Technology+Intergration

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Jarret Ricci 1.31.11   Technology Integration

“**Academies Raise the Bar at a Comprehensive High School”** At a Laguna Creek High School they are taking steps to create Career Academies inside of local high schools. After watching a video “Academies Raise the Bar at a Comprehensive High School,” it is really exciting to see what this exemplary school is doing. The Manufacturing Production Technology Academy has different schools inside of school which let students have a new focus and hands on access to projects. Technology here is not just on the computer, but made into authentic and real world situations that push students. What I really like about this specific video is that the projects and goals are so team driven. I think that I hear technology and I think of computers and individuals working alone, however, this video shows how technology can be very team oriented. The Green Energy Academy was maybe my favorite school inside the umbrella high school in this video.

I learned watching this video that if there was a Green Energy school when I was in high school maybe I would have been much more interested in creating energy and science than I was, and would have thought about science class differently. I also have a different perspective about how group oriented technology can be. It is really exciting to see students more social and comfortable working together as a team because of technology and just not focused on a screen with headphones in working alone. I like seeing students start and finish projects. I do not want to take any value away from teaching students how to research and successfully put together an argument on paper, but letting them build a project with their hands start to finish is great. It is almost a throwback to wood and auto shop except for our times and a new generation. Students using tools together to build great things - seems like this is a positive for everyone involved as well as lessons that will leave the classroom.

I plan to teach high school social studies. Social studies classes can focus on almost anything as a study of people and events. Technology is going to be one of the subjects that we observe, research, study, and learn. Using technology to better our understanding of the past will improve our understanding of today and the future. I want to use music, images, and video so that students can see and hear more information in different medias about subjects studied. If at all possible, I want to put students in the field to work hands on and with experts getting better every session because they are asking questions that they need the answers to.

I think that technology also needs to be used in a way that makes students more active in whatever they are pursuing and does not let them get lazier since they can find all the information on the web. I think that teachers who can do this are creating and preparing students for success in life, not just their class. In the simplest description students will be able to look at a problem, research it, create a solution, test it taking data, further their creative and critical thinking, repeat these steps a few more times, and now the student has really learned something. Technology needs to be a tool used to enhance everything - not a crutch or a focus.