Sugar, W., & Holloman, H. (2009).

Technology leaders wanted:

acknowledging the leadership role of a technology coordinator.
TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 53(6),
66-75. doi:10.1007/s11528-009-0346-y.

Summary:

This article is about the role of technology coordinators with in the

school setting. This article states that the role of the technology
coordinator defined by four things: instruction, technical, analysis, and
leadership. The technology coordinator must first be able to use
technology with in the instructional setting, meaning the technology
coordinator must be able to teach students with technology. Secondly,
the technology coordinator must be able of operate the technological
aspect of the technology available. Next, the technology coordinator
must be able to analyze different types of technology and determine if
it is appropriate for the classroom. Finally, the technology coordinator
must be a leader. The article spend a lot of time discussing the role
the technology coordinator must play as a leader at a specific school.
The authors even conducted research by surveying teachers about
their opinions of the technology coordinator at their respective schools.
The authors concluded that is used properly the technology
coordinator could be one of the most influential leaders in the school.

Critique:

I enjoyed reading this article. I think it is very important for the

technology coordinator to be a leader with in the school. The
technology coordinator needs to work directly with administration in
order to promote learning in the 21st century. The technology
coordinator can also help cast the vision of the leadership of the
principal. The technology coordinator can help find the technology
that will help the school improve and prepare students for not only
college but the demands of the workplace n the 21st century. Overall, I
found this article very useful. I believe the technology coordinator can
play a major role in the improvement of a school if given the chance.
Devlin-Scherer, R., & Sardone, N. (2010). Digital simulation games for
social studies Classrooms. Clearing House, 83(4), 138-144.
doi:10.1080/00098651003774836.

Professional Practice

Summary:

This article was about using digital simulations in the social studies
classroom. The study used college sophomores who were studying to
be social studies teachers. The students were to participate in digital
simulations/games that they could use in the classroom once they are
teaching in their individual classroom to help enrich the curriculum.
These students enjoyed playing these games and admitted they
learned information they did not know about subjects they felt like
they had a wealth of knowledge on. This article concluded that digital
game could be used to enrich information learned in the social studies
classroom. However, in order for students to fully benefit from
simulations the teacher must act as a facilitator of information instead
of a provider of information.

Critique:

I personally found this article very interesting. I have used simulations

in my classroom previously and have had success. However, I must
note I have never used digital simulations, because like the article
stated there is a lack of availability. However, if I ever teach world
history again I would love to find a copy of the Easter Island simulation
mentioned in this article. Though I felt like the article was exactly
right in their findings, I felt like testing actual high school or middle
school students would strengthen the results. Using current teenage
students would also help to see if the simulation/game was grade level
appropriate and curriculum appropriate. Therefore the strengths of
the article are that is brings to the fore front of how simulations could
help enrich your class, but the weaknesses are that the researchers
never use these simulations in a high school or middle school setting.
Simulations like these would be very helpful to a school technology
coordinator. These simulations would allow for the school technology
coordinator provide a tool for the social study teacher to use.
Lin, F., & Chiou, G. (2008). Support-seeking and support-giving
relationships of school technology coordinators. British Journal of
Educational Technology, 39(5), 922-927. doi:10.1111/j.1467-
8535.2007.00784.x.

Summary:

This article is about the social network of school technology

coordinators with in the school setting. The author then goes on to
briefly explain the roles of a school technology coordinator. Those
roles are as follows: technician, a trainer, a curriculum consultant or
designer, and an innovator of educational technology. The article then
goes on to discuss the relations variables involved in the study such as
general work knowledge awareness. The authors then briefly
described their research. They used 25 school technology coordinators
from middle schools in Taiwan. They asked them about their social
relationships and whom they were in contact the most. The article
concluded that school technology coordinators had a very small social
network and their communication was either support seeking or
support giving.

Critique:

I found this article very hard to read. The author used a lot of technical
speak that made it very difficult to read. However, the article did
forewarn me that if I ever became a technology coordinator that I must
keep my network open. I also need to be more of an information giver
rather than an information seeker though both types of interaction are
important. If used properly the school technology coordinator can be
used to improve student learning. We must remember that the reason
we do things are for the kids and that is what is important.
Obringer, S., & Coffey, K. (2007). Cell phones in American high schools:
A national survey. Journal of Technology Studies, 33(1/2), 41-47.
Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

Research Article

Summary:

This article began with a very negative view of cell phones in schools.
It gave several example of how students could abuse cell phones in the
school setting. One example was taking pictures of students in the
locker room. Though the article does not sound promising for the use
of cell phones in the beginning of the article the author quickly
changes his perspective. The researchers survey principals from all 50
states about cell phone usage in their school district. The author went
on to share these results and his analysis of these results. On a side
note, I found it interesting in 2007 that 16% of the reporting principals
worked in a district with no cell phone policy. In the conclusion the
author discusses how cell phones have become an integral part of our
society and that educators need to learn how to use cell phones as a
tool instead of something that is evil.

Critique:

I think the survey the author conducted really shows the strengths of
the article. I believe it shows cell phones are something that needs to
be brought to the forefront in educations. Districts like the one I work
for are too busy condemning cell phones instead of finding ways to use
them in the classroom. Cell phones are here to stay and educators
need to find ways to integrate them into the classroom. Instead of
demonizing cell phones we need to learn to use them. I know that kids
are kids and they can be easily distracted with a cell phone, but
instead of them having to work to hide the phone make them use it so
that they can be productive with the phone.

Though the author is aware cell phones are issues, and there is a
possibility cell phones could be used as good they could strengthen
their article by surveying students. I believe we need to get the
student perspective on cell phones. This would help educators really
grasp how to use the cell phone in the classroom.

With the current economic conditions funding for things like “clickers”
or student response system may be non-existent. By using cell phones
as student response systems school technology coordinators could
save themselves money and time spent writing grants in order to fund
technology.
Roe, M. (2010). Wiki technology and the return to rigor. Leadership,
39(3), 20-22. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

Professional Practice

Summary:

This article begins with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and how it
is affecting learning in our schools in the United States of America.
NCLB in theory would have created rigor in the classroom, but because
of the emphasis of standardized test NCLB has actually put the focus
on test preparation instead of learning. The author then gives the
seven things that students need to be successful in a global economy:

1. Critical thinking and problem solving

2. Collaboration across networks and leading by influence
3. Agility and adaptability
4. Initiative and entrepreneurialism
5. Effective oral and written communication
6. Accessing and analyzing information
7. Curiosity and imagination

How are students going to compete in a global economy if their

learning is being measured on how well they are to perform on test?
West Valley High School in California has found the solution to this
problem. West Valley is using wikis. They are using wikis to connect
students to the faculty, students to students and the school to the
community. They feel as if the wikis are producing students who are
prepared for the 21st century and a global economy.

Critical Evaluation

I really enjoyed reading this article. I feel as if it does a good job of

giving me the material I need in order to justify using wikis to teach my
students. I believe this article does a good job of preparing its readers
for education in the 21st century. However, I feel as if it could be
stronger if it gave links to specific wikis created by the students
themselves. I would love to see a wiki that the students created.

Next semester I am teaching an American Government class to

freshmen repeaters. I am planning on having them create a wiki to
use as a digital portfolio. This article does a good job of getting me
motivated to use wikis in my classroom.

Wikis are provided free by many services. This would save school
technology coordinators much money. Also the simplicity of teaching
teachers to use wikis during staff development would help the school
technology coordinator communicate with the staff and help provide a
21st century learning experience for the student of the school in which
they serve.
Couse, L., & Chen, D. (2010). A tablet computer for young children?
Exploring its viability for early childhood education. Journal of Research
on Technology in Education, 43(1), 75-98. Retrieved from Academic
Search Complete database.

Research Article

Summary:

This article describes research that was conducted on children from

the ages of three to six years old. The researchers used mixed method
research to gage pre-K to 1st grade student’s interest and skill level of
using a tablet computer. The researcher broke the study down into
four phases. The first phase the researchers introduced the students
to the gateway tablet computers and allowed the students to become
familiar to many of the tools that the tablet had to offer. The second
phase the students were asked to look into a mirror and draw a picture
of themselves on the tablet computer. The third phase of the research
was the children interviews. The researchers asked the students what
medium they preferred to draw with, traditional mediums such as
crayons, markers, paint, and paper or the tablet computer. Sixty-four
percent of the students said they preferred the tablet computer. The
fourth phase of the research was the teacher interviews. A majority of
the teachers were proponents of the tablet computers, however some
were skeptical that the students enjoyed the tablet computers simply
because they were new. The researchers concluded that tablet
computers were not only valuable learning tools for middle and high
school students, but also preschool students also.

Critical Evaluation:

Though I teach high school social studies this article caught my eye
because I have a three-year-old daughter. One of my daughter’s
favorite things to do is play with my iPhone. We have tried to introduce
the computer to my daughter, but she hasn’t quite made the
connection with the mouse and the screen. This led to a discussion
about getting the family an iPad instead of a new computer. I was
fortunate enough to borrow one of our school’s new iPads for the Labor
Day weekend. I can honestly say that I observed results similar to the
ones that the researchers observed. My daughter’s favorite thing to do
on the iPad was to draw. I added many educational apps and apps
from my daughters favorite TV shows, but her favorite thing to do was
draw on a blank canvas. The only weakness in my observations and
the observations of the researchers was that the focus was more on
how would the students use the tablet computer in general rather than
how would they use the tablets to learn. I do agree preschool students
need to learn to use tablet computers because this looks to be the
trend of the future.

By being aware of future trends school technology coordinators can

prepare students for future challenges. School technology
coordinators must constantly be seeking out the newest ideas and
challenges in order to prepare students for the future.