CTAP 120- Activity 2b
At this point, you should have reviewed student technology use guidelines forwarded by both a national foundation project and a state content effort. However, you are the sole expert when it comes to true understanding of your students' capabilities. Reflecting upon the guidelines you have reviewed in the last two activities, what do you believe your students should be able to do with technology at the grade and ability levels you see in your classroom everyday?
posted by Lainie McGann at 10:07 AM
9 Comments:
The national standards are vague because it is what the child should be able to do by the end of 12th grade. The state standards don't even include kindergarten. I believe a kindergarten student should be able to use a mouse and keyboard. Many of my students are still developing their fine motor skills so that in itself is a challenge. In addition most of my studnets do not have a computer at home. Students should be able to exit a program and enter another that they have learned. In addition, the student should be able to use other electronic devices (leap frog games, CD player, etc.) in the classroom, taking care of them by being gentle and remembering to turn them off to save battery life.
At my school, my students and I are able to use technology on a daily basis. In my third grade class, I believe students are able to learn and apply a variety of technological skills. I feel it is very important to implement technology as much as possible in my lessons and student’ s daily activities. My class tends to work with computers on a daily basis, using Accelerated Reader and Accelerated Math Programs. I also have a weekly Computer time slot for an hour in the computer lab. In the computer lab and in my classroom my students are able to use the mouse along with keyboarding skills, access the internet, email, use search engines, word processing, Kid Pix, make graphic organizers with words and pictures, create graphs, and starting to use Power Point. SInce technology is part of our culture, it is very important to let studetns explore and learn technology, so they can be successful in our society.
At the fifth grade level my students are capable of quite a lot. They came to me being able to create Word documents and most had used Excel as well. We worked this year on evaluating websites for content and appropriateness as we utilized the Internet as a research tool. The students created brochures, Inspriation Time Lines and we are about to use Google Earth to pinpoint the battles of the American Revolution. We have a class blog and they really enjoy posting their comments and I find they take more care in what they say when they know an audience of their peers will be reading it.
At the first grade level, my students are able to perform a number of different funtions on the computer and access various programs. 100% of the students in my class can correctly use a mouse and keyboard, but to various degrees. All of my students can also sign-in to and complete an Accelerated Reader quiz and STAR tests. Most of my students can successfully navigate through our school library's website to find the information they are looking for. My students successfully use the Smart Board. My students work mostly on Starfall.com and KidPix independently and can successfully produce the desired product. My students are currently working on a personal Powerpoint presentation about themselves and are really enjoying working independently. My students understand the responsibility that comes with working on the computers and work hard to take care of the equipment.
As a high school teacher, I expect my students to own an email account and be comfortable downloading and uploading attachments. I also expect them to be familiar with Word and Power Point. Though most of my students have used Power Point, I spend some time helping students to create informative presentations using Power Point. In addition to computer programs, I expect my students to know how to search for information and images via the Internet. They should also be able to distinguish the validity of a website.
The majority of my fourth grade students are quite knowledgeable when it comes to using technology and they are often able to assist me with different aspects of technology. In regards to computers, my students have been learning to create Word documents, develop PowerPoint presentations, create graph projects using Excel, and do Internet searches and research. I have noticed with my students that while they easily manipulate the computer using a mouse, they encounter difficulty when having to use the keyboard. I look forward to intergrating a typing program into my curriculum to assist them with their keyboarding skills. It would be my goal for my students to be technology literate so that they are able to apply their technology skills to enhance their current learning.
According to the technology piece integrated into the California standards, my students should be working on advanced technology skills such as using advanced publishing software and integrating charts and graphs into word processing documents. Practically speaking, many of my students have mastered intermediate word processing skills, as well as some of the other intermediate skills. Some are still at the intermediate level, especially in the area of choosing the appropriate equipment to perform each test. They are moving toward mastery of this skill. My AP students are working on advanced skills.
As a high school science teacher I see that my students are generally in the intermediate stage of ability to use and implement technology into their educational experience. The students generally have and use their own email accounts, can effectively use word as a word processing tool, however are weaker in their ability to implement graphs and tables into their projects. For the most part, students are beginning-intermediate level in their abilities to use PowerPoint.
As a high school mathematics teacher, I believe my students should be able to create a basic word document, use calculators to assist them in collection of data and calculations, use the Internet to find reliable information, use the Internet to communicate (email, IM, etc.), use a spreadsheet, and make a power point presentation. Most of my students are in the intermediate stage of all of these skills.
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