Wk 4 Publishing Leadership Project

I have worked hard in accomplishing the necessary steps of completing my Action Research project.  The final step required for concluding the project is to have it published.  Since my project is about the impediments teachers have in integrating technology into the curriculum I have decided to submit my Action Research to the Journal of Technology and Teacher Education and Journal of Educational Technology and Society.

The reason I chose JTATE is because in the past I have worked with someone in their research on blended learning, and I presented the article at a conference held in Tennessee for the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education. The journal is for articles related to preservice and inservice teacher education, graduate programs in areas such as curriculum and instruction, educational administration, staff development instructional technology, and educational computing.

 The Journal of Educational Technology and Society is a journal that accepts articles that deal with issues that affect educational technology and society. I thought that my Action Research paper would contain information that complied with this journal.

Publishing Leadership Project Link:

files.me.com/avpa3/8350eh

Think out loud links:

http://angelaalipour-angie.blogspot.com/2011/04/wk-4-think-out-loud-2.html#links

http://angelaalipour-angie.blogspot.com/2011/04/wk-4-think-out-loud.html

Wk 4 Peer Response 2

Klytia Burcham says:

April 19, 2011 at 10:44 pm

My dream teaching environment would involve an administration that understood that standardized testing is not the most important or valid way of measuring what a student has learned. I would love to have a kindergarten room, like we used to have way back when, that is extremely large with bathrooms inside the room. I would like to have a play area for blocks/legos, kitchen, reading/big books and puzzles. I would love to have a block of four to six computers in the classroom for students to cycle through during centers. I would want an projector and ELMO hooked up to a computer with a screen that worked. Most of all, from my perspective as a pinked tenure teacher, I would love to have an environment where teacher’s who are passionate about their job, could find a job!

Reply

Angela Alipour says:

April 22, 2011 at 10:22 pm

Unfortunately Klytia it seems as if all administrators have that in mind. I really don’t think it’s their fault. It is what is required of them. If they don’t follow the rules set by the state, county, government, etc. then they are out of a job. I absolutely agree with you that standardized testing does not always measure what a student has learned.

Wk 4 Peer Response 1

Jason Peglow says:

April 13, 2011 at 2:18 pm

My dream job would be to create and work in a “Hybrid” school. It would involve allowing kids to have 1:1, to stay at home like a cyber-school if they choose, or to come to my warehouse school where teachers (facilitators/mentors) are available 24/7 to help facilitate assignments, labs, projects, etc. The parents and students are free to come and go as they choose throughout the day/night and students advance through the curriculum at their own pace. If a parent wants their kid to be “watched” while they are at work … so be it. It can be that kind of school for that parent if need be. There are places for physical education or pick up games and activities, a cafeteria/coffee lounge, etc. It is a place where students want to come to if they need help or to meet friends and work together. It is a place they can come to or not. The curriculum is mobile and so are they.

Reply

• Mike Colletti says:

  April 16, 2011 at 10:37 pm

  Jason…what an ambitious dream. 24/7 availability for facilitators and an open school environment…wow! I would love to see something like this attempted, and would consider working in that type of place. Let me know when you get it set up.
  

  Reply
• Angela Alipour says:

  April 22, 2011 at 10:17 pm

  Jason,
  I think that will happen eventually. It is already happening in Universities, and there are some high school students who are taking online courses. The only level of students that I think that will always start out in a traditional school environment will be the elementary kids. They need that start and I think that if they just learn in an online environment they never get the socialization skills they will need.
  

Wk 4 Think out LOUD 2

I am getting close to the end of being part of FSO. It is going to be a bittersweet ending. The bitter part about it is that I will have to seek out new technology information on my own. The sweet part about it is it is finally over and I have a Master's Degree! Overall I have enjoyed my experience here at Full Sail. Every time I pass one of those bill boards that advertise my school I tell the person sitting next to me, "Look that's the school I go to!"
For my Bachelors I attended UCF and when I graduated I was glad and never really had any feeling to go back or to become part of their alumni participants. With FSO I feel differently. I will definitely want to know what is going on in the school once I leave it. As I said before, I am happy I am graduating but I will also miss it.

Wk 4 Think out LOUD

I really enjoyed watching the videos of Film Riot. They gave me a good laugh and taught me something at the same time. They also provided many good resources. I spent a couple of hours looking at their videos. I bookmarked many of the resources they provided for future use.

In the past I bookmarked some resources other professors provided, but I think in this class I received the most information on various websites I can visit and learn from. I would have liked to learn how to use Final Cut. Have to buy it first.

Peer Constructive Criticism

No one likes to be criticized, but sometimes it helps you see what can be corrected. Here is some feedback I received about my paper from my critical friends.

curtisakson@gmail.com to avpa33 <avpa33@gmail.com>

7:13am

Angela,

I read your paper, and I have a few questions.
So, you documented these technologies problems, but what was answer to these problems?
Did you have a specific path for improvement?
Did you start at a baseline and make improvements?
What did your AR Project do to improve these statistics?

This paper was well written and well documented. Hopefully this helps.

Curt Isakson
 _________________________________________________________________________________

Tdralus@gmail.com to avpa33 <avpa33@gmail.com>

7:05am

Hi Angela,

I did look at your paper on Wednesday. The thing that stuck out right away was the lack of spacing between the sections. I would add that. Nothing else stuck out on a first glance. I will look more carefully.

 Trina
_______________________________________________________________________________

Trina Dralus <tdralus@gmail.com> to avpa33@gmail.com

3:16pm

I have attached your paper with comments. Hope it helps. Love this project. Very interesting!

Happy Easter!

Trina

________________________________________________________________________________

Hi Angela,
I just came to visit my in-laws.  I just saw your paper.  I like your topic. It is very interesting.  What I would suggest is to write your name under the title.  I also noticed that you wrote Methods instead of Methodology.   I also understand we should have conclusions from the Literature Review and Results from the AR.

Well, everything depends on where you are going to publish your AR.  I would suggest to look at their requirements and then do the corresponding changes.

Good luck!

Have a great week!

Sandra

Wk 4 Reading

In this weeks reading I was touched by the story of truth and reconciliation. In South Africa the Truth and Reconciliation Committee was established for people to explain to the government the atrocities they have committed toward other human beings. Sort of a way to justify what they did or it can also be viewed as a confession. Each person who would speak would tell their story of what happened and prove that they were mandated by the government to do what they were told to do. This committee helped form a movement in this society. A movement that keeps the people moving forward and work as a community.

I strongly believe that when people work together changes can occur much more quickly than when it is just one person trying to make the change. I suppose that is why they always say that two heads are better than one.

Wk 4 Wimba

Each person shared their publishing leadership project and gave constructive criticism on their projects.

There were many interesting projects presented.

Learning a different language can be difficult for some students. Sandra’s project on How to use web 2.0 tools to learn a different language was quite interesting. She focused on technology in the learning process, technology as a motivator, technology as an educator.  I really liked her idea of using comic strips for the students to write a story. I also liked that she used plan B when Glogster did not work for her. Many teachers hesitate to use technology tools because sometimes it fails. There should always be a plan B in place. I think she did a wonderful job putting it all together.

Trina’s project contained very thorough information. Her students did show growth in reading. I felt as if her article was too lengthy. I think that when she is ready to send it out to the publishers some of them will admire all of the information she provided (such as tables on her data), others will feel it is too long. The pictures did look good on her paper, but will the publishers accept it?

Jen’s keynote project positive behavior support really hit the spot for me. I had to deal with many behavior issues last year with my students. I could relate exactly to how she felt. This year they actually implemented a behavior plan in my school. Much of what she mentioned in her literature review are strategies learned in classroom management classes. Her documentation of classroom behaviors made me think that maybe I should take note if the strategies I use and see if students improve during the year or not.

Mikes action research was fun. Mythology is a subject that most students like learning about, at least when I have taught it. Integrating technology with mythology is great. I liked his idea of a no risk project. Letting students choose how to learn about a subject makes the lesson much more interesting. I got a lot of ideas from his project. It seems as if he kept his students engaged. It’s true what Kathy said about him.

Wk 3 Reading

The Art of Possibility

Possibility is available to all. Keeping a fixed reality does not offer the vision of all of the possibilities that are available. Having a vision and making it a reality is the process of creating. Creation comes from within and we all have different ways of expressing that which we create. Therefore if one wants to awaken this possibility in others they must guide the other in learning how to tap into all the possibilities they have inside of them, and change the way they may perceive situations or things.

It’s all about how a person perception of what is surrounding them, or what becomes part of their reality. If the person can grasp the fact that his or her perception can be changed just by changing their thought pattern they will be able to perceive all of the possibilities that are available to them. Positive thinking reinforces the abilities that are already there for them. Gives the person that feeling of confidence. And should the situation not manifest, as the person desired it is best if that person looks at the good that came from that experience, instead of what did not happen for them.

When one accepts the changes that are occurring and flows with it then transformation happens.

Wk 3 Wimba

There was a lot of information shared during the Wimba session this week. A discussion I wanted to comment on was about change in education. I do agree that there is not a lot of change that happens in education. Actually when change does occur it occurs slowly. I think it has to do with the general public not accepting the change, and of course funding. Like Kathy mentioned during the Wimba session change is not good for test score administrators.

I enjoyed reading peoples response to the questions presented for the readings of The Art of Possibility.

Wk 3 Peer Response II

Melissa Lodhi says:

April 8, 2011 at 9:36 pm

In many cases, I have found the educators to be much more open to the integration of technology than the administrators. Many are not sure where to begin and the thought of trying to figure it all out is overwhelming on an already stretched timeframe. Dealing with technology requires a person that is a creative thinker and problem solver. As we have seen in the past, there are often glitches and the best laid plans fall in ruins as the system crashes, student access numbers don’t work, and the site you planned to use is suddenly bluecoated.

One of the most valuable ways to help educators through the trepidation is to teach them how to adapt to new platforms and where to go for help and tutorials. Dealing with endless trainings on platforms that are extinct before they are mastered is frustrating for educators. If the technology integration does not stress their already limited time resources and can be adapted to meet individual needs, it will be more effective.

Reply

• Britni Hendrickson says:

April 11, 2011 at 1:57 am

Melissa,
I think that this is where a strong IT department comes into play. I personally feel like the department at my school is overworked due to not having enough staff. It is almost like you have to reserve them to come in to answer questions/fix problems/host training. I also think it takes a special person to be in the IT department due to the rapid rate change of technology each individual has to stay current and yet be trained for the past. On a side note, I personally LOVE the lynda.com tutorials, I have learned so much from them. I think this has been even more valuable than the technology department at my school, at least when it comes to programs on my MAC.

Reply

• Andrea Nichols says:

April 11, 2011 at 9:08 pm

Our district’s IT department is severely understaffed and overworked. It is hard to imagine integrating anything new into my school when much of the old stuff is broken!

Reply

• Kathy Toth says:

April 13, 2011 at 10:42 pm

I hear you, Andrea. This year we have had seven IT people available to cover the problems of 90 schools, who complained that their problems weren’t fixed the day they were submitted.

Reply

• Angela Alipour says:

April 15, 2011 at 5:50 pm

Melissa,
I think what happens to those teachers that do not embrace technology so quickly is that they are either the type of person who does not accept change or they just think they do not have enough time to integrate something new into their lesson. My action research project is based on integrating technology into the curriculum. I found that many of the teachers were willing to learn but all they kept on thinking about was when they were going to implement, they can’t do any of it before FCAT, and that it will take too long for their students to learn how to use the technology they plan on implementing. The last excuse was a shocker to me. Especially when all students have been exposed to technology tools in one way or another.

Wk 3 Peer Response

Pamela Holifield says:

April 6, 2011 at 9:50 pm

Implementing new ideas in my school is touchy. We love it, but you need to go about it very carefully, and you just can’t push it. We are contracted year to year.

For example, I wanted to add blog writing for my writing skills class. It was shot down almost instantly. They are just not ready for that. However, when I introduced new websites, the school loved them, and has asked me to teach a class over the summer to the new and returning teachers.

Reply

• Dena Moncrief says:

April 15, 2011 at 7:39 am

Wow, I just wanted to ask…Isn’t that backwards? You would think they would love the blogging for many reasons.

Reply

• Angela Alipour says:

April 15, 2011 at 5:12 pm

When I think of them not accepting blogging the first thought that comes to mind is, “how were they presented with the information about blogging?” Were the administrators shown the benefits of blogging? If they were and they still did not accept it then it can be understood why education does not advance quickly. I think these people are just afraid to try it out.

Wk 2 Wimba

The Wimba session for this week reviewed. much of what was discussed during week one. I learned some interesting facts about copy write laws. It's amazing how much can be placed in the grey area. The Creative Commons laws do provide a better guide as to whether or not the creator of work will or will not allow use of his or her work. I do agree that if there are such strict copy write laws then it will prevent future generations from understanding and learning from other creators.

Wk 2 Peer Response II

Danette says:

April 8, 2011 at 6:01 am

I received my first record player when I was five. Eight track tapes came out shortly after that. The first eight track that I remember was the Beach Boys. Growing up in Florida, it was always on when we were headed to the beach for the day. By the time I was in middle school cassettes were hitting the stores. Sony Walkman was on every teenager’s wish list. Then came the CD. Prices were high. Again, everyone had to change the machines to play the tunes, another added cost. I feel blessed to grow up in such a great music time period. Many transitions and diversity.

Reply

• Angela Alipour says:

April 8, 2011 at 6:42 pm

Danette,
I too remember the 8 track tapes. It seems as if they really didn’t last too long. Then the cassette tapes came out. Use to hate it when the tape would stick inside of the player and then I would have to wind it all up again and hope that that piece of the tape would not sound distorted. Most of the time some damage would occur. Of course this also happened with VHS tapes.

Wk 2 Peer Response

Britni says:

April 2, 2011 at 11:43 am

I am a combination. I like to buy the CD’s but once I load the songs to my iPod, they usually sit on the shelf. I recently have looked more into the Pandora radio and some of the other subscription sites, but I’m just not sure if I would actually get my money’s worth out of it. A few years ago, I tested out Limewire, but after getting the “blue screen of death” and then a computer crash followed shortly thereafter, I decided to stick with my purchasing the songs I like. Oh and I’ve also found that on Amazon, I can just buy the song/songs I’m interested without buying the whole cd. With apps like Shazam, I find it easier to purchase the specific songs to customize my playlists.

My Response:

Angela Alipour says:

April 8, 2011 at 6:08 pm

I too had an issue with Limewire. Actually I was told by a student of mine to use it. I asked the student if he ever had any problems with the computer after he used it and he said never. There were other students who agreed with him, so I figured I would give it a try. Well, shortly after I installed it my computer went blank. Then it cost me 100 dollars to fix it. Should have used iTunes instead.

Wk 2 Reading

How can we think outside the box we live in?
Great question. There have been many times when I ask myself that question. Thinking outside of the box is what gives birth to creativity. Yet much of what we are taught as being accepting and normal keeps many people inside of the box. I have fallen in this trap many, many, times. I do find that as I get older I have actually began to think out of the box.
What might we invent that would give us other choices?
A positive perspective and knowing that there are an abundance of choices available to each and everyone of us would give us other choices.

Wk 1 Reading

When push comes to shove the copy write laws are all about the money. Who can get the most money and how. What’s wrong with someone taking your work and creating something else out of it as long as they give you the credit for being the inspiration of their creation? Especially when they can make it better. If we can do this with text why not film and music? Don’t those people get paid enough? Actually I think that many of them get overpaid.

One of the people that spoke in the video said that an artist needs copy write laws as an incentive to create. Yeah, right! When someone is creating they are not thinking about copy write laws. They are creating.

With the Fair Use law it’s good to know that there is a law that can cover your behind if you need it too. Of course it has to meet the criteria of critical comment, teaching, parody, and news reporting. Even under these circumstances one needs to be careful.

I was happy to know that Creative Commons is available for creators. The saying two brains are better than one is what came to mind when I saw this video. Sharing a personal idea or creation with another person can sometimes cause the other person to elaborate on that idea and the final result can be spectacular.

As I’ve been watching more and more videos about this I find that the music industry seems to have a real issue about copy writing. Wish I would have known about Creative Commons during the FSO music class.

 

Wk 1 Peer Response II

sarah baker-dykes says:

1. March 28, 2011 at 8:46 pm

   My district encourages teachers to integrate technology in the classroom, however it’s not really expected. Most teachers have Smart Boards in their classrooms and every classroom has at least 2-3 desktop computers too. My principal sees the importance of using technology to enhance instruction and strongly encourages teachers to try new techniques and resources. She observed my classroom to see how I use technology in my classroom earlier in the year and was so excited that she invited our superintendent to come observe my class, too. Since then, I’ve held after-school meetings for teachers who want to start using these new resources in their classrooms. It’s exciting to see other teachers get involved and start using these practices in their classrooms, too!
   

   Reply
   • Angela Alipour says:

     March 30, 2011 at 12:40 pm

     If only the school district would provide and mandate teachers to attend more technology integrating professional development classes then I believe more teachers would be integrating more technology in their lessons.

Wk 1 Peer Response

Pamela Holifield says:

March 28, 2011 at 7:09 pm

We are using iPads and finally have our campus Wifi throughout the school. Students can use their phones, or any other device on the network. They do have facebook blocked through this connection, as well as other inappropriate sites.
We have access to all Mac programs. We have 5 Mac Labs with 35 Emacs in each lab equipped with external hard drives (if needed). The students have log in accounts in which they can save their work for their classes.

Reply

• sarah baker-dykes says:

  March 28, 2011 at 8:41 pm

  Your school seems to be ahead of the game when it comes to integrating new technology. Your district definitely sees the importance of exposing students to the technological resources they’ll end up seeing in their future careers.
  

  Reply
• Curt Isakson says:

  March 29, 2011 at 9:52 pm

  Pamela,
  Can I come and work at your school?
  

  Reply
• Angela Alipour says:

  March 30, 2011 at 12:35 pm

  Wow! Lucky you, working in a school that is really with it. You would think that all schools would have this type of technology by now. Especially when the government is complaining that there should be more people using technology in the US and yet we do not rank as high as other countries. Which is a real conundrum when the US has Microsoft and Apple. I can’t wait until all students are required to have a computer notebook or iPad to learn from.

Wk 1 Wimba Session

The Wimba session reviewed much of what was already said through all of the videos posted for week one. Many of my questions were clarified through the Wimba session. I liked Mr. Bustillo’s advice of balancing everything out. Prioritize is something I always tell my children. I am looking very forward to graduation and am excited that there are only two classes left. Can’t believe how fast time went by.