented, reinforced through practice and assessment, and then one is challenged to see beyond the obvious and arrive at some new conclusion or outcome.

The first artifact, below, explains how this idea can be used in math to arrive algebraically at conclusions beyond what is known depending upon changes in a variable - "n." The second artifact is my initial conceptual design for a personal teacher's Web page before I knew what software to use or how to employ it. The third artifact is the Web page as it exists at the moment...not a complete and finished product but rather a work in progress - "n" changes things.

Currently, students are being introduced to an online locker room for storing their work samples from various computer lab experiences. Over time, they could used as a student portfolio displaying growth and generalization of skills from one academic content area to the next. As an Inclusion teacher, I get to observe some of this development, but have little actual input to the process other than encouraging teachers to use technology more and observing student reaction to technology growth and innovation.

Artifacts: Patterns & Relationships | Web Page Design | Web Page

Manages student-learning activities in a technology-enhanced environment.

As an Inclusion teacher, I have opportunity to observe student learning from a unique position. I get to enter and leave rooms with some degree of freedom of movement affording me the chance to observe students in different classroom environments. Taking the pulse of a given student in a variety of learning situations helps me understand their interests and preferences more than possible for the regular education teacher who sees a given student in his or her classroom only. Armed with this additional insight, I get a feel for who needs legitimate assistance and who needs an encouraging nudge. When a class visits the computer lab the latter get most of my attention freeing the classroom teacher to monitor and move around.

As a PAVE student, I view classroom procedure more and more from a technological viewpoint. I see opportunities missed for things like United Streaming and PowerPoint or Inspiration. I consider possibilities for future curriculum enhancement or for concept review. Internet projects and workshops as well as WebQuests are almost universally overlooked currently. But in spite of reluctance on teachers' part to engage students more in technology-based instructional practices, more and more use of computer is creeping in. Gradebook, progress reports, school-home communication via e-mail, and use of student online lockers are becoming commonplace. Meanwhile, I continue to advocate for more technology and actively seek out new ways to become involved in that process.

Artifacts: Internet Workshop | Rubric Evaluation | WebQuest Development | WebSite Interest