Project Update

I am in the middle of implementing my project, and everything is going pretty good. The main problem that is arising is that I am waiting until the last possible time to implement my project, but due to the schedule of the course this was my only option. We are really finished with the actual lesson implementation, and now we just have to wait for the project showcase and presentations. The project showcase will be December 2nd and then I will be able to complete the unit. Yesterday I was able to view some of the videos and work with the students on enhancing their videos during class. I lead them through some basics of Movie Maker and was pleased at their involvement in the lesson.
I feel good about where I am at, although I am pushing this close to the end of the semester.

How close are we to 1:1 learning?

I teach in the largest growing school system in the southeast, and the largest school system in the state of GA. If Gwinnett County Public Schools went to 1:1 learning it would be a huge for the industry and a major breakthrough in the field. However, I have not heard any new developments in this area. The system has just over the last few years implemented a laptop initiate for all the teachers and personnel in the system. I imagine that the county will evaluate how this has worked and see what it leads to in the future.
My opinion would be that due to the size of the school system, that we might be waiting for other school systems to try to implement this. Or it might be that they will try to implement this at one level (elementary, middle, or high school and then see how it goes. The school system is in the process of retrofitting all of the schools and updating the technology. This is a process that started a couple of years ago and should be finished by next year. This process includes installing projectors and interactive white boards in every school, and the vision is that all classrooms will have them in place. With these projects as well as just trying to keep up with building new schools, I think that our system is at least 5-10 years away from a 1:1 learning experience.

Take Away from Digital Citizenship

This was a cool opportunity to see different ways that we can handle and implement technology. I especially feel compelled to share some of the knowledge in the presentations to colleagues and parents at my school. We are usually kept informed about professionalism in regards to dealing with every aspect of our teaching field except for the new wave of technology. Whether it is plagiarism, social networks, web filtering, or other aspects in need of some digital citizenship, everyone in education needs to pay attention to this important feature. There are so many new tools and opportunities to use technology in the education field, we must look for ways to stay safe as we use these applications and tools. This activity was very important and I left feeling that I could present to teachers or parents in regard to an issue like this. Overall, this was pretty cool.