Darren Loschen
This
professional development activity expands a project called the Study Center
that was started in EdPsy 387 and helps address some issues in Armstrong
Township High School’s technology plan.
Teachers in the district will be given the opportunity to build their
own web pages for at least one class they teach. The teachers will read some articles at The George Lucas
Educational Foundation website and will receive some training in
basic html, Microsoft FrontPage, and using Microsoft Word or Netscape Composer
to help build web pages. There will
also be some training in using a digital camera. This will give teachers the opportunity to keep parents and
students informed of assignments and activities in the classroom. Teachers will also have the opportunity to
earn CPDUs for recertification.
This
professional development activity will allow teachers to earn 6.5 CPDUs in the
area of technology which is one of the five state priority areas. In 1994, Armstrong Township High School’s
Parent Advisory Council developed school-wide goals to guide curriculum and
program development. One of those goals
was–education should be an interactive, social activity in which teachers learn
with students in a project and problem based experience allowing for the
integration of knowledge from different content areas. This activity will help Armstrong address
this goal. This activity will also address
the areas of community involvement by keeping the community informed and professional
development in Armstrong Township High School’s technology plan.
The Study
Center at the Armstrong Township High School website was started in the fall of
2000 for teachers in our district to post their current activities in
class. The teachers that used the site
informed the technology coordinator of their plans, and he created web pages
and posted them. This professional
development activity will require the teachers in the Armstrong Township High
School district to visit The George Lucas Educational Foundation website and read the
following articles: “Redefining the Role of the Teacher,” “Building a Bridge to
Knowledge for Every Child,” and “The Home-School Team,” which will hopefully
provide some motivation to integrate technology and allow the teachers a chance
to reflect how they might be able to change their teaching practices with the
training that will be provided. This
activity will provide teachers with some training in basic html, Microsoft
FrontPage, Netscape Composer, and Microsoft Word to build web pages. Training will also be provided in the basic
use of a digital camera. The district’s
technology coordinator along with any help from the Area IV Technology Learning
Center if needed will provide all training.
Teachers will begin their instruction at the first institute for the
2001-2002 school year with a face-to-face meeting to discuss this activity,
discuss some basic html commands, and discuss using the digital camera. There will be five other face-to-face
meetings during the semester that will last from a half hour to forty-five
minutes. These meetings will be to
discuss the projects they have completed and posted to the school’s
server. The Timeline section has a clearer
description of the semester activities.
The school’s lab will be used for training, and teachers will be able to
store their work on the school’s server before the pages are transferred to the
school’s website. By the end of the
semester, the teachers will have created a web page using whichever method the
teacher feels most comfortable with, for at least one class they teach, that
contains current assignments and activities, and any other appropriate
information the teacher wants listed.
This activity will provide teachers with some credits for
recertification. The technology
coordinator will look to keep the teachers going with this activity after the
fall semester and for subsequent school years.
The activity will be continued to be discussed at staff meetings during
the spring semester.
Begin and complete this activity in the 1st semester of
2001-2002 school year
|
Activity 1 |
August 20--2 ½
hours Discuss project Visit The
George Lucas Educational Foundation website—give the three articles teachers
will need to read Basic HTML,
Using digital camera Build simple
web page by Sept. 4 that reflects on the readings include digital photo Look at other
teachers’ pages |
|
Activity 2 |
September
5—email web pages to mentor |
|
Activity 3 |
Examine—Using
Microsoft Word to Build web page presentation Complete simple
web page using Word by Sept. 17 |
|
Activity 4 |
September 19 Discuss web
pages at half day inservice |
|
Activity 5 |
Examine—Basic
FrontPage presentation Complete simple
web page with FrontPage by Oct. 8 Wednesday, Oct.
9 discuss web pages at fall institute |
|
Activity 6 |
Examine—Basic
Netscape Composer presentation Complete simple
page by Oct. 29 October 31 ½ to
¾ hour before or after school to
discuss pages |
|
Activity 7 |
Complete first
draft of class page using any method discussed. Post on school’s server by Nov. 13 Nov. 15 ½ to ¾
hour before or after school to discuss pages |
|
Activity 8 |
Complete final
web page by Nov. 30 |
|
Activity 9 |
Dec. 6 Meeting
to discuss how activities went 1 hour after
school |
|
Mentor/facilitator |
$642 |
|
Teachers |
810 |
|
Tech help |
200 est. |
|
Extra server
space |
100 est. |
|
Total |
$1752 |
Armstrong Township High School’s budget should be able to support
most of this activity, but the budget will have to be examined once it is
approved to see if it is feasible.
Mentor/Facilitator
Teachers
Tech Help
Dollar figures are
rounded
|
Pay
mentor/facilitator $47.50 an hour for 13.50 hours First meeting
2 1/2 hours plus 1 hour prep time =
3 ½ 6 hours to develop Word, FrontPage, Composer =
6 4 other meetings for 45 minutes each = 3 1 meeting for 1 hour = 1
13.5 hours |
$47.50 x 13.50=
|
$642 |
|
Pay 18 teachers
$18 an hour for 2 ½ hours of meeting times not on school time (If enough funds
for professional development are available in Armstrong’s budget) |
$18 x 18 x 2.5 |
$810 |
|
Pay Tech help
if needed |
|
$200 est. |
|
Total |
|
$1652 |
Computer Lab at School
Projector from tech hub
Extra Server space at Tech Hub if required/will need to contact hub
to determine if extra pages will require more space than assigned to the school
Dollar figures are
rounded
|
Use of computer
lab at school |
No charge |
No charge |
|
Borrow
projector from tech hub |
No charge |
No charge |
|
Extra Server
space at Tech Hub |
|
$100 est. |
|
Total |
|
$100 |
This professional development activity will give the teachers in
our district the opportunity to keep the community informed of what is going on
at school. The readings will provide
motivation and allow the teachers a chance to reflect on how they might be able
to change their teaching practices with the training that will be
provided. The teachers will not only
receive training using techniques to build web pages, but they may also become
more comfortable using technology and may look to expand its use in their
classes. Funding for this activity will
allow Armstrong Township High School to provide its teachers with the
opportunity to earn up to 6.5 CPDUs in the area of technology, which is one of
the five state priority areas, and help address some areas of the school’s
technology plan.
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