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Alabama Department of EducationElluminate Session

February 25, 2009

Alabama Department of EducationElluminate Session

February 25, 2009

The 2008 Technology Education Course of Study Requirement for Graduation

DUAL STRATEGY FOR IMPLEMENTING THE TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION COURSE OF STUDY

Strategy 1- Technology Education Embedded in Traditional Courses

Applies to Grades K-8 and Encouraged in Grades 9-12

Strategy 2- The Computer Applications Course Requirement Designed for the 9-12 Grade Level½ Credit Required for High School GraduationStudent Demonstration of Proficiency

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• The State Board of Education … shall prescribe the minimum contents of courses of study for all public, elementary, and high schools in the state… (Code of Alabama, 1975, §16-35-4 and §16-6b-2f)

• … the county (city) superintendent of education shall prescribe courses of study for schools of the county (city) and submit for approval and adoption by the county (city) board of education…Printed copies shall be supplied to every teacher and interested citizen. (Code of Alabama, 1975, §16-9-21and §16-12-9)

Three Goals for Educational Technology Addressed by NCLB:

Use technology to improve the academic achievement of students in elementary and secondary schools.

Ensure that every student—regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, family income, geographic location, or disability—is technologically literate by the end of the eighth grade. Encourage the effective integration of technology with teacher training and curriculum development to establish widely implemented, research-based best practices.

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2008 ALABAMA COURSE OF STUDY: TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION BECOMES LAW

The State Board of Education adopted the Alabama Course of Study: Technology Education March 13, 2008.

The adopted law supports the following Implementation Cycle.

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2007-2008 ALABAMA COURSE OF STUDY: TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION

REVISIONS AND ADOPTIONStep 1:

2009-2010 STATE TEXTBOOK COMMITTEE MEETS & ADOPTSStep 3:

2008-2009 LOCAL SYSTEMS DESIGN CURRICULAStep 2:

Spring 2010 LOCAL TEXTBOOK ADOPTION Step 4:

2008-2009

OPTIONAL IMPLEMENTATION

2009-2010

PROPOSED FULL IMPLEMENTATION

Step 5:

Content standards and related content included in bullets in this document are minimum and required.

Examples are fundamental and specific but not exhaustive.

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In developing local curriculum, school systems may include:

Additional Content Standards to Reflect Local Philosophies

Implementation Guidelines Scope-&-Sequence Charts Pacing Guides

Resources Activities

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2002 2008

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2002 Course of Study 2008 Course of Study

Goal for Technology Literacy Fluency

Number of StandardsK-2 cluster=169-12 cluster=38

K-2 cluster=109-12 cluster=17

MeasurabilityContent Standards Broad and

Difficult to AssessContent Standards Clear and

Assessable

Rigor Appropriate for the timeIncreased to be appropriate for 21st

Century Society Demands

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2002 Content/Organizational Strands:2008 Content/Organizational

Strands:

Basic Operations and Concepts Technology Operations & Concepts

Social, Ethical, and Human Issues Digital Citizenship

Technology Productivity Tools Creativity and Innovation

Technology Communications Tools Communication and Collaboration

Technology Research Tools Research and Information Fluency

Technology Problem-Solving and Decision-Making Tools

Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making

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Cyber Safety Global Awareness Integration of Technology Professional Development Equitable Access Local Waivers for the Computer

Applications Course Assessment Keyboard Utilization

•Cyber safety standards are a part of every grade cluster.

•Standards cover protection of personal information and avoidance of online predators and cyber bullying.

•LEAs are encouraged to establish and strictly enforce guidelines for Internet use by students.

•Cyber safety taught as an integral part of using technology leads to optimal learning.

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Schools and libraries must also certify that, as part of their Internet safety policy, they are educating minors about appropriate online behavior, including cyber bullying awareness and response and interacting with other individuals on social networking sites and in chat rooms.

Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA)

“S. 1492: Broadband Data Improvement Act” became law on October 10, 2008 (Public Law 110-385)

CYBER-SAFETY- TEACHING DIFFERENCE2002 COS: In the Social, Ethical and Human Issues Strand, cyber safety is not directly mentioned. The emphasis was on the responsibilities of the student to properly use technology.

2008 COS: The Digital Citizenship strand not only covers the responsibilities of each student to use technology properly, but the necessity of the student to protect themselves in social networking and other actions with technology. Cyberbullying now must be addressed.

Teaching Change: We must teach students how to protect themselves in social networking and business relations conducted via technology.

Example: Students will roleplay some social networking scenarios from some of the popular sites (Facebook, Twitter, SecondLife) and be able to discuss how they should safely react if they were to face the situation.

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•Students will need technology skills to compete in the global marketplace for jobs.

•Technology Fluency, the goal of this Course of Study, allows the student to adjust to the rapidly changing global society.

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Current world economic conditions make it important for Global Awareness to be stressed.

GLOBAL AWARENESS- TEACHING DIFFERENCE2002 COS: In the Social, Ethical and Human Issues Strand, awareness focused more on local issues.

2008 COS: The Digital Citizenship strand goes beyond government borders to international concerns with communications extending to other cultures in other geographic locations.

Teaching Change: We must make students fully aware that global conditions directly affect their lives, and that we are no longer isolated from world conditions.

Example: Students may take part in a project with other students from another part of the world via internet connection. Webinars used to jointly work on projects.

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• Twenty-first century skills are not adequately measured using twentieth-century assessments such as paper and pencil.

• Technology skills are inherently performance skills and must be evaluated through project- or problem-based assessments (digital portfolio format).

• Students need not just demonstrate technology fluency through performance to meet high school graduation requirements, but also learn how to apply knowledge and skills to problem solving. (Prepared for tomorrow’s workforce)

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ASSESSMENT-TEACHING DIFFERENCE2002 COS: In the Assessment position statement, it was noted that assessment for the Technology Education COS needed to go beyond paper-and-pencil to include skills-based assessments.

2008 COS: This idea is extended in the new COS to include project- or problem-based assessments.

Teaching Change: Problem solving skills are stressed more in the new COS. This necessitates more emphasis on using portfolios for assessing student progress.

Example: Instead of a multiple choice test, students turn in their digital project. Digital movies, photographs, word processing documents, charts, and many other digital forms may be submitted via a network to a database where these records can be maintained.

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TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS-TEACHING

DIFFERENCE2002 COS: In Basic Operations and Concepts strand, most statements are concerned with computers.

2008 COS: The new strand, Technology Operations & Concepts, is a broader concept. Today’s student needs to have knowledge that goes beyond computers. The rigor of the content has been increased.

Teaching Change: Knowledge about computers is still important, but peripherals for computers, communications devices, and mobile computing devices should be included in instruction.

Example: Students might be expected to import spreadsheets into word processing documents, and add tables, charts and graphs into the same presentation. 20

CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION-TEACHING

DIFFERENCE2002 COS: Emphasis was on the use of the tools. The literacy goal only takes the student to the point of knowing how the tools work.

2008 COS: The new strand, Creativity and Innovation, pushes the student to the point of fluency. Student’s knowledge is to be raised to the point of being able to apply tools in creative ways.

Teaching Change: We will need to design projects that challenge students to apply what they know and create new products, or creative solutions to problems.

Example: Students might work together to produce a digital game. In doing so, careful attention should be given to using programming logic to plan the design.

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RESEARCH-TEACHING DIFFERENCE

2002 COS: Emphasis was on how to use research tools. The literacy goal only takes the student to the point of knowing how the tools work.

2008 COS: The new strand, Research and Information Fluency takes the learning to a new level. Again, beyond the tool to being able to analyze the value of the data returned by the search engine.

Teaching Change: We need to go beyond finding information with the tools to develop the skills of analyzing its validity.

Example: Students might use the Alabama Virtual Library to search for information concerning technology companies located in Alabama. In the past, this probably would have fulfilled the COS strand. Now, we need to go beyond that to such techniques as using multiple sources and looking at links to determine if there is a possible bias or inaccurate data in the information found by the search engine.

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TOOL/STUDENT CENTERED-TEACHING

DIFFERENCE2002 COS: Emphasis in Problem-Solving and Communications strands was focused on learning how to use the tools to perform these activities.

2008 COS: Emphasis is on the student’s fluent use of the tools to perform these activities.

Teaching Change: Teaching needs to go beyond the teaching of tools used for communication. Students need to understand when application of these tools is appropriate. Collaboration is emphasized over individual work.

Example: As part of an online course, students collaboratively communicate with a scientist about a local environmental issue. The students prepare a podcast that relays the results of their study to the public. 23

THE 2009 TECHNOLOGY COS STANDARDS:

• Are currently located on ALEX.• Are fully searchable.• Will soon contain over 3,800 links to resources for easy reference…by May 1, 2009…just in time for summer!]

http://alex.state.al.us

TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION RESOURCES

Resources to help you implement the new Technology COS are also located on ALEX:

1. http://alex.state.al.us2. Professional Learning3. Professional Development For additional information, please contact Dr.

Shannon Parks at: sparks@alsde.edu

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Question: Can the Career Technology “Business Technology Applications*” course be substituted for the one-half unit credit required for high school graduation?* This is not Business Technology Essentials.

Answer: Yes. A committee of representatives from both Career Tech and Technology Courses of Study met and performed a crosswalk of the two documents. All standards of the Computer Applications course were present.

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Question: Are there supporting documents for the Business Technology Applications course that will help in its implementation?

Answer: Yes. Career Tech has prepared a document titled Business Technology Applications Plans of Instruction that offer guidance to teachers in preparing lesson plans.

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Question: Will students who take the Computer Applications course in Grade 8 be required to take the class in Grades 9-12?Answer: The state superintendent has given local superintendents permission, in a September 1997 memo, not to require students to repeat the course if they can demonstrate the competencies outlined in the computer applications course to qualified 9-12 school staff members.

QUESTION AND ANSWER TIME

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