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Joshua Antonious Professor Megan Keaton ENGL 1103 14 April 2013 A 21st Century School Setting: A classroom in Tarpon Springs, FL at East Lake High School. Characters: Ms. Cathy (Teacher), Josh (Student/Narrator), Sammy (Student), Katie (Student), Beverly McIntyre (Teaching Assistant), Nina Thomas (Herself), Francesc Pedr (Himself), Janet Boysen (Herself), Council of Economic Advisers (As Whitney)

Ms. Cathy: Today we have a special treat for you guys! About half way through class, we will be stopping our work for the day and will be having a few visitors from the government come and talk to us about technology in our schools. Make sure you pay close attention and do not, I repeat DO NOT, be rude or disrespectful. If I have to speak with any of you regarding your behavior during these presentations, I will be furious and you may, or may not, suffer a dock in your grade. She smiles maniacally. Now for the assignment until our guests arrive. Turn to page 178 in your text and begin reading through page 190, making sure to take notes in the margin Josh: raises his hand, Ms. Cathy? She nods, My battery is dead, I cant open my book, do you have another tablet or a charger I could use? Josh: To the audience, We dont use paper textbooks in our school district anymore. We are a technology friendly school in which we bring tablets to school that have our books loaded onto them.

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Ms. Cathy: I dont you should have come to class prepared. She looks toward Ms. McIntyre, Do you have a charger in your bag? Ms. McIntyre: I dont Im sorry Josh: Do you think that I could go and download it to my computer and use that today? Ms. Cathy: If you think you can get onto a network then by all means go for it. I dont think we have a network setup here. Josh: Almost all schools have Wifi these days Ms. Cathy. He rolls his eyes in disgust. I know the password I have been on the Wifi multiple times prior. (Gray, 3) Ms. Cathy: Just do what you need to do and get to work. Ms. Cathy goes about her work for 10 minutes before making her rounds to see if we are on task Ms. Cathy: Sammy? Sammy: Yes maam? He shuffles in his seat to hide his tablet from the view of Ms. Cathy Ms. Cathy: Are you doing the assigned task or are you doing something you shouldnt be? Sammy: I finished reading and taking notes. Ms. Cathy: Then why arent your notes saved in Dropbox? I can see you playing Ruzzle with your Facebook friends Sammy; Im not completely oblivious to what you kids are doing. Sammy: I..i im sorry, its hard to focus with the notifications popping up on my screen. I just beat Katie! Katie: Hey! Dont bring me into this! I am actually done and have submitted my notes to Dropbox! shooting a look of displeasure and hatred towards Sammy. Ms. Cathy: Yes I know Katie. I know youre done and on Facebook too. I can see your little green dot thing in the chat bar on my computer. She turns to the class and says Listen up class! This may be the second week of school, but you all need to realize that you cant shrug the work

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off to the side and abuse the privilege of having access to the internet at school. I know about 90% of you have a social media account and if I catch any of you on your accounts you will be receiving a 0 for that assignment. (McIntyre, 11) The class fill with muffled noise and groans from the students. Ms. Cathy: Can someone please explain to me why it is so imperative to check Facebook and Instagram every couple of minutes? Is what is on Facebook going to help you succeed in your life or is going to keep you in the loop of everyones drama? Josh: Well, Ms. Cathy, it keeps us connected to everyone and allows us to see what is going on with people in different places in real time. We are able to be an interconnected society. Ms. Cathy: Being connected with each other doesnt mean immediate benefits. If Facebook is more important than passing this class, then by all means stay online. If you dont graduate, how do you expect to be able to afford a new tablet or anything for that matter? (Pedro, 2) Josh: . iuh. He looks down into his tablet and continues reading the material. Ms. Cathy: When I was in school we didnt have tablets and we had to actually read books. Sammy: You gradated in the 80s; they didnt even have the internet back then Ms. Cathy: I graduated in 94 Sammy, and we did have the internet. We were very fortunate at my school. Only 30% of schools had internet access as compared to the 99% of schools today. Ms. McIntyre? Ms. McIntyre Looks up from her desk, Isnt your dissertation on a topic like this? (Lawrence, 3) Ms. McIntyre: It is very similar, yes! For those of you that dont know, a dissertation is a very long essay. About 200 pages, the room fills with gasps and small chatter, and it takes a very long time to complete. I am posing the question on whether or not teachers personal bias affected how they used technology in instruction. Basically, I am looking at 3 specific teachers, Ms.

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Cathy is not one by the way, from different generations and seeing how they incorporate technology throughout their lesson. Ms. Cathy: Did you find any correlation on a teachers age and the technology used? I feel like Im not that old. I am able to use these new technologies rather well. Ms. McIntyre: Well, it was I originally thought. The teacher from the youngest generation used a wide variety of technologies and the students were engaged in learning more Ms. Cathy: See! It keeps you guys more engaged. I just wished that you would stay engaged in the material and not social media. I will take away the ebooks and find a normal book if we cannot stay on task. Im sorry, Ms. McIntyre, please continue. Ms. McIntyre: Hahah, its okay, Ms. Cathy, but I was able to see that age and personal bias towards technology really did have an impact on its use in classes. I did find out that because nearly all of you use the internet daily and have some form of social media, that incorporating technology is crucial to achieving success. I noticed that sites like Dropbox, Wordpress, Blogger, and Edmodo are being used more and more because it eases pressures on student and teacher and it also is kind to the environment. Sammy: Stupid tree huggers are the ones to blame for Edmodo!? That site never lets me on. My assignments are always late! It hates me. Ms. Cathy: Sammy, everything hates you Kidding! But really, get back to work. Josh: I have a question, Ms. Cathy Ms. Cathy: Yes? Josh: In the text book, the author talks about government programs and how the government wants to implement new technologies in order to allow for a more substantial intellectual growth between kindergarten and senior year, but it doesnt say what technology or how they are going

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to help. Do you have any idea on as to how they are going to implement this new stuff? (Council of Academic Advisers, 16) Ms. Cathy: Well that tablet you are using, we were able to buy at a reduced coast due to grants from the government. Most technology we receive is due in part to the government. It is very rare for a school to pay full retail price for a piece of equipment. Josh: I thought individual companies were the ones that decided the price of a product? Ms. Cathy: Yes the companies do mandate the price, but the government offers tax credits and other incentives for companies to reduce their costs for education purposes. Additionally, the government gives grants to schools for the purpose of technology. They are all about updating schools and making sure the students in America have everything they need in order to be best set up for success. Hold onto that question until our speakers get here. They should be able to answer that better than I can. Josh: Ooohhh, I understand now. I guess the government does want to help schools. When Are they going to get here. Ms. Cathy: In the next few minutes hopefully. There is a knock on the door followed by 4 people entering through the door. Just kidding, they are here now! How many of you were able to complete todays assignment? 8 of the 22 kids in the class raise their hand Ms. Cathy: Do the assignment at home and submit it by midnight on Edmodo. Those of you that were able to finish within the allotted time submit it now and you will receive an additional 5 points for staying on task. Sammy: Ms. Cathy! Thats not fair. You talked to me the whole time and I couldnt get my work done!!

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Ms. Cathy: If you were staying on task, would I have had to talk to you? No. It is your responsibility to do what is assigned. You are lucky that I will accept the assignment past class. Now I turn the floor over to our speaker. Remember what I said earlier! She does an over dramatic smile and proceeds to her seat. Nina: Good Morning guys! Or is it afternoon yet? I have no idea. We have been here all day! Haha. Well anyways, we are here today to talk about education and technology, something I think that you guys know some about. We will start by introducing ourselves and giving you a little bit of background on each of us and then feel free to ask us questions! She looks down the line of colleagues. I guess Ill go first! My name is Nina Thomas and I work for the National Center for Education Statistics. My job is fairly simple. I conduct surveys every year about technology and schools and how accessible technology is and what could use some improvement. If you have questions on random statistics about technology in this classroom, I am the girl to ask! I love numbers and have hundreds of them waiting to be shared! The students are puzzled and look stunned form the over perkiness of their first presenter. Sammy: To Josh in a mummer under his breath, Shoooooot me. This is awful and that woman is crazy. Katie: kicks Sammys desk to get him to shut up, Sorry! I had a foot spasm. I really like your dress Nina! She shoots a smile towards Nina, followed by a glare to Sammy. Pedro: Are we good now? No more leg spasms or mummers? He chuckles, okay, my name is Francesc Pedro and I wrote the book Connected Minds: Technology and Todays Learners. I specialize in Global connection via the Internet and what it means to be plugged in. You all are New Millennium Learners. How many of you would want to do an interactive lesson via tablet rather than a lecture on the subject by Ms. Cathy? Every hand shoots up; including Ms. Cathys

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which cause a slight rift of laughter to cross the classroom. Thats what I thought. The way of the future is technology and hands on learning. If you have questions regarding being connected with each other through technology please ask me! Janet: Hi, Yall! My name is Janet Boysen and its good to be back! Charlotte is my home town and boy am I glad to be back. Anywayssss, I too work for the National Center for Education Statistics. Just like Nina I am in charge of surveys, from conception all the way through data analysis. My specialty,I guess you could say, is in technology from the teachers perspective. I can answer the questions regarding teachers feelings toward technology and stuff like that. Whitney: Well, I am the last one to go! My name is Whitney and I work for the Executive office of the President. Before you ask, yes I know President Obama and no I cannot relay your messages on social reform to him. Everyone chuckles and some students murmur. I am an Economic Adviser and my job is to look at schools and how we can improve them. YOU are the key to this countrys future. We at the White House are so focused on finding ways to get the American Education System up to par and even surpass that of nations such as Finland. We are implementing the Common Core standards and believe that with these standards, the country will be on a more even playing field not only with the rest of the world but also within the country. We wont have to see certain states performing better than others because of more strict education requirements. But thats enough about us. We have a few minutes left and can answer a question or two. If we dont get to everyones question, we will be having a discussion board on Edmodo and we highly encourage you to go on and ask us there. (Executive office of the President, 4) Katie: Hi, My name is Katie and I was wondering, what technologies do schools have the most of and why do some schools have more than others?

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Nina: Ill take this one first. Well there are a few technologies that are widely used across the country. LCD TVs are the biggest (Gray, 11). 99% of all classrooms have access to a TV for instruction. Smart boards are becoming more and more popular among school districts. With 60% of school districts saying they will have smart boards in every classroom by the end of 2013; now 90% of schools have smart boards, just not in every class. I could speak on why some have more than others; but I feel the Whitney could better explain it. (Gray, 13) Whitney: This question always bothers me. It is tough to see some schools suffering. The schools that have smartboards in every classroom are in districts that have a more affluent population and parents that have the money to pour into the education system. Parents obviously arent the soul reason for every piece of technology in a school, though. The government gives millions of dollars every year to school districts for technology enhancements. We also offer grants and educational programs that not all schools apply for. There are avenues for school districts to receive funding; they just, however, dont want to put in the work to receive the benefits. (Executive Office of the President, 3) Katie: Thank you! I understand it a lot better now. Josh: Good afternoon and thank you for being here today. My name is Josh and I was wondering if we have all this technology and new ways of learning outside of a standard textbook, why do we have to go to school? Why cant we teach ourselves or have a virtual teacher? Do you think teachers feel like they could lose their jobs soon because of the advances in technology? Pedro: Ill field this one first. I believe that you will always need to be in a classroom and with a teacher. I am a proponent of using as much technology as possible in instruction. I feel that being connected will produce a better individual. If you werent in school with a teacher, you would

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lack the interaction of learning. Being able to help a fellow student reinforces the knowledge within you. (Pedr, 4) Janet: I will take the second part of the question. Teachers as of right now dont feel like they are in jeopardy of losing their jobs to virtual teachers. The virtual school population is roughly 5% of all children in school. A virtual teacher is not always there when you need them and cant be there to do hands on demonstrations. Now the data does indicate that one day, subjects that require less instruction and more intrapersonal skills will lean more and more towards virtual teaching in order to allow for students to get more hands on teaching while in school. (Boysen, 12) Bell rings Ms. Cathy: Wait! Before you go, what do you say to our speakers? Class: Thank you! Speakers: Youre welcome! Ms. Cathy: Dont forget about the discussion on Edmodo as well as the homework assignment. Have a good day class, see you tomorrow!

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Work Cited Gray, Lucinda, Nina Thomas, Laurie Lewis, and Peter Tice. Teachers' Use of Educational Technology in U.s. Public Schools, 2009: First Look. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Dept. of Education, 2010. Internet resource. McIntyre, Beverly Kesler. "Teachers' Beliefs and Practices regarding the Role of Technology in Literacy Instruction: A Mixed Methods Study." The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2011. United States -- North Carolina: ProQuest. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. Pedr, Francesc. Connected Minds: Technology and Todays Learners. OECD Publishing,2012. Print. Lanahan, Lawrence, and Janet Boysen. Computer Technology in the Public School Classroom: Teacher Perspectives. Washington, D.C.: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, 2005. Internet resource. Unleashing the Potential of Educational Technology. Washington, D.C.: Executive Office of the President, Council of Economic Advisers, 2011. Internet resource.