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Please reflect upon and then share your comments on the benefits you have derived from participation in the REAL Tech program at Loyola Academy. In particular, I am interested in knowing how you feel the program has facilitated your meeting or exceeding National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers in one or more of the following areas:- Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity
- Design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments
- Model digital-age work and learning
- Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility
- Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
- Implement the IPP, Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm (LA extra credit!)
http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=NETS
Thanks so much for your thoughts! As we move further into 21st Century education, I think it is important that we keep such lofty goals within sight.
Real Tech has given me the ability to seamlessly arrange my classroom materials at home or in my office, and then access them on my classroom computer. PowerPoints can be edited, truncated, expanded, rearranged, or changed in response to new information or a new curriculum order. The tablet function has increased my ability to easily post answers to math based science problems, and has also allowed me to post actual student notes for absent students to refer to. Because I always have access to my computer, I have created assignments that the students hand in electronically. And I have graded them by taking home my computer rather then lugging home the enormous tote bag of paper the students would have produced. I like my real tech computer because it gives me the freedom, flexibility, and adaptability to respond creatively in the moment. It means that I am more willing try new things, and that helps to keep my teaching fresh. On top of that, I am also dependent on my computer for all my administrative duties. Having access to it at all time means that I have picked up a whole bunch of excel skills I never needed before. So the computer has allowed me to develop professionally as well.
ReplyDeleteReal Tech has been tremendously helpful to me this year. I am not particularly tech-saavy, but I am learning to use powerpoint more effectively, tap Google to create different filing options, and adapt Quia products to help me develop games, quizzes, tests and other learning options for my students. As a result, I believe that I am a more effective and better organized teacher. I have more time to develop differentiated options for my students -- and many of those options I can adapt using technology. As a result, I can better serve students while lessening my own frustration. I have a lot to learn, but I feel that I am on my way. I'm even learning how to use blogging for out-of-class participation! Real Tech is a great program for any professional who wishes to improve his/her effectiveness and meet the varied needs of students.
ReplyDeleteOne tremendous benefit of Real Tech participation is that my teaching and professional life is now in one place -- my tablet PC hard drive --as opposed to home and work computers and multiple flash drives. The result is that, when inspiration strikes, I have immediate access to my programs, lessons, plans, and data. I use the tablet function routinely in my language classes not merely to project presentations, but to enable students to share their work with the class as they diagram/schematize sentences and translate/interpret texts. We can cover much more ground -- and provide greater visual context -- than would be possible simply writing on a black (or white) board. The greatest benefit, however, has been the ability to pick up and adapt ideas from colleagues more computer-literate than I am. A large and growing number of teaching-related technologies are available, and I would be unaware of most of them without the insight and input of fellow Real Tech participants. The continuing conversation Real Tech prompts about both the potential and the drawbacks of bringing different technologies to the classroom is interesting and truly helpful.
ReplyDeleteSix years ago, when I first started teaching at Loyola Academy, I did not have a computer so I had to rely on my classroom and 3 department computers. I saved files on multiple computers never to be seen or used again. At the end of my first year, I applied to the REAL Tec program, and thankfully, received a computer that August. I cannot tell you how much easier my life has become. The fact that all my files are in one place makes all the difference. I am able to edit and modify worksheets, quizzes and tests and fashion them towards a particular class or track level. Moreover, I have been able to create cultural powerpoints that featured my trips abroad. My photos were uploaded to my computer so I could use this authentic realia to educate my students. I loved REAL Tech so much that I am currently a renewal teacher. This means I have a PC tablet that has so many new opportunities for me, and thus, I continue to learn and advance my use of technology in the classroom. For example, instead of writing my warm-up for students on the white board, I put it on my tablet and then project it on a screen. Then, I call on a student and he/she goes over the answers with the class by writing with my special pen on my tablet. It's fantastic!
ReplyDeleteThe RealTech program has provided me with the opportunity to better integrate technology in my classroom through the Tablet PC, training sessions, and independent study. Courses offered through the program have introduced me to new software, given me new insights into software I currently use, and have provided a forum in which to share ideas with colleagues. I was pleased to pick-up one or two new ideas at each of the classes I attended. The opportunity to explore my own interests through independent study has been extremely beneficial in allowing me to learn and explore while using my Tablet PC for tasks specific to my teaching. As others have already stated, I find myself much more organized and creative in creating class handouts, tests, and quizzes. When using OneNote to present a lesson it is a great benefit to have the ability to integrate notes, pictures, color, and the Internet in one source that can be saved, posted online, and given to absent students or stored for future reference. RealTech is a great program I would highly recommend.
ReplyDeleteYes, you can teach an old dog new tricks and I’m living proof. I’m on my third laptop right now and have learned so many different ways to use technology in the classroom and beyond. I use Excel to maintain spreadsheets on departmental expenses so that each teacher can see at a glance how close they’re staying on budget; my Power Points have gone from Blah to POW; Word allows me to take rehearsal notes in the dark and print out copies from the theater to be handed out before the actors go home rather than spending valuable time giving oral notes to individuals; Word and PDFs have made making programs and flyers easy and efficient as they can be sent directly to the printer without my having to make a disc and hand deliver it. The best part is that everything is in one place, not on separate computers at home, in the office, and in the classroom. Recently I have started using Google Docs with my playwriting groups. Multiple writers are able to edit simultaneously, which allows for more creativity and student engagement. Because RealTech has allowed me to become totally comfortable with technology, I was confident enough to apply to the Manhattan Theatre Club’s TheatreLink project, was accepted, and now my class spends an entire semester linked via computer and videoconferencing with New York teaching artists and 17 other schools around the world. I can’t imagine my life without my laptop – thank you Real Tech for making it possible.
ReplyDeleteI have REALTeched and Renewed a couple of times and have found it to be a vital component of my own “staff development”. Having the latest technology (such as a tablet and associated software) can “drive” improvements to the course. Like others, I have found that having the core of my class resources in one place very useful (and comforting). Once in the REALTech tablet, the word docs, Powerpoints, course binders, videos, lab data, music, web links, images, youtube videos, lab simulations, colleagues documents, spreadsheets, and Notebook files that are used in class can easily be accessed, modified, added to, and deleted. It facilitates a constant improvement of your course, both year-to-year and even section-to-section. If one explanation or methodology does not work in class, it is comforting to know that you have several alternatives that can be easily accessed from your tablet.
ReplyDeleteThe REAL Tech program has been an excellent way for me to acquaint myself with the most recent technology and its use in the classroom. I am now on my fourth laptop from the
ReplyDeleteprogram, and each time it is amazing to see what new capabilities have been incorporated.
When I started, we were using Macs for the operating system (some among us might still prefer that system…), ClarisWorks for word processing, HyperCard for presentations, floppy disks for storage, and AOL for home email.
In the beginning, Real Tech was mainly useful for the instruction I received from others. I felt very unsophisticated at the time in terms of computer use, so I would sometimes take the same course more than once to really remember and understand how the different programs worked. (I didn’t get to count the same course for credit, of course, but it was still worthwhile.) So if any teachers are hesitating to apply because they feel they “don’t know enough,” don’t hold back – you probably already know much more than I did!
In the more recent renewals, it has been expected that we would prepare and teach classes. While I am more than a little uncomfortable with the idea of acting as any kind of “expert” in the realm of computers, I have found Tim and now Jan to be understanding of how much time it takes in our already crowded schedules to create curriculum and try new things. They have been more than willing to find ways to make the process useful and not burdensome.
Being in the REAL Tech program has given me the “push” I sometimes need to try things in class. The momentum keeps me going well after the required two-year period is over. In fact, most of the best results in the classroom have come in the years after I have finished my REAL Tech obligations. That’s when I have more time to think about putting what I have learned to use. For example, I first tried blogs with my classes in 2006, just after my renewal of 2004 had been completed. It’s an excellent way to continue class conversations beyond the classroom. The student response has been enthusiastic. I also have used my own experiences in creating PowerPoint presentations to think about how to assign and evaluate presentations that I have assigned – beginning in 2006, in particular, when I asked students to present PowerPoints on comparative ideas of heroism. Although I do not use many PowerPoint presentations myself (more out of pedagogical reasons now – I prefer to reduce the amount of “teacher talk” in class), I like helping students give a well-honed presentation, since this is something they will likely need to do a lot in their lives. The last two years I have also experimented with Google Docs, mainly in having the students research a topic and post their findings to the Google Docs page. For example, in preparing students for the Medusa Mythology Exam, I used to create a 10-page review outline for them on the topic; now I create the skeleton for the outline and have them fill it in (with requirements for numbers and kinds of sources that they have to employ). The complete outline can be done in a night, and the students have the satisfaction of having created it.
Loyola's Real Tech program allows me access to technology at work and at home, as well as at my Loyola University graduate school classes. As a language teacher, I have access to materials in French in "real time," including not only televised news reports and newspaper articles, but also websites aimed at Francophone audiences that are accessible to my students. Apart from taking all of my students to Paris on a field trip, what better way to learn about the Paris metro system than by going on the metro website? I also use websites for French department stores with "virtual mannequins" or models that allow students to try on French clothing. In addition, the portability of the laptop allows me to have my computer at the ready, whether it be in Chicago or in France.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thoughts on REAL Tech! It is good for me to see what benefits you feel you and your students have derived from participation in the program.
ReplyDeleteI must admit to a moment of trepidation, however, when I read that more than one of you love having all of your files in one place. Of course, we know such convenience can also spell disaster
if you do not regularly back up your files. So, just a reminder to get on that, if you’re not already doing so.
And if you’re thinking you can’t find the reverse switch . . . we need to talk! ;)
Thanks again, REAL Tech'rs! You rock!
The Real Tech program has exceeded my expectations from the time I began. I find that the tablet has facilitated my teaching. I can plan my lessons on One Note, transfer them to my webpage with the assignments from the day as well as upload the powerpoints, worksheets, videos or anything I used as a teaching tool in class. The workshops have been very informative and has kept me on the cutting edge of new methodologies. I used the Google Docs in my classroom as a place where students could collaborate and write a one-act play that they would present in the class. I also used Google Docs as the place where my students could write a relfection on their experience of the project.
ReplyDeleteThe workshop on voicethreading enabled me to take it one step further by inviting members of the Language Dept. to come in for a workshop so they could make their own VT. I used my own as an example. One of the Spanish teachers introduced it to her classes and received rave reviews.
Love Real Tech and I am ready to learn some more...