Week 2 reflection

This week we are supposed to narrow the focus of our Action Research Plan.

I had a few different topics I thought about for action research dealing with technology.

1) Will online learning communities keep students more engaged?
2) How can we change professional development in technology to help teachers use technology more effectively in their assignments?
3) Will iPads be a useful tool for classroom teachers?

After discussion with my site mentor we decided it would be best to focus on number 2 since the other two depend on it. We have a problem at our school. Teachers have access to technology, but many times to not use it effectively. For many of our teachers having students create a Powerpoint or type a paper in Word is the extent of technology integration. We have Smart boards, mobile labs, iPad labs, and a plethora of software available to teachers. The problem is that professional development has been limited to learning how these things work and not on how to integrate them into lessons. Technology can be a daunting prospect for many teachers as it is. Expecting them to change the lessons they already know how to teach and come up with ways on their own to use technology can be completely overwhelming. I want to evaluate our professional development and work with the technology staff and administration to try to improve it.