How to Evaluate Technology Use in our Schools

Jeff Utecht often puts into words ideas that are circulating in my mind waiting to be expressed. He typically does a better job articulating than I do. His recent blog post, "Evaluating Technology Use in the Classroom" is another example of this. Major points that resonate are:

I remembered a Marc Prensky article in Edutopia in which he talks about the typical process of technology adoption:

1. Dabbling with technology
2. Doing Old things in Old Ways
3. Doing Old things in New Ways
4. Doing New things in New Ways

What if we turned these stages of technology adoption into questions that an evaluator could use during the evaluation process?

1. Is the technology being used “Just because it’s there”?
2. Is the technology allowing the teacher/students to do Old things in Old ways?
3. Is the technology allowing the teacher/students to do Old things in New ways?
4. Is the technology creating new and different learning experiences for the students?

I would add,

5. Is the technology tapping into the diverse learning styles of the students in our classrooms, to promote learning and independence?
6. Is there evidence of student engagement that results specifically because of the technology integration?

Asking the right questions leads to the answers that guide our decisions. What questions would you add in an attempt to evaluate effective technology use in the classroom?

Five Friday Finds

It's Friday, a great time to share some of the treasures I discovered this week, in no particular order.

1. Free Mac Text-to-Speech with highlighting (finally a WordTalk alternative for Mac users - Incredibly exciting news!) thanks to Dave at Infinitec

2. The video "1620" created by Barry Bachenheimer at A Plethora of Technology - see the other reason why 1620 is noteworthy in the field of education.

3. Voice Thread Tutorials - Those of you who follow my blog know how much I love VoiceThread for all learners - it is possible to use this free online resource to reach all the learners in our classrooms no matter whether they are gifted, have learning challenges or have cognitive deficits. This is truly a universal tool! Watch the VT tutorials here to learn how to get the most out of this wonderful tool. (this is from Beth at Thriving in School). Addendum: Larry Ferlazzo pointed out Langwitches excellent VT tutorial for education. Save this to delicious!

4. Lego Digital Creator - this is the virtual version of the toy that everyone loves. Get the free download here and you will have hours of fun!

5. The Well-Rounded Teacher - Jeff Utecht's graphic explains the difference between the 20th and 21st century teacher.

Add your own in the comments. We benefit from the collective wisdom of the educator network as vast as it is!

Mainstreaming Success

Have to spotlight a district when they "get it." Check out this story in the Wall Street Journal:

How a School in Florida Got Mainstreaming Right
Grades Rose Amid Push to Include the Disabled

It's not often we read about successes when they relate to struggling learners. This paragraph especially resonated with me:

By slashing administrative costs, the district was able to push more resources into classrooms. From there, it began pairing up general and special-education teachers to work together in integrated classrooms. So-called social promotions -- which let elementary-school students advance to the next grade even when they failed standardized tests -- were eliminated.

Slashing administrative costs....now that's a novel idea! Is this a model that other districts should emulate? I know, rhetorical question.