Lamar Discussion Board 1
1 - Introduce self
2 - Technology literacy has evolved greatly in the last 5 years for our Klein ISD school district. Every school has increased their digital footprint by adding newwifi spots, increasing bandwidth for the number of computers that can connect, increasing internet speeds, and by giving more computers to schools and students for them to access the internet.
I started at Klein ISD in August and in that time I’ve see technology literacy evolved over a year. We have a full-time Google Trainer in our Department who gets teachers up to speed and certified to use Google products in their classrooms. As our learning and communication become more instant, students will have access to a deeper level or digital learning. Students at all four of our high schools currently have a digital device and now more students will receive the same benefit.
We have many Campus Instructional Technology Specialist. Currently we have two at Klein High.
Staff Search (2016, July 12) Retrieved fromhttp://kleinhs.kleinisd.net/default.aspx?name=teacherwebpages
Here’s a video I helped make about using technology in the classroom.
Bracken, R. (2016, May 16). Frank Elem Transform. Retrieved fromhttps://kleinflix.kleinisd.net/show?video=40b1d81d0ced
The big take-a-way is “to make good teaching come to life."
We have a program in our department called “Transform Academy” where select teachers have an opportunity to change their classroom into a classroom of the future. This includes new ways of thinking, utilizing technology, and allowing the students and teachers to organize the furniture into a better learning environment.
Our school district’s motto is “Future Ready,” more and more of our classrooms are going 1-to-1 with a laptop.
Currently, every student and employee has a username, email, access to Google products, Microsoft Office products, and many more. We have an entire website called “student net” where students can visit and see all the digital learning environments the district pays for to use. Some of the sites that are available include e-books, research databases, classroom resources, and campus resources.
This upcoming school year we’re rolling out our “Future Ready 21”
Klein ISD Future Ready 21 Rolls Out Fall of 2016. (2016, June 15). Retrieved from http://www.kleinisd.net/default.aspx?name=cr.pr.bloghome&a=527
What’s great about this impact is that we have engaged all stakeholders, such as parents, community leaders, school administration, and more to successfully get technology into the student’s hands and have teachers ready to give digital lessons. Our district is working hard to meet today’s technology literacy needs and position themselves for the future.
3. Technology literacy in today’s digital learning age is more than just using a keyboard and “Googling” answers. It means understanding your digital device to find unique solutions to problems.
Technology literacy in today’s digital learning age means you learn and explain digitally. My favorite part of the video from Discovery Education is at 1:49 where the student says she created a board builder/website where she can show what she “absorbed.” I love that verb absorbed. The student was focused on showing what she learned and wasn’t worried about her technology literacy. You could tell this student and others was so well tech literate that they learned and expressed themselves digitally.
When a teacher shows information a student first has to be engaged. Technology engages student because they find these devices to be interesting and interactive. I feel that students don’t just learn, they soak in information. Everything is new to them.
Since every Klein ISD 3rd grade student and up will have a digital device for learning, our school district is making sure that extends home. Klein ISD is offering “Digital Citizenship Courses” for students and parents. This will make sure that students are using the devices correctly and safely. As an added benefit the students will have an opportunity to help their parents become tech literate.
This has impacted me as a professional since it’s my job to create videos and presentations to increase the number of teachers that are tech literate. I create about a video a week about professional development.
There isn’t an exact number of who’s tech-savvy and who’s not but, one is too many. These “Digital Citizenship Courses" will be taught in person and online. Our “digital citizens” will learn from certified trainers across departments to reach them at their needs. We have a few schools where the students receive free or reduced lunches and english isn’t spoken in their homes. That disadvantage is being turned into a positive by allowing the students to take the device home to work on projects. Since those same homes might not have internet access we havewifi hotspots outside of our school incase a family needs them and many projects will not require the use of internet for completion.
www.kleinisd.net/default.aspx?name=issitc.DigitalCitizenship
In this video at 3:00 they say today’s students are digital natives. “They’ve never NOT had the internet.”
POWER ON TEXAS: The Digital Learning Revolution. (2011, May 12). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPz8mjVFh18
Klein ISD participated in this video and it’s about how change today leads to change tomorrow.
Knowing how today’s student grew up with the internet has made our district step up to the challenge of providing a classroom that can meet a student’s technology literacy. Our attitude is a student shouldn’t have to put down technology in our classrooms. We funnel educational opportunities through what we have and then plan for the future so our equipment stays up-to-date.
“Every decision we make is based on what is best for students.” Principal Krueger.
That is exactly the philosophy here at Klein ISD. By using technology we have found that students grades go up, their engagement goes up, and our community has greater faith in us.
It starts by carefully reviewing technology so that it fits where we currently are and where we want to go. In Texas we have to follow the TEKS standards.
