The Use of Technology and Employable Skills

Studies show the use of technology by students increases their employable skills. Specific valued skills include keyboarding and word processing software (De Leon, J., & Borchers, R. 1998). In addition, technology increases the magnitude and excellence of students’ thinking and writing. Tools such as databases, spreadsheets, design and graphic programs, and multimedia programs including PowerPoint allow students to “organize, analyze, interpret, develop, and evaluate their own work.” Technology also allows students to search provoking questions while engaging in problem solving and critical thinking (Peck & Dorricott 1994).

De Leon, J., & Borchers, R. (1998). High school graduate employment trends and the skills graduates need to enter Texas manufacturing industries. Journal of Vocational and Technical Education, 15(1). Retrieved October 29, 2001, from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JVTE/v15n1

Peck, K. L., & Dorricott, D. (1994). Why use technology? Educational Leadership, 51(7), 11-15. Retrieved February 5, 2003, from http://www.ascd.org/readingroom/edlead/9404/peck.html.

E-Learning and the Future of NCS

Steve O’Hear’s article on E-learning was very informative. He suggests that students should be able to blog on problems and use other web based technologies to enhance the learning process of students. He admits that the full impact of internet learning is not completely understood. My daughter recently was taking an online math class at Virginia Tech and in short she ended up dropping the course because she was not doing well in the class. I personally have taken many online classes; however, she was never fortunate enough to take an online class and her first experience was not the best. Our principal hopes to one day soon make taking an online class a requirement to graduate from NCS. His reasoning is simple; he wants to prepare our students for college. More and more colleges are offering online classes and what better way to do well than to have practice before you go to college. I personally am thinking about teaching an online class this summer in Advanced Microsoft Applications. I taught this class last semester as a dual credit class and hopefully I will be able to do that again this summer to a group of students. I am not sure what platform I will use. I am thinking about using Rcampus.com, but I still need to do some more research. If you have experience with another platform and would be kind enough to share it here, I would be greatly appreciative. Happy educating and until next time.

"E-learning 2.0 - How Web Technologies Are Shaping Education." ReadWriteWeb - Web Apps, Web Technology Trends, Social Networking and Social Media. Web. 22 Oct. 2010. <http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/e-learning_20.php>.

My Loved Ones

test animoto I also had to share this one. This was the first ANIMOTO I created a while ago. Hope you enjoy.

Fun Times

Fun Times I just created an Animoto with music in seconds. You are able to upload your own pictures, video, or music. Create a 30 second creation or pay $3 for a longer version. The choice is yours. Visit http://animoto.com/ for more details.

Authentic Assessments

Another busy week in Capstone I! How to develop authentic assessments? Authentic assessments are critical to my teaching style. Being a previous employer, I agree totally with Mr. Wiggins, author of Healthier Testing Made Easy: The Idea of Authentic Assessment, in that students need to know how to transfer what they are learning in the classroom to the real world of work. He does not agree with simply giving multiple choice tests to enable the students to perform better on SOL tests. The authors of How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School explain it as follows:

A major goal of schooling is to prepare students for flexible adaptation to new problems and settings. ... Many classroom activities... focus on facts or details rather than larger themes of causes and consequences. ... Understanding how and when to put knowledge to use... is an important characteristic of expertise. Learning in multiple contexts most likely affects this aspect of transfer.

Black and Wiliam also emphasized the importance of quick and excellence feedback of assessments as the greatest “way of raising standards" of learning. All students want and deserve quick feedback on their work. This is one way we as teachers can assure our students that we care about their learning while at the same time helping them to achieve better on the national tests being given as well as in the real world.

As teachers, therefore, we need to engage our students, make learning relevant, and provide them with meaningful and prompt results of assessments. That is not anything new, but it never hurts to hear it stated once again. Have a great week and until next week Happy Learning! 

Works Cited

Black, Paul, and Wiliam Dylan, "Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment," Phi Delta Kappan, 80 (2): 139(9)

Bransford, John, Ann L. Brown, and Rodney R. Cocking, ed., How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School, (National Academies Press, 2000)

"Healthier Testing Made Easy: The Idea of Authentic Assessment | Edutopia." K-12 Education & Learning Innovations with Proven Strategies That Work | Edutopia. Web. 11 Oct. 2010. <http://www.edutopia.org/healthier-testing-made-easy>.

Zig Ziglar Why is Your Faith So Important?