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Question: What do you like best about being an educator?
Answer: I enjoy working with the students and colleagues. My hope is that I give the students a good basic technology education that will assist them in becoming life long learners.
Question: Explain the importance of technology in your curriculum and your everyday teaching strategies?
Answer: Technology is my curriculum in both the technology classes and keyboarding classes I teach. The Technology classes (that I teach) allow the students to explore careers that they may be interested in pursuing. The Tech Lab features software and hardware from 'Lab-Volt Systems'. The lab we have outfitted at Lincoln County School District #1 offers students time to explore the modules of CAD, Animation, Space and Rocketry, Automation and Robotics, Meteorology, Computer Graphic Design, Radio Broadcasting, Stress Analysis , Electronics, Biotechnology, Flight Simulation, Computer Problem Solving, and Digital Movie Making.
The 7th and 8th students work with partners to explore a variety of activities through self-guided modules. (guides them through). They are engaged in reading, visual demonstrations, and hands on projects for each module. They also keep a journal about their learning.
The sixth grade students get to experience only two of the modules. The other part of their curriculum is spent creating a story using a storyboard, then putting this story into the multimedia program HyperStudio, and illustrating it by using KidPix for drawing their illustrations. They also use KidPix to develop a slide show demonstrating animation.
Question: Explain what your strategies are for implementing this technology?
Answer: The students get to explore 10 of the modules in the two and a half years they are in the Technology Lab.
Question: What made you decide to start using this technology?
Answer: I was offered this position about 7 years ago. The administrator told me that I would have the Technology Education classes (which were already there only at that time it was Mac based) and would be teaching keyboarding to everyone but I would need to develop the curriculum for those classes.
Question: What has been the impact on your students, i.e. Improved time on task, improved understanding of material, more engaged?
Answer: The Tech Lab allows the students to take some responsibility for their own learning. It also puts them into a situation where they have to work with other people. They get the benefit of hands on activities.
Question: How long have you been using this technology?
Answer: I have been in this position for 7 years
Question: How difficult was this technology to implement?
Answer: The current Technology program was not difficult to implement after deciding on the vendor who would supply the module units.
Question: What hardware or software do I need to use it?
Answer: Each module required a computer with 2 headphones. We use PCs running Windows XP Professional. It also requires a few add-ons like Flash, and Java. Software and hardware for each module is supplied by Lab-Volt Systems and depends on how you want to outfit your lab. Additional software we use in the curriculum is Deep Space Explorer, Canvas, Brainteasers, and Clue Finders.
Question: How much does it cost to implement this technology?
Answer: When the district decided to move in the PC direction, a grant was written to help defray the cost of changing the lab from Mac to PC. The original grant was written for $55,000 which helped pay for the cost of 12 LabVolt module units and digital movie equipment along with 2 Smart Boards. This did not cover the 14 computers that were necessary for the module units to run.
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