Brian Abeling  
Pekin District 108  
Pekin, Illinois 

Part 2: Ways to improve my use of technology 

Part 3: My dream classroom 
 
 

Part 1  
District 108 Technology Vision  
Our district vision is simple: create a technologically integrated working environment for all students and staff.  As steps towards acheiving this, we are striving to use technology to create an active and enriching, restructured environment for learning. Our vision states that technology is to be used as a tool for teaching and learning, not as the authoritative teacher.  In other words, computers aren't the teacher, they are just a tool for instruction.  

Another segment of our vision includes our goal of creating an efficient infrastructure to connect the home, the classroom, the school, and agencies of the community to resources available across the world.   The layout of our computer networks is designed to tie together not only the schools, but also the broader community. The actual name of this project is called, "Learning Community 2000" in which we hope to create an electronic learning environment that opens up life-long learning opportunities for all citizens.  

Yes, I feel that my current situation is a good reflection of this vision.  Each summer, our administrative team and technology team meeting to do several tasks:  
1) Review the last school, did we meet our goals?  
2) Set our priorities for next year (in relationship to the overall district tech plan) as well as who is in charge of what priorities.  
3) Allocate our technology budget to provide resources for accomplishing our priorities  

When we do this type of plannning, it provides me with a structure that keeps my job targets in line with the district vision.  
  

Part 2  
Improving my use of technology  

NOTE: Since I am not in a regular classroom teaching assignment, I am going to change the focus towards my role as a staff developer within our school district and our community.  

The first method of improving my use of technology as a staff developer relates to my ability to post resources and materials for teachers on-line.  During the school year I handle a lot of tech support questions and instructional questions.  Sometimes it's just to easy to e-mail them the quick answer or give it to them over the phone.  However, what happens is that if someone else asks the same question later, I end up scrambling to find the same message that I sent earlier.  Of course there is nothing wrong with this since they have actually asked the same message.  However, I could improve my use of technology by creating an archive of frequently asked questions so that I wouldn't have to recreate the same answers over and over again.  My project proposal for C&I 335 is an excellent example of this type of archive.  As I generate staff development materials related to web development, I should be keeping all of the information stored on-line so that teachers can go back and access it at any time. 
  
Another method for improving my use of technology would be to do a better job of modeling exceptional teaching and learning strategies while doing staff development with our own teachers.  When performing staff development with our teachers, should I have all the desks lined up in nice orderly rows all facing the front?  Should everyone be working on the same page at the same time?  How about some worksheets?  According to our district's vision for how technology will be  integrated into the classroom, these things can happen, but it should not be a majority of the time.  I need to make sure that my staff development activites will be a model for how we want teachers to conduct their classrooms. 

Keeping up with the lastest technologies is a never ending battle.  However, I feel that it's another way that I can improve my use and our districts use of technology.  Many times, teachers run out and spend their budget on what they think is the latest and greatest.  For example, a year ago each of our buildings went out an spent their own money on a digital camera.  In many cases, each building purchased a different type of camera.  Some spent more than others and in some may not have gotten the type of camera that they really needed.  Others we frustrated with their camera when they had a chance to compare it to the anothers.  One of my goals is to devote more time to research and development on new products.  This will save our teachers time (which is better spent on instructional time rather than technology research) and help our buildings save their resources for the products that they really need.
 

Part 3  
My ultimate science classroom  

My ultimate technologically integrated classroom would be designed for an 8th grade science room.  For this example, I will be using  technologies that are currently available, not futuristic technologies.

Physical Layout

Classroom Layout  Click on the thumbnail to the left to view   the layout of my ultimate science classsroom

The basic layout of the room is designed for two functions - classroom use and lab use.  The outer portion of the room contains10 lab units that provide for groups as small as three students.  Each lab area contains bar stools, a sink, connections to natural gas outlets, cabinets and drawers for lab equiment.  In addition, there is on laptop computer with a docking station at each lab area. In the center of the room are trapezoid tables that have wheels.  This area is designed for classroom use, yet has the flexibility to move around for other tasks.   
 
 
 

Tech Equipment 
Laptops 
The main technology that I have choosen for the room are the 10 laptops with docking stations.  Again, the key here is flexibility.  Laptops taken off the dock can be used in the classroom area or taken on field trips and could still access the Internet through a dialup connection.  When connected to the dock, they would have complete Internet access and access to the Intranet Video System which supplies digital video from the districts collection of VHS, laserdisc and live TV video. The laptops will also be equipmented with IBM's Personal Science Lab software are peripherals.  PSL allows students to connect device such as thermometers and other sensors to their computers for collecting and analyzing data. 

Production Area 
At the center of the room, I will set up a small production area where students can access a computer with a scanner and a digital video capture card.  Also in the center would be a video projector which aims towards the Smart Board which is on the side of the room.  The Smart Board is a large touch screen that allows you to use our hand or a pointer to control the control right at the screen. 

Average Day  
Thanks to the layout of the room, the key word when describing the average day is variety.  With the flexibility that the room provides, students can be engaged through a variety of instructional strategies that utilize technology as a tool for teaching and learning.  Most of the instructional time will be student directed in either the classroom or the lab area.  Activities will not only include experiments that they were conduct, but also opportunities where students will have to design, create, and then conduct an experiment to test their theories.