Melody Lam - EDTC 6037 - Jan 13, 2020 - Blog #1

Basic Information

Name: Melody Lam

Teaching Background: Computer Science, 7 years, Houston Independent School District & Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools

• AP Computer Science A
• AP Computer Science Principles
• Computer Programming 1 (Visual Basic)
• Honors MS Software Developement (C# & SQL)
• Python Programming 1 (Python)
• I've also taught data structures as an advanced 4th year course in Houston.

Current Position: Technology Facilitator, Hough High School (for about 3 months)

3 Reasons for enrolling in the course:

1. I need a Technology Facilitator license and have to take the course as part of getting the certificate and the license.
2. I chose EDTC 6037 over its counterpart because I have a mathematics and computer science background. I would love to learn more ways to incoporate technology into the classroom, especially with the new Discrete Mathematics for Computer Science course launching next year.
3. I want to bring ideas and strategies back to my school so that I can share the wealth with my staff.

Learning Goals:

• To effectively create and deploy professional development that meets the needs of the school and its staff.
• To learn about technology tools that can be incorporated in classroom settings

Technology Integration Experience:

When I taught in the classroom, technology was used at all levels. For delivering content, I relied on a LMS such as Canvas or itsLearning. Because LMSes can be accessed anywhere with an internet connection, students can review and follow up on content taught in class outside of class time. With Canvas I also allowed and encouraged discussions concerning the ethical use of technology.

For the previous 2 years, I have turned my computer science classroom into a flipped classroom, where content was taught/viewed as videos at home with note taking/note quizzes, and classroom/face-to-face sessions were used to reinforce and practice computer science concepts. Here is my YouTube channel (associated with a school account) where I uploaded computer science videos. I have found that this allows students to easily and quickly review concepts that they may struggle with without taking up valuable class time.

I also incorporated tools to enhance the experience for students learning and practicing computer science concepts. One of the best tools to do this is repl.it, which is a cloud based service that allows one to program in supported languages right in the browser window. Students can save work in the cloud and access it later, as our CTE desktop computers have limited to no space available for students. The value of repl.it, though, comes from being able to code in a "multiplayer" window. This allows me to be able to remotely tutor students at home and give comments on code if needed. Students can also collaborate and help each other on projects in the comfort of their home enviroment or to accomodate varying schedules. repl.it also integrates with GitHub, which is a common service used by programmers to store & keep track of portfolio work. I encourage my advanced students or students who have an interest in persuing a progrmaming/computer science career to start building and growing a GitHub portfolio.

Lastly, due to the lack of an interactive whiteboard in my room, I made an ad-hoc interactive whiteboard by hooking up a Surface Go (a small tablet computer) with a wireless display adapter. With this setup I can scribble notes, annotate code, and demonstrate computer science concepts through pictorial representations. Along with this, it has allowed me to be more mobile around the classroom so that I can manage my students.

Questions and biggest concerns related to technology integration in K-12 setting

One of the biggest things that comes with the usage of 21st century technology is the infrastructure at schools across the nation. While there is a big push to use technology in schools in order to enhance education, through programs such as BYOD or 1-to-1, frequently infrastructre at the schools have not kept up. The reasons are myriad, from budgetary issues (such as the one that current NC educators face with the state budge) to aging buildings that simply cannot support an upgrade of current technology without major drawbacks, such as losing classrooms. Often current technology such as server racks, wi-fi routers, and Chromebooks are simply 'stapled on' to a school -- there are schools where server racks are shoved into a classroom because there is simply no room for a server anywhere else in the school. Often times this technology is very old and upgrades are slow to come by. A 2016 survey by the Consortium of School Networking (CoSN) shows while districts have made great strides to improve internet access at their schools, districts still face hurdles in improving their infastructures. 

As first hand experience, my staff frequently complains about dropped connections and slow internet speeds at Hough. Our school is heavily invested in Chromebooks and most non-CTE classrooms have a set of 30 Chromebooks. Even with personal devices turned off it is sometimes really hard to get any decent connection to the network. Both the wired and wireless networks experience this issue.

The other concern that I think about daily is unauthorized use of technology by students in order to enable cheating or to gather information from other students or staff to use for nefarious purposes. We hear daily about ransomware attacks levied on public institutions or viruses sent through email chains but we do not hear much about students using technology to cheat except in smaller tech circles. CollegeBoard and ACT have limited the usage of technology, prohibiting even bringing cellphones and other technology into testing rooms, but also exhorts proctors to observe students closely for suspicious behavior that indicates the usage of technology such as hidden cameras or frequent restroom breaks. Technology that enables cheating is easily accessed and bought by students through online shopping sites or the "dark web". With the push to minimize paper usage and move assignments and even tests to computers, schools have to frequently watch and fight a battle between fair asssements and students who conspire to cheat. Common tools that are used to observe students include DyKnow/SchoolLAN, software to observe students at their computers and to block distracting websites and programs, and kiosk modes where usage of a browser is limited on Chromebooks. Another piece of technology that teachers should watch out for are programs or devices that can access sensitive data such as passwords & identifying information. Keyloggers are common and are easily hidden by students in unsuspecting teachers' computers or installed by clicking on a link in an email, and can easily track keystrokes and be analyzed for passwords that can be used to access teacher accounts on Powerschool or their email. The solution is to educate teachers and students on how to make sure that their information is kept private, such as professional development on phishing and social engineering techniques.