Staff Development Tips - Week of 4/03/00
Welcome to Week 3 of Tips on Staff Development. If you ever need to
discontinue these weekly updates, just reply to cates@techtamers.com and
I'll be glad to remove you from the list.
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Investing in Technology
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The first two principles for taming technology are
Make Technology Fun
Customize your Environment.
The third principle is Invest in the Tools. Typically you think of an
investment as money - but it may be time. You can invest time to learn to
use your tools effectively. You can invest money to buy more tools to
make your job easier. And sometimes the monetary investment is not much.
It could be a scanner to put student work into projects (cost: about $100
nowadays). It could be a video camera for interactive online
videoconferences - which can double as a video camera to capture short
"messages" from students for a web page. (cost: under $100). The list is
endless. Just take a realistic look at the tasks that you do and ask
yourself "Is there a tool that would make my life easier?"
While I say Invest in the Tools, let me also offer this caution: Don't
invest unnecessarily. If your primary computer tasks are word processing
and grades, you don't need the fastest, latest, greatest (read
"expensive") computer on the market. If you have a system that is already
working for you - keep using it until it's no longer practical. For
example, my main computer is three years old and was declared obsolete 2
years ago. But it works for me. I've added a cable modem for internet
access, but everything is pretty much as it was 2-3 years ago. Think of
the learning time I've saved not having to learn new applications or
versions. Think of upgrade heartaches and time I've saved! Now, I know
that within the next year new software will be coming out that I will
NEED, so I'll probably have to upgrade. But until then, I've saved tons
of time and money in using what works.
So Invest WISELY in the tools.
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New Resource
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We must constantly monitor what is being said about educational
technology. In a recent book, Clifford Stoll criticized the idea of
computers in the classroom. In a good rebuttal, Keith Drueger, Execustive
Director of CoSN, questioned some of Stoll's assumptions. To read the
rebuttal see
http://www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=27krueger.h19
To get a copy of the book, go to
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385489757/techtamers
For additional Educational Technology Research check my followup page at
http://www.techtamers.com/publications/edtechrsch.htm
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Remember when...
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Mentoring has been a hot topic in recent years. We discussed the role of
mentoring from both a teacher and a student perspective and how it
relates to staff development.
Teachers First has compiled a list of links to mentoring programs for
both teachers and students. Look first at the teacher mentoring
resources. Remember, teachers like to see what the goal is. If they have
had a successful mentoring experience, they are more open to mentoring
students and facilitating a student-to-student mentoring program.
http://www.teachersfirst.com/mentor.htm
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Thanks
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Thanks for sharing a few minutes with me. I would welcome you input and
ideas on resources to features and tips to share. Email me at
cates@techtamers.com.
See you next week!
Jeanette S. Cates, Ph.D.
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