1
1
Objective 5.2: We will infuse the curriculum with technology to enhance the development of 21st Century Skills.
2
8
Action Plans:
Principals and staff will evaluate and report on the infusion of technology and 21st Century skills development in their schools.
3
4
HCPS will assess instructional staff members’ application of technology tools to develop 21st century skills.
4
4
HCPS will implement structures to ensure technology and 21st Century skills development are included in K-12 curriculum.
5
5
HCPS will implement structures to ensure appropriate Web 2.0 tools are accessible and used responsibly by students and teachers.
6
3
HCPS will assess students’ knowledge and application of 21st Century skills across the curriculum.
At the secondary level, this data collection process should be supported by the reflective friends team.
Elementary is using the teacher portfolio to do this. I would like to see it more focused and structured as some principals did not use the portfolio as an evaluative tool.
Critical for teachers to be held accountable and progress in their skills in integrating technology with the curriculum.
Action items in 2.2 (comm/collab) and 2.4 (crit think/prob solve) align with this and provide more direction.
standardized tool for assessing teachers using technology
We can continue to help our specialists in this area. I wonder if we need help defining our role in terms of how our skills and talents can be used toward this effort.
Stsff Development is key.
ITRT’s must support principals in identifying meaningful integration and growth by teachers.
This lends itself to a digital student portfolio as well.
I think a portfolio at the secondary level would support this goal. It would help them have more involvement in the process and build interest. Portfolio items could be used in PLC’s to share work with colleagues.
Objectives in#2 need to be a part of the school’s CSIP
Who is assessing? ITRTs? Principals?
Secondary students can create portfolios with one note or acrobat, but one note might allow for easier sharing of portfolios
Some suggested structures may include Google Apps, Microsoft Office Live, and an internal facebook for teachers to share ideas, lesson plans, activities. etc…
Secondary students can create portfolios with one note or acrobat, but one note might allow for easier sharing of portfolios
Who determines what is appropriate Web 2.0 tool? Does that need to considered? This is an important question because teachers want to use more of these tools.
This is key to getting teachers to use the tools. It creates a sense of apathy and frustration when cool tools are blocked. The desire to put forth the effort to research and find the tools is dampened because “It will just be blocked so what’s the use?” Strict standards should be set up for using the tools, punish those who break the rules, but don’t deprive all students just because of the potential for abuse. As it is now, tools are blocked before they are even misused, simply because of their potential for misuse. It would also be helpful if there was a separate filtering standard for elementary. Since students do not have their own laptops and are supervised when using the cart laptops, the filter does not need to be as strict at the elementary level.
This relates to Obj 5.1 – #1. The curriculum goals need to drive the technology decisions.
Excited about blogging in the elementary schools. Would like to see more interactive web tools opened up and not blocked.
Accessibility to online resources has always been an issue. There must be a quick solution to resolving these barriers.
With the emphasis on assessment, if we expect teachers to use technology, it must be tied in with assessment. If all assessments are multiple choice tests, that will continue to be the focus of teachers. Only when we start including alternate assessments as standard instead of optional, will we see change in this area.
The content specialist along with a team of content area ITRTs might be the best people to create an assessment for cross curricular application of skills into digital portfolios.
Digital portfolios are the perfect way to evaulate this. Especially if they are aligned/scored based on VA technology standards, TIPC, and NETS*S.
@Kourtney: I agree with portfolios and would like to see what elementary is doing and learn from their experiences.
Teachers need ongoing training in 21C and integrating these skills.
Schools need to be pushing 21C and some of these must be in the school’s CSIP.
The emphasis must come from the school’s leadership. They must be on board with an emphasis on 21C — from that an Staff Dev plan would evolve.
Continued refining and emphasis on the Henrico 21 site as a repository of lessons and ideas about 21 C.
Some staff members have not addressed tech tools at all in their classrooms. If our administrators would address this we could see and implement progress.