I am a computer lab teacher at Northside ABE in Minneapolis, MN. This is my fourth year and I love my job. This year, Minneapolis ABE was awarded a large McKnight grant that allows us to purchase new iMac labs, computers on wheels (wireless laptops), document cameras, multi-media carts with digital video and still cameras and projectors.
With the money, we are also hiring 2 technology integration specialists to help teachers develop their experiences with using technology in the classroom.
I am excited that Susan has created this wiki. I have not delved into this area yet. It is well-timed and I hope many others will join this experiment and share their experiences.
I am not sure how to organize things here yet, so I will put 2 links here that I think may be of interest to all of you:
MPS' ABE Homepage: A free online activity list for ELL and ABE (ELL0 - GED)
http://lehmann.mpls.k12.mn.us/web/homepage.html
Article: Fulfilling the Need for a Technology Integration Specialist
http://www.thejournal.com/the/printarticle/?id=16981
Comments (1)
Susan Wetenkamp-Brandt said
at 8:19 am on Jul 31, 2008
Hi Gina! Welcome to the wiki. It's good to hear from you.
I thought that was a really great article about technology integration. Thanks for sharing it. One idea in it caught me in particular (and I quote) "Spending on hardware and software generally dominates K-12 technology budgets, while money for support, training and professional development does not keep pace. Therefore, computers remain on the periphery of the classroom experience - not used to their full potential and offering little impact on learning." It's so true! The emphasis always seems to be on the purchase, not on teacher training and support. I'm SO glad to hear that you are using part of your tech grant for salaries for tech integration specialists!!
If you are particularly interested in the issue of effective integration, you might want to check out "From Now On" educational technology online journal: http://fno.org/index2.html.
Looking forward to seeing more of your contributions!
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