tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406774932313851043.post8717172631726839694..comments2023-10-10T08:43:51.919-05:00Comments on Philosophy Without A Home: Quality Education: TechnologyBrendanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851321965073197018noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406774932313851043.post-63280895857902496812010-02-08T18:45:23.678-06:002010-02-08T18:45:23.678-06:00Jeffrey,
Thanks for the comment and good luck wi...Jeffrey, <br /><br />Thanks for the comment and good luck with the teaching career. <br /><br />I haven't thought much about the use of technology to increase class sizes. It could work, but I think the limit on class sizes is more about classroom management than the ability of a teacher to reach x number of students. <br /><br />I believe the current thought amidst many educators is "Effective technology is like oxygen, ubiquitous, necessary and invisible." quote from Chris Lehmann http://www.practicaltheory.org/serendipity/<br /><br />Pinnacle was a subsidiary of GlobalScholar for whom I worked about a year. There are some similarities and some differences to Infinitecampus.Brendanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03851321965073197018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406774932313851043.post-84493092332897323052010-02-05T19:47:07.161-06:002010-02-05T19:47:07.161-06:00You bring up some excellent points. I am currently...You bring up some excellent points. I am currently finishing my teacher certification program and am student teaching at a high school in Michigan. I agree that technology is a tool for educators and won't easily replace educators. Even if it doesn't replace teacher though, I do wonder if the use of technology will allow a teacher to have more students in a classroom at once. I know that alot of teachers would love to have small classes where they can really focus on just a few students' needs, but with school districts that don't want to hire another teacher, they may add more technology, hoping to improve a teacher's efficiency, and shove more students into the room. In fact, some of the teachers who fit in the "geek" catagory may really enjoy designing a learning environment that, through the effective use of technology, may be able to cater to the individual needs of a lot of students at once!<br /><br />I also think you bring up a good point about whether or not teachers will use the technology. Technology isn't very useful when it's sitting in a corner collecting dust! In doing some reading for my teacher certification courses, I've read a few articles that talk about technology use in the classroom. The authors pointed out that educators shouldn't try to tailor their lesson plans to fit the capabilities of a few select technological tools. Instead, teachers should seek to focus on the objectives of their lessons and how technology could help them. Then, they should look for the technology that fits their needs.<br /><br />I hope you learned a lot at your meeting about Pinnacle GradeBook. The school I'm at uses a program called Infinite Campus, which sounds very similar. It really is a great tool. Parents can easily see the progress of their children which allows for better communication between a teacher and parent. Also, it really helps with the number crunching! If you use a weighted average among the various quizzes, tests, projects, and homework you assign, hand calculatoions can become tedious. It's much simpler to have a computer program do the grunt work for you!Jeffrey Fujiokanoreply@blogger.com