Standard I.  Technology Operations and Concepts

Teachers demonstrate a sound understanding of technology operations and concepts.  Teachers:

A.  demonstrate introductory knowledge, skills, and understanding of concepts related to technology (as described in the ISTE National Education Technology Standards for students).

B.  demonstrate continual growth in technology knowledge and skills to stay abreast of current and emerging technologies. 

I.A  Artifact submitted:

Reflection: Above is my Virginia teaching certificate from the Department of Education. I have circled the acknowledgement of my competencies. This is recognized by the State of Virginia as proof of meeting the required technology standards.

I.B  Artifact SubmittedHere is the link to  my Professional Development Plan. 

Reflection:

 To stay abreast of the latest technologies and best perform my job duties as an ITRT, I attend conferences and engage in professional development activities regularly. To assist teachers with technology integration, train teachers to use technology effectively, and assist with educational technology curriculum development (ITRT job duties as detailed in the Standards of Quality), I have developed a technology professional development plan whereby I intend to attend at least two conferences/workshops a year and read professional articles. In the past, I have attended the TTI, VDOE, and VSTE conferences. As my plan demonstrates, I have attended conferences and other professional development activities regularly. It is always exciting to learn new technologies and share with teachers and students. I also read articles from the NCREL, EdGate, as well as other sources, to stay abreast of technological advances and resources. In June 2005, I attended the QTL workshop that enhanced my position as ITRT. In December 2005 I went to the Educational Technology Leadership Conference in Roanoke. In January 2006, I attended the Virginia Piedmont Technology Council Speakers Luncheon entitled, “Beyond the Book: Using Technology to Enhance K12 Learning.” Bill Ferster from UVA shared the Primary Access Initiative whereby students may create visual imagery using primary resource documents. In February 2006, I attended a Curriculum Pathways professional development session entitled, SAS inSchool. This program offers online curriculum for English, Spanish, math, science, and social studies. Some of the Interactivities included in this program are quite engaging for students and align nicely with the Virginia Standards of Learning.  It is true that Curriculum Pathways is not intended for elementary use, I have assisted some teachers in using the service and have received positive feedback. One teacher stated, “The kids cannot do the lessons by themselves but as long as I lead them through the lesson they catch on.” The Primary Access Initiative is not up and running as of yet. When this program is accessible, I will share it with teachers, especially those in the social studies department. This, too, will be another excellent resource for our teachers and students to enhance learning. One of the short term goals in my professional development plan was to learn how to do interactive quizzes to review core content using Hot Potatoes software. I have since learned to create these quizzes and shared with several teachers. I wrote quick start up directions for teachers and provided training for those interested. The students who took these quizzes were engaged and took note of the feedback they received. Hot Potatoes Interactive quizzes support student learning. During the interactive quizzes, the students were motivated and engaged. The quizzes with feedback that explained why an answer was correct or incorrect supported student learning more than those with default feedback: “That’s correct,” or “Try again.” Although they take more time to create, teachers are beginning to realize the importance of meaningful feedback during these interactive quizzes. To evaluate the effect of the technology based quizzes, the teachers looked at the scores of the nine week assessments and determined the interactive review had positive results for student learning. These assessment scores had improved when compared to the scores of the previous nine week assessments. I have made plans with one of our county’s curriculum writers to post tests this summer designed by she and I that will offer more test prep for teachers. Research shows that the more students see and interact with test questions, the more familiar they will become. They will then Although having technology on demand has created some difficulties, over all I find that teachers are very excited over the added assistance in support of student learning.