EDTC 6037 - Team Blog

According to the NC Digital Learning Competencies for teachers, teachers will model and teach digital citizenship by the ethical, respectful, and safe use of digital tools and resources that support the creation of positive digital school culture.  It is my belief one of the best ways to teach digital citizenship is to integrate into the curriculum.  Rather than telling the students a list of rules that they are not allowed to do, have them use online tools and teach the correct way to interact on social media. Book Snaps are very popular in the English Language Arts class, but this year I presented teachers with content snaps.  Students can snap pictures of completed math problems and snap them.  This leads to a discussion on what is appropriate to take photos of and share on snap chat.  Also, it leads to having conversations about who is the audience of your social media accounts. In Science, students are often completing research projects.  Having ...

What did you do and learn from your PD activities? How did you utilize the learning materials from this course to support your PD development and delivery? I originally planned on doing a five week course where each week we would learn about a new website or tool that we could then use in our classrooms right away. I had talked to some of the teachers in my school and asked them what they wanted to learn in terms of technology integration and they all said new tools. I had set up our professional development as a course in Canvas which is the platform we use with our kids. A few teachers wanted to see and use it as a student. I spoke with my instructional coach and she was able to help me work it out so everyone who participated could one 1 Digital CEU! The plan was to meet every Thursday from 8-9 where I would introduce the tool and we would work through some activities together. Then the teachers would have various assignments to complete that week and use the tool in their classr...

How can digital literacy be integrated into classrooms? Digital Literacy can be integrated into any class if the teacher is using technology. Any time we are technology in our classrooms, we need to ensure that the students are using it properly and being safe in the virtual world. Being a good digital citizen is something that needs to be taught just life manners in real life. According to the powerpoint this week, teachers need to model what it looks like to be a good digital citizen. One thing I have been doing is using Flipgrid in our virtual learning to help give students the chance to collaborate. Each student was given a math question to work out and explain the steps to the class. Other students can then leave comments or ask other questions. This ties in with the ISTE standard from the powerpoint of "Create experiences for learners to make positive, socially responsible contributions and exhibit empathetic behavior online that build relationships and community". ...

I wasn't able to complete my PD plan due to unexpected circumstances in the world around us. I felt no one expected for something like this to take place in the world that would put a big impact on our lives. I had planned on delivering the PD the week after the shutdown. Since I wasn't able to deliver the PD in person I consulted with a team of educators about the possibility of doing an online webinar PD. The pandemic really proved how much we as educators knew about remote learning and how often it was used inside the classroom to transition to a remote setting. In the first couple of weeks, my district offered online training as refresher courses to assist teachers on how to deliver instructions online. Since we just found out that school is out until the end of the year another training has been scheduled.  All the student teachers and internship had to stop indefinite! There was no way that I could have presented the PD through a webinar due to all the teachers I con...

Digital literacy and showing teachers digital competencies in Math, Science & healthful living in the classroom could be used with collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, citizenship, character and communication.  Our students will have to face the challenges and threats that come with living with technology. The  ideas and standards complement the concept of digital citizenship, which has also been highlighted by the standards for students created by International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and provide reasons for educators from across disciplines to engage their students in activities that promote civic engagement and  digital citizenship (International Society for Technology in Education, 2016). There are multiple ways for educators to help students develop their abilities to effectively engage in digital communication through in-class  activities and activities that bridge students’ in -school learning and out-of-school experiences...

According to "Expand Computer Science Opportunities to All Students in North Carolina K-12 schools: Recommendations for Policymakers" the overall goal is to "create and contribute, not just use and consume, in the digital economy" and "actively engage as informed citizens in our complex, technology-driven world". The proposed NC K-12 computer science standards are broken into 5 components; 1. Computing Systems 2. Networks & The Internet 3. Data & Analysis 4. Algorithms & Programming 5. Impacts of computing Which wants students to understand and use computing in various domains. I believe that the standards align well with the purpose, rationale and goals of computer science and technology education in NC. Teaching computer science has become more prevalent in education, however I just don't believe teachers know it to be computer science. For example, in the elementary school in which I work I have seen a lot of teachers experiment wi...

The North Carolina's adoption of the Computer Science Curriculum has been a collaborative effort with the Department of Public Instruction, The Friday Institute, and the Lt. Governor's office. In addition, after this work, representation has included parents, teachers, schools district administration, business leaders, and national experts. The goals of a computer science curriculum are for our students to create and contribute and not just be a consumer of technology and actively engage as informed citizens in our ever-changing world of technology. Our North Carolina Computer Science Standards are centered around five core concepts which include: Computer Systems Networks and Internet Data and Analysis Algorithms and Programing  Impacts of computing As I look at these standards for grades 3-5, many of them can easily be implemented through the core content curriculum, and I feel that integrating into the curriculum would have the most meaningful impact on stude...

NC Computer Science Standards Draft Review As stated in the "Expand Computer Science Opportunities" recommendation to policymakers document , the goals of incoroporating computer science into the NC Standards of Study are two fold: to have students be able to "create and contribute...in the digital economy" and "actively engage as informed citizens" in the "complex and technology driven world". These goals are noble and should be actively persued by NC DPI in order to prepare our students for higher education and/or careers in the workforce. However, the standards given, especially in High School, need further refinement or adjustment as they are too broad and unfocused. As a (former) computer science teacher in Texas and North Carolina I feel that there needs to be more refinement or clarification on the standards. An example of a standard that I feel is too broad and unfocused is below. HS-AP-01 Identify artificial intelligence algor...

According to the report to the North Carolina General Assembly, the overall goal is for all students to learn the skills to “create and contribute” to the digital community and “actively engage as informed citizens” in a technological world.  Curriculum goals include developing a pathway of courses that sequence through middle and high school for students to follow. Develop computer science standards that have the same high quality and rigor as current math and science programs. These courses should become part of the core curriculum and students should receive high school credits towards fulfilling math and science credits. I think that the curriculum should absolutely include a computer science program. In our current world, understanding the digital community and being able to be an active member of it is key for students. These should be essential skills that all students should learn and have access to.  Teacher goals include preparing preservice teachers in ...

Kim Good Blog #6 4/15/2020 EDTC 6037   NC Computer Science standards are that computational thinking is a key to 21st Century skills that help students both to understand and take advantage of computing in various domains.  The standards are well aligned with the purpose, rationale, and goals.  Over the last few years, I have seen significant growth in interest in teaching computer science in education as early as primary school. The curricular are being revised to either reform or introduce the subject of computing, computer science of informatics. In schools and media, advertisements place a lot of emphasis on  "coding" as the main topic to engage students to be creative with technology as well as understanding the fundamental principles of computer science. Computer Science standards are available to educators but are not being taught to students due to a lack of knowledge about Computer Science.  Computer Science in grades K-8 in North Carolina ...