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With the 1to1 program in Fraser I can see that technology is a great tool to help our students.  It is being pushed in so many districts and though I understand the benefits of technology I still am skeptical.  I thought the history of technology in the classroom was very interesting.  It was neat to see how it’s changed over time and fit myself into the timeline.    Integrating technology into the classroom can be a pain sometimes.  It’s easier to go old school sometimes, but I have seen the difference it makes in how students engage in the lesson and material.  I though it was interesting that the article pointed out that students don’t necessary have equal access to technology.

Extend

I thought it was interesting that we assume that students know how to use technology.  We want our students to be very tech savvy and they usually are but some of them still struggle with portions of it.  I think this extends to the teachers to find the gap between lack of understand the content and lack of understanding the technology.

Challenge

I’m still struggling with how to really integrate technology in the classroom in new and interesting ways.  I find myself doing the same projects and activities over and over again.  I’d like to extend past that to benefit my students and to keep myself from getting stuck in a rut.  My MS school had tons of technology but I struggled to use it in the classroom.  Most of it sat in my closet most of the year.

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The article was very informative with all the infrastructure and details on how to implement technology school wide.  I found the information about opportunities for practice, fueling student achievement and meaningful ways of using technology were most intriguing for me.  Also the engaging and empowering for 21st century competencies.  Since technology is the way things are going, every school should implement the usage with adequate training to ensure the purpose and outcomes are clear.
Extend:
There were a few topics that resonated with me since I am a huge fan of mastery.  One is the Personalized Student Learning and Project Base Learning.  I think it will be the ideal school for every teacher if the use of technology would increase scores, engagement and motivation.  The E-Rate program can be a benefit for all schools especially if its mandate that the accessibility is made for all students regardless to background. I truly agree with the article on ensuring technology is used actively and not passively.
Challenge:
I still wonder about a lot of things.  With all the changes within the school district where I work.  Are we exploring every avenue to help our kids be successful?  Are we setting our kids up for failure?  When will teacher gain the trust from the higher administration which will include involving us in some of the decision making instead of doing the "Next best thing?"  With a school wide use of technology is a great idea, but will teacher be given the opportunities to attend PD to help enhance the craft?  Last but not least, I would love to use technology, but I don't want  technology to be the "Be all end all."  As a math teacher, I strongly believe in the pencil to paper as well.

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This article was very interesting and allowed me the opportunity to see more of the importance of technology within the educational tapestry. As a high school science teacher I found the practices to be very applicable. Students need to be given the opportunity to understand material presented within different formats. Especially with differentiated instruction. Technology integration is sometimes a daunting task as we have been instructed to implement more and more practices over the last couple years in the school I currently teach. We often complain when the technology fails and don't always credit the good it can provide. This is a balance but should be embraced. In my Physics class I have embraced the use of technology in way of activities that present a particular concept, such as momentum with a skateboarder. It is very worthwhile to allow the students to play a game with designated values to experiment with the physical phenomena being explored.  This then lays the framework and foundation of a mathematical approach to the same situations.

Extend:
As the NETP suggested students can have the opportunity to do online activities in the science classrooms.  Working at a smaller christian school it is sometimes difficult to have money to buy new equipment or have the resources to develop longer exploratory scientific experimentation.  Utilizing technology outlets, as described here, would allow much more freedom.  When I was getting trained to begin teaching the AP Biology course it was fascinating to see how many online activities/ labs were available for a very low cost.

Challenge:
A challenging area for me is feeling comfortable enough to utilize the amount of technological opportunities I have been learning about. Last year we went to the technology conference MCAUL and it was a bit overwhelming. There were so many great ideas but I am nervous about being comfortable enough to embrace and then utilize to their full potential. We now have a class set of ipads we can use along with students being required to have some technology piece with them at all times. I sometimes have trouble going from one format to another or knowing the different capabilities. I am learning continually and look forward to understanding more of how technology can be integrated into the academic setting.

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I found this article to be extremely valuable and insightful on effective technology usage in the classroom and educational setting. While all my teaching experience is in higher-education, I found their recommendations relevant in the college setting.  As I reflect on my own teaching philosophy I believe that learning takes place within the traditional classroom and beyond –either through hands-on, or through the use of technology or practical learning experiences that encourage students to interact with the academic content. Moreover, I believe effective instruction is based in part on creative methods of instruction that inspire students to take responsibility for their learning, rather than relying solely on traditional faculty lectures and notes. To that end, I frequently infused the use of technology into my classes to help students internalize content, increase critical thinking and engage academic material and each other beyond the traditional setting. My teaching approach is also rooted in the belief that I must be willing to model learning and employ a variety of strategies/approaches designed to help reach an everincreasing diverse student population. Similarly, to the recommendations presented in the NETP, technology is indeed a vehicle to increase student access to quality education. Converserly, though, is the concern that not everyone may have the financial means to connect (i.e. computers, laptops, ipad) to access education.

Expand:

As I mentioned earlier, I teach in higher education and I am also a higher ed administrator. In social work education, where I teach, there are competencies skills for clinicians to develop in order to graduate with a degree in social work. As I read through this plan, I am interested in learning how increase physical interaction (I.e. Interviewing clients) through technology. As an educator, how do I determine whether these skills are mastered? Can students learn/practice through technology empathy, or compassion? Possibly through the appropriate platform.

Challenge:

I really enjoyed this article and found it quite helpful in thinking about how to apply in higher education. However, my concern is the field (practice/employment setting) is far more advance in technology than we are in higher education.  This poses a real challenge that we are teaching students to use technology in a way no longer current by the time they reach the field.

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I really enjoyed reading this article because it directly relates to my teaching. As a sixth grade teacher In Fraser Public Schools I am very fortunate to have access to an iPad for all of my students.  I have wonderful resources at my fingertips and students who are comfortable using the technology because they have had an iPad since third grade. I think that having ipads for students is a wonderful tool and together we are able to experience a lot of really awesome learning. I have found wonderful Apps, typing programs, even just research projects that my students absolutely love. The article gave lots of great examples of ways I can continue to incorporate technology into my classroom.

Extend:

One thing that I found very interesting in the article is the "Greater equity and accessibility." I teach in a district that provides iPads to every students. The district also has agreements with local internet companies that provide internet to Fraser students at a reduced rate. Even with that I still have 8-10 of my 33 students not have internet access at home. My district wants teachers to use flipped lessons and math Apps for homework but I feel that it is unfair to assign homework to my whole class when 1/3 of the students have no internet access at home. Our district says that students should be going to the library or McDonalds to use free wifi but in my experience my students are to young to be going to these places alone or the parents are just not able to take them. So my extended thinking is I have this wonderful tool in front of me and my students but how can I utilize the iPad to help enhance my students learning. I would love to see every student have an iPad and access to the internet at home.
Challenge:
After reading the article I began to think about all of the ways I am already incorporating technology into my classroom. Many of the suggestions from the article are things that my district has provided or expects. I feel very lucky to be a teacher who is very comfortable using technology because I know that many of coworkers struggle. Learning to use technology effectively and efficiently is important for both students and teachers. I find that I am often giving the name of an app or program and told try this out in your classroom, yet there is no real training so its always interesting my students and I try something new because most of the time it takes us working together to figure things out. The challenge I see is that technology can be scary. It takes a lot of practice and I know in my district everyone is afraid to have something go wrong during an evaluation. Well unfortunately anyone who has ever tried to log in 33 third graders into an app knows there are going to be problems. Students will have trouble typing their names and passwords, someone clicked the wrong screen, iPads freeze, die, a weird little apple shows up on the screen. Things happen and thats okay, it just takes a lot of patience, time, and practice. So even though it is scary I hope that more districts incorporate technology into their classrooms and work to find that perfect balance between technology and best practice teaching.

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This article and the way it was divided into sections helped me connect a lot of my thinking to the 1:1 device program that my school, Notre Dame Preparatory (NDP), uses. We have been using the 1:1 tablet program for three years but I was one to pilot it four years ago. The two biggest connections I made when reading this article are that teachers, parents, and students are not adequately prepared or trained to be using these devices and that there are only certain teachers that are willing to learn more about how to implement effective use of technology. When I piloted the program, our technology department just gave me a tablet one day and expected me to understand what I was doing with it. Yes I have had computers but teaching with it was a whole new ballgame for me. We were thrown into it and we had good and bad days with it. I learned a lot about why we should be using technology because of how many wonderful and meaningful resources there are out there for us to use. However, it also helped me realize that we need to be trained and the parents and students also need to be trained properly. You learn the more you use it but training and preparation would still allow us to become better than we are. There were so many days that my students joked about what game or forum we would use this upcoming day because I tested and did trial and error with so many applications. Secondly, many teachers in my school are younger and are happy with the tablets. It has helped us take more time to teach and get our work done than stand in line making copies or whatever it may be because we can post everything to our online platform. From this program though, I have learned that many teachers are not willing to learn more about using technology in their classes and will only do the bare-minimum. I think this is because of my first connection, we are not fully understanding how to use the technology. We hear all the time that these technological advancements are for our benefit and we need to keep up with the times, but in order to do so, we need to understand how to use it so everyone feels it is effective and meaningful.
Expand:
This article helped me see that we do a lot of these things at NDP because we already have the 1:1 device program. However, it frustrated me when reading this article because in this article alone, I learned of 10+ resources for Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and data collection software that I could potentially use in my classroom and it is overwhelming. We need to be preparing our pre-service teachers in their preparation programs not with just a technology course, but a course that will outline a few very purposeful technological tools rather than just an overwhelming list of every possible tool that can be used with technology, which has been what my experience has been. It helps me understand why many of the teachers at NDP are hesitant to teach and have students learn with the tablets because once again, they are not prepared themselves and feel it would take more time to teach themselves. Another idea that helped pushed my thinking was this idea of assessment with technology. With already the use of tablets in our classrooms, we have implemented some of our assessments on the tablet and we have come across some major cheating because we do not have software to monitor every student's tablet. The Plan mentioned that we are moving away from standardized testing and into more alternative assessments with PBL and more authentic and real world application.  This is my passion and what I am studying for my action research and I have tried using the tablets for these types of things in my classroom, but I never understood how to go above just completing a project and turning it in online. With online platforms, I can have students peer edit, I can offer feedback, students can submit multiple drafts, student can record, draw, put any thoughts on these devices and the best part of it all is that it is in one place. Once we are properly trained, we can use these type of tools available to us and the students will also find it easier to see their learning unfold. Rather than having them complete a multiple choice quiz on the past tense, I can have them submit a small storybook online with their own sentences in their own content and I can provide feedback every step. It seems as if their learning and my teaching will improve greatly and they won't feel the pressure of standardized tests that come with one letter grade that defines their learning. Lastly, more of our teachers need to be on board with technology because it's there; It isn't going anywhere. We need more leadership in our building. We have a technology team that recently started up at the end of this last year but barely any teachers attended because it is hard to take time out of their already busy schedules. We need to have the teachers wanting and willing to try new things when it comes to the 1:1 program and that starts with proper education. We need to make our PD days meaningful. For the last two years, we have started each school year with the same workshop. It wasn't until this January that my Leadership Team asked our colleagues what they were interested in or wanted to know more about regarding technology that we held a very successful and purposeful day. Our training, workshops, and conferences are almost always centered around the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program, but we need to be concentrating on more than just the IB aspect to our school but how to teach our mission with the 1:1 device program.
Challenge:
Working in a very privileged environment, I do not see the issues that many schools around me face. However, after reading through the Plan and discussing with some friends and family, one of the biggest challenges I see for the United States is that every child will be able to attain high-speed connectivity and some type of device in and outside of school. Demographics are a big part of that but we also need to focus first on every child being provided the opportunity to be educated, instead of just how to educate with technology at hand. Since we are using the 1:1 program at NDP, I see the benefits of the tablets but I also see some things that are concerning to me. For instance, many students complain that they leave school with a headache because of the time spent on their tablets each day. Even if one or two classes do not use them that day, they are still being used in five or six more. Students have complained that it is hard to read the book through e-text because some applications are not yet available where one can take notes, highlight, or star for something important and many still prefer a paper copy. I know with time, these issues will resolve but I don't want it to bring a whole new level of health issues to our society. Another challenge I see is the motivation of teachers to continue to learn new resources. Again, we cannot just pile on resource after resource; we need to spend a year applying 4-5 and then move on once we have a grasp. We need to motivate and spark their interest in these tools because many of them are wondrous and effective. Along with this is that many teachers are often stuck in their ways and we need to advocate for 21st-Century Learning but again, provide the training to go with that. Now that I have implemented the device program, some of the challenges I face are how to keep distractions to a minimum now that the students have them. I find it difficult to motivate students to use our tablets in meaningful ways because they are in an age where social media is everything and even though it is blocked on their tablets, there are always ways around it and their attention is focused elsewhere. Of course, we have rules about them and if we feel they are becoming a distraction, we are allowed to take them, but we should be able to prevent these issues from reoccurring. My last question and probably a major concern of us all is how to incorporate more time? Based on this cohort and the courses we have taken so far, I have learned that although my school is successful, we are lacking in our leadership and collaboration. Most of the teachers at my school roll their eyes on PD days and think they are not constructive. How do we plan PD days, workshops, conferences, etc. that will ensure our teachers are learning something interesting and applicable? We already find it hard to collaborate because we are not given time to during the day and most teachers have families to go home to or sports to coach, how can we find time to be trained properly? Our administration is supportive but the staff that is hesitant about these devices is hard to change. Overall, this article reassured my thoughts on why to use technology but there are still questions about having everyone on the same page and that comes with proper technology education and application. We must lead by example and provide meaningful opportunities to learn about education and be able to apply it with time. We should be given resources, but not an overwhelmingly long list of tools to use, but a few that are effective and interesting to us and our students. With time, we will learn how to make it an everyday part of our day but we also must maintain a healthy dose of technology and be using that time effectively.

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Technology incorporation in the classroom is something that I hear often in the field of education. The points that are brought up in the 2016 National Education Technology Plan are valid and informative to educators and those entering the field of education. I do think that teachers entering the profession are not properly prepared for technology integration in the classroom. I recall when I finished my Elementary Education program at Oakland University. We were required to complete 1 course in Technology over the Spring semester and our culminating assignment was to create an IMovie describing our teaching journey. We were not taught as educators how to use technology to benefit our students in the classroom, how to use a SMARTboard for teaching lessons, or how to use technology with our parents. The reading also allowed me to think about how technology in all school systems are not equal there is little or no working technology to use for students in some districts, while in others the technology usage is abundant.

Extend:
One idea that resonated with me from the 2016 National Education Technology Plan was "greater equity and accessibility." I really hope that the plans for student equity with technology is fulfilled. All students regardless of if they have technology access in the home or not should be able to receive an equitable education in the public school system. Another point that I found to be interesting was under the Learning section "technology can help capture learners attention by tapping into interests and passions." It would be excellent if educators can allow students to learn in a fun and creative way through technology. The benefits would be great for the students and the teachers. Allowing the integration of technology and professional development programs for education students and current educators is what intrigues my thinking.

Challenge:
The challenge and question that I am still having is how is technology integration going to be effectively incorporated equally for all students in America. I currently work in the Detroit Public School system and in my school some teachers have working computers that allow for students to benefit from dual learning, while other classrooms do not. I used to be employed at a Charter school where some classrooms had Smart board technology and other classrooms did not. I want to know how actually are the districts going to channel their funding to support the technology needs of the teachers and the students. Another question that I am interested in involves the issue of assessments specifically the diagram on p. 52 "Future of Assessments". Is it really necessary to replace all paper and pencil exams with a technology based assessment for students. As a Kindergarten teacher I feel that my students did better on paper and pencil assessments rather than all focus on technology. The strategic plans are good, but I am really interested in the value of the incorporation.

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With our 1:1 student iPad distribution, I connected a lot of what was written in the 2016 National Education Technology Plan with various initiatives that the Fraser Public School district is working on. As a teacher in the district, I realized that I have been intro ducted to aspects of Growth Mindset, Project-Based Learning, Universal Design, Flexible Learning Environments, and Personal Learning Plans. However, teachers are not sure what any of it is because the concepts always seem to be tossed at them with little explanation. Reading this technology plan helped me gain a better understanding of what my district is trying to do in order to teach to the 21st century learner. Right now, technology is used in a more passive way in classrooms (the majority of the time). We need to focus on how to actively use technology in our classrooms, and these previously mentioned concepts are all ways to do this.

Extend:
One of the recommendations in the 2016 National Education Technology Plan is to " Develop a teaching force skilled in online and blended instruction." I think that this would be a beneficial team for our district to have available. Each person from the team could have an office in one of the schools where they would be available to to help design lessons, give tech tips, host tech tutoring meetings for teachers/parents/students, and so on. The team could work together on UDL and assessments, creating and maintaing a course on our LMS dedicated towards technology and useful information, and keeping up to date on the latest happenings.

Challenge:
I think that the main challenge is TIME. Everything that I read in the 2016 National Education Technology Plan sounds fantastic, but it is challenging to incorporate due to time. Designing "highly engaging and relevant learning experiences through technology" and/or "Personalized Learning Plans" would take on vast amount of knowledge and time. Just aligning them to standards and district curriculum timelines would be exhausting-- Then add finding games, finding videos and adding questions/photos/notes to them, making sure that lessons can be adaptive or differentiated, and so on. All of this would have to be done in an educator's free time. Also, playing games and getting students to think and work on a deeper level takes a good amount of time. Districts would have to have team, skilled and knowledgeable in utilizing technology in classrooms, re-work the curriculum and build such lessons into a database for teachers use. It would be great though :-)!

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Connect: One of the most common things I hear in education is that there should be more technology incorporated into a classroom. Not only incorporating technology, but there should be effective use of it as well and that it should support learning and teaching. The 2016 National Education Technology Plan lays out a vision as to how the US Department of Education would like to do that. I also know that there have been conversations going on on how technology can improve learning, whether it is really improving instruction and learning.

Extend: The idea that really made sense to me was that educators need to have the skills to take advantage of a “technology-rich” environment. I see too often that teachers are told to use tools and resources that they are unfamiliar with and lack the proper training. That is where the leadership comes in and it makes perfect sense to me. There needs to be effective leadership to not only help with the vision of where classrooms should be going, but an action plan that will help teachers effectively use technology in their classrooms. Also, there are so many goals that I was not aware of. There is so much information on technology in the classroom and how to make it more engaging and relevant. There are many ideas like how to move learning beyond the classroom by connecting to museums, libraries, and out-of-school settings. It pushes me to think of how I can incorporate these ideas into my classroom and how I can fit it into the curriculum. I think that is where the leadership can be involved.

Challenge: I am aware of the issue of the “digital divide” but never heard of the “digital use divide.” After reading through the meaning, there is a difference between the way schools are using technology. Instead of using technology to enhance learning, it is being used to complete the same classroom tasks like multiple choice tests and assignments. Is that using technology in the wrong way? In my district, we have a teach coach that I met with a couple times this year that has helped me set up an online space for my classroom where students basically have access to an online version to my class. My district is pushing for teachers to use this online classroom called iLearn, and being someone who is all for the technology, I wanted to try it out. I can have my students type their essays and submit them to me, complete unit tests/pop quizzes, and complete assignments. So basically all I am doing is replacing regular classroom tasks that require paper and pencil, to an online version? Is that really enhancing the learning of my students?

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There was a lot in this that solidified what I know about technology. Showing how technology should be used actively and not passive.  Also, about the homework gap based on socio economic inequity. I have a passion for 21st century learning and what it can provide for students.  The policy shifts the 4C’s and has communication as multimedia, which I love, and then creativity not listed directly, but more woven throughout the policy. It was interesting how growth mindset is recognized throughout the policy in learning and assessment.  I was very excited that Global Read Aloud was recognized.

Extend:

There are so many resources in the policy. So many new ideas. What is most fascinating in technology is that it is ever changing.  The Massachusetts Innovation Schools are interesting and I wonder if they are like Kent High School in Michigan. Also, I’m I’d like to know more about Universal Design in learning.  The Future Ready Focus for Leadership is another area I would like to read more about.  The largest idea from this policy was a term I had never heard, “Agency in Learning”.

Challenge:

I enjoyed reading this and often read strategic plans of districts. I wonder how we can look at goals nationally and locally to support educators and in turn students. I’d be the first to admit that funding and budget are items I don’t know a lot about and the suggestions given are areas I need to be familiar with.  An example is cost savings with online texts. I know the challenges faced in my district with infrastructure to support technology.  Also districts whose tech bonds have passed and those who haven’t and how to creatively achieve the policy goals.

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Connect: How are the ideas and information connected to what you already knew?

Extend: What new ideas did you get that extended or pushed your thinking in new directions?

Challenge: What is still challenging or confusing for you to get your mind around?  What questions, wonderings, or puzzles do you now have?