Chapter 8 - systemic issues

Schools face challenges that are unique to their district, city, and region and must address their local constituency's concerns all the time. This chapter examines the implementation and possiblilities for not only using these tools in the curriculum, but also using the tools in ways to create opportunities for all learners in a community(G. Solomon & L. Schrum. 2007)

English language learners and English as a second language 

Web 2.0 tools might expand students' learning of English and becoming more proficient in the educational activities required in our school.

Blogging

Blogging is a wonderful way to enhance student understanding and some second-language teachers believe that blogs can be used to give students authentic language activities. (G. Solomon & L. Schrum. 2007)

Podcasting

As blogging, podcasting is also a effective way to learn a foreign language, to learn English as a second language, or to learn other subjects that may be difficult to comprehend. Students have used podcasting to listen to, memorize, and critique classical music and even to share their orighinal musical creations.

Students with special needs

Students with disabilities have a greater need for accessing technology that do their non-disabled peers. This may be especialy true for those students who need technology just to function within the school environment. 

Equity and the digital divide
The following video is about how to bridge the digital divide with web 2.0 tools, it's kind short but with a lot information.

NETS-T(National Educational Technology Standards for Teachres)

4. Assessment and Evaluation

Teachers apply technology to facilitate a variety of effective assessment and evaluation strategies. Teachers:

a. apply techonology in assessing student learning of subject matter using a variety of assessment techniques.

b. use technology resources to collect and analyze data, interpret results, and communicate findings to improve instructional practice and maximize student learning.

c. apply multiple methods of evaluation to determine students' appropriate use of technology resources for learning, communication, and productivity.

Citations

Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0, new tools, new schools. Eugene, OR: Intl Society for Technology in educ.

Chapter 7 - online safety and security

Online safety and secuirity is absolutely the most important issue that every people should be noticed. So, for school, teachers and admisitrators also has the responsiblity to keeping students and data safe and secure.

 

Because of the legal requirements for school districts to protect student's privacy and saftey online. School should pay more attention on how to guide student's doing safe online work.

The first thing students should know is what is copyright?

The following video could help you to understand what is copyright and intellectual property.

 

Five Steps to Avoiding Copyright Problems

1. Create and implement a technology policy that includes a code of ethics and set of procedures.
2. Review the entire policy with your educational community: students, teachers, and parents.
3. Appoint a technology manager to conduct audits and maintain a log of licenses and registration materials.
4. Teach ethical and legal behavior for technology use.
5. Thank employees and students for supporting these steps. (n.p.)

So how to solve these problems when you face on some security problems? Here are several solutions below:

1. Awareness Programs

This program is focus on how to make students aware the importance of online safety and security. 

2. Acceptable Use Policies

The policies outline the guidlines, procedures, and responsibilities for using school technology. 

3. Ethical Behavior

4. Administrative Resrictions

5. Parental Involvement

6. Blocking

NETS-A 

(National Educational Technology Standards for Adiministrators)

VI. Social Legal, and Ethical Issues – Educational leaders understand the social, legal, and ethical issues related to technology and model responsible decision making related to these issues. Educational leaders: 

A. Ensure equity of access to technology resources that enable and empower all learns and educators. 
B. Identify communicate, model, and enforce social, legal, and ethical practices to promote responsible use of technology.

C. Promote and enforce privacy, security, and online safety related to the use of technology.

D. Promote and enforce environmentally safe and healthy practices in the use of technology.

E. Participate in the development of policies that clearly enforce copyright law and assign ownership of intellectual property developed with district resources. 

Citations

Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0, new tools, new schools. Eugene, OR: Intl Society for Technology in educ.

Chapter6 - leadership and new tools

Since it is very different that today's students of school are from what it was even a few years ago. Those students using instant messaging, blogging, twittering and watching video from YouTube outside of school. In order for schools to prepare students for the future, the leaders must make some changes, to help teachers make the transition to using new technologies and new methods. Such transition we named Leading in the 21st century.

The following six qualities are the element for a school district to achieve success in the 21st century.

• Individual excellence
• Organizational skills
• Courage
• Results (goal-oriented)
• Strategic skills
• Operation skills

 So what shall we do? How to do make the transition operate smoothly? Here is a good suggestion - use Web 2.0 tools. For teachers, blogs can replace e-mail as a way to communicate with students, parents, or other educators. We also have a lot of examples that teacher whose using blog to achieve their teaching goals. So let's have a look of the twelve reasons for an administrator to blog:

• Sharing news and events
• Progress monitoring
• Status alerts
• Marketing
• Public relations
• Community building
• Customer relations
• Branding
• Creating "customer evangelists"
• Thought leadership
• Advocacy
• Replacing the school Web site

 

Beside blogging, setting up the infrastructure for school or district computing is a complicated and expensive effort. "Open source is programming code that is freely available to use and to modify, upgrade, and customize."(Solomon & Schrum, 2007). As the web2.0, new tools, new school book mentioned that Linux is a free open-source software, so the source code is available to everyone. A growing number of school districts are using the Linux operating system.

Linux website: https://www.linux.com/

• OpenCD site for Windows: https://theopencd.org
• Open Source Mac for Mac OS X: https://www.opensourcemac.org

NETS-A (National Educational Technology Standards for Adiministrators)
All school administrators should be prepared to meet the following standards and performance indicators. These standards are a national consensus among educational stakeholders regarding what best indicates effective school leadership for comprehensive and appropriate use of technology in schools.
1. Leadership and Vision - Educational leaders inspire a shared vision for comperhensive integration of technology and foster an environment and culture conducive to the realization of that vision. Education leaders:
A. facilitate the shared development by all stakeholders of a vision for technology use and widely communicate that vision.
B. maintain an inclusive and cohesive process to develop, implement, and monitor a dynamic, long-range, and systemic technology plan to achieve the vision.
C. foster and nurture a culture of responsible risk taking and advocate policies promoting continuous innovation with technology.

Citations

 Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0, new tools, new schools. Eugene, OR: Intl Society for Technology in educ.