Runninghead:REFLECTION FOR TECHNOLOGY STANDARD I

Reflection for Technology Standard I: Technology Operations and Concepts Walker B. Wellborn Lamar University

REFLECTION FOR TECHNOLOGY STANDARD I Reflection for Technology Standard I: Technology Operations and Concepts Self-Assessment Bonham Elementary needed a project to be presented to the parents in the final PTA meeting. This project had to demonstrate the academic achievements being met at the school as required in the

goals set out in Bonhams Campus Improvement Plan (AISD, 2011, para. 6-7). It was decided to facilitate the five kindergarten classes to produce a presentation that also showed the educational technology capabilities of the faculty. It would be necessary to record and show what the children did everyday since no one class activity demonstrated enough of the years academic achievements. Multimedia technology naturally takes advantage of both presenting the recording and the images. For satisfying the needs for the project and for the schools educational technology demonstration Shank (n.d.) agrees, Well-designed multimedia can embrace motivation, learning, and transfer. The most effective multimedia provides learning experiences that mirror real-world experiences and allow learners to apply what theyve learned in various contexts (p. 10). Learner as a Learner At the first strategic planning meeting the project was named A Day in the Life of a Kindergartener. In facilitating the multimedia presentation the first technology covered was recording. The five kindergarten teachers, music teacher, and librarian were not aware how we would record. The availability of a free professional recording and audio editing software online, the open source software Audacity, was chosen. It would allow the teachers to record and edit students voiceover narration and singing. Microphones were provided to a few teachers who discussed together who would be best for recording the students and getting clear-recorded voice or music. Also the recording inside or outside the class was discussed for the best means of recording. I also understood how to explain others how to use Audacity to get the recording and to edit it, but verbal explanation was not enough. Modeling how to use the software helped teachers to use Audacity. However for the audio tool to make sense, to be more than a

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basic skill and fundamental fact, it had to be used in context of a classroom learning activity (Williamson & Redish, 2009, p. 21). Also, in a second project involving fourth and fifth grade teachers and a project using multimedia to demonstrate and instruct verbally to make something I helped teachers assist students how to illustrate using Paint.Net software with the Wacom digital pen and tablet. The teachers had before taught the students how to draw, color and design naturally and then scan it into digital format. However, with the new process using Painter.Net with a digital pen & tablet the students would draw direct into digital format. The tablet had pressure sensitivity and speed settings that could be adjusted individually to each artist. I facilitated showing the computer lab director and teachers how to first input drawings into Painter.Net, and then create a second layer for the color to rest below the line work layer. The layers technique helped the teachers explain how to use the software to leave a clean black graphic line on top of a flat intense color, almost a cartoon-like style of art. The proper order process was explained as the students worked in groups at each computer station. Lifelong Learning Skills Through facilitation the teachers learned how to implement technology to help complex components of the recording and illustration process to work for the many groups of students. To model the process meant to first show how to do something, then let the teachers do it themselves. When the teachers understood the process of how multiple components such as the pen tools, creating shapes, color filling, and using layers to organize the illustration work, then they were more successful to implement the educational technologies for the illustration process with students (Williamson & Redish, 2009, p. 21). Finding the best way to facilitate educational technologies and make them practical and understood for future classroom applications is an ongoing job. The teachers may know how to use the technology but being able to integrate the technology into instructional content is more a challenge. According to The Horizon Report 2011 the highest ranked challenge to technology adoption is digital media literacy. Teachers must be able to not only know innovative tools, but also be able to use them in a

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meaningful way to develop the curriculum for best learning (Johnson, Smith, Willis, Levine, & Haywood, 2011, p. 3). . I believe the multimedia proved to communicate not only the kindergartners class activities but also gave teachers the tools to engage the students and to make the sounds and sights of the real life learning activities to communicate with more meaning.

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References Abilene Independent School District (AISD). (2011). District initiatives. AISD Bonham campus improvement plan. Retrieved at http://schools.abileneisd.org/Plans/20092010/2010_Bonham_Campus_Plan.pdf. Johnson, L., Smith, R., Willis, H., Levine, A., & Haywood, K. (2011). The 2011 horizon report. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium. Shank, P. (n.d.). The value of multimedia in learning. Think Tank. Retrieved May 5, 2009, from http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/thinktank/valuemedia/. Williamson, J. & Redish, T. (2009). ISTEs Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards: What Every K-12 Leader Should Know and Be Able to Do. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education, pp. 1-55.