Since I do not have a classroom, I chose to critique IT tools that my children use, that I will use in my project and that I discovered inadvertently while researching this assignment.
The Texas Instruments TI- 83 Plus Graphing Calculator is a powerful tool that simplifies mathematical tasks while encouraging students to cultivate mathematical understanding. By reducing the need to execute paper and pencil computations and algebraic manipulations, students can focus learning on logic and reasoning, problem solving and abstract thinking. Students become active learners because they can formulate and test their own mathematical hypotheses. Visual displays can be manipulated (i.e. magnified) to illustrate graphic details that students might otherwise overlook or misinterpret. I recommend the use of this technology because these calculators are simple to use, relatively inexpensive and facilitate students' learning of higher order thinking and reasoning skills.
The Waterford Early Reading Program was developed following 8 years of research by the non-profit educational research center, the Waterford Institute. The program focuses on three skills essential to successful reading: letter recognition, phonological awareness and print concepts. Children are expected to spend 15-30 minutes a day interacting with a sequenced mix of engaging activities. The program automatically creates an individualized program that advances with each child's progress and includes an assessment and management system for both teachers and students, a Teacher Resource Center, and 4 videos and 52 books for each student to keep. According to published research, use of this program all but guarantees reading success for even "at-risk" students. The early and intense focus on developing literacy awareness is believed to compensate for any lack of early language experience. The literature is of good quality, the program is easy for students to use, and the individualized nature of the instruction and assessment provides valueable insights for the teacher. According to one current user, there is too much "stuff" to distribute to the children and better local tech support is needed. In addition, the novelty for some students tends to wane because of the daily use. The major drawbacks are the expense of the program and that it monopolizes the memory for each computer onto which it is installed.
Microsoft PowerPoint 2000 is a presentation graphics program that can help one create everything from complex professional slide shows to simple template arrangements focusing young learners on technological interaction. It includes a large selection of backgrounds, templates and clip art but you can also import these from other resources. Since this is a Microsoft product, learning to manipulate slides is a simple process for anyone familiar with related word processing or spread sheet applications (i.e. Word and Excel). This is a great resource for teachers as they can prepare instructional presentations, student tutorials and interactive lessons. With minimal instruction, students could also use this program to create their own presentations.
The West Loogootee Elementary web site is an incredibly complete resource with topics that include safe surfing, a how to for integrating technology, a teacher resource guide, on-line projects, and a list of great hot links. This site is so comprehensive it takes a few minutes to figure out how to navigate efficiently and although there is an easy to use table of contents, it would take days to investigate all the site offers. It appears the site hasn't been updated recently, but all links I tried still worked. This is an award winning site and a great place for me to start because it provides direction for integrating technology from concept to implementation. The information presented is practical and well organized, the authors are fellow teachers which adds credibility to bias, and the site supports all four elements of Bruce and Levin's taxonomy of educational technology.
The Iomega ZipCD 650 can read, write or rewrite many types of CD formats, making it an ideal storage system. This internal ZipCD is easy to install (I did it myself!) and performs at speeds of 4X Record, 4X Write and 24X Max Read. You can use standard CD-Recordable (CD-R) or CD-Rewriteable (CD-RW) disks which are inexpensive and will virtually free up your hard drive. The ZipCD is easy to use and allows you to back up space monopolizing files for the hottest new technology tools (digital photographs and streamed video). The drive is relatively inexpensive, selling for about $180 after rebate. A less costly alternative, the Iomega Zip100, uses expensive disks that have a much more limited storage capacity. I would recommend purchasing the Iomega ZipCD 650 as the cost effective choice for a peripheral storage unit.
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