Technology Curriculum
I. Overview
At UCAP, issues of equity are inherently a
part of the school’s work. In considering technology use at
UCAP, issues of equity and access need to be forefronted for, at
least, three reasons:
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First, low income students and minorities--particularly Blacks
and Hispanics--are generally less likely to have access to
computers at home than are their White or wealthier
counterparts.
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Second, as the nature of many jobs has
changed with the introduction of technology, students need
technology skills to compete in the today’s work force.
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Lastly, even when students like ours have
used computers in previous schools, research suggests that these used to reinforce the limiting educational opportunities too
often afforded to lower income or to working class students.
Computers are used at UCAP, with a few
notable exceptions, almost exclusively for word processing.
Further use of computers by students needs to happen in academic
classrooms and will depend on teachers receiving professional
development. For UCAP to move beyond current levels and types of
computer use, technology professional development at the school
must (as Larry Cuban has suggested):
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"understand teachers’ expertise and
perspectives on classroom work”
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"engage teachers fully in the deliberations, design,
deployment, and implementation of [our] technology plan” and
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redesign “the infrastructure of technical support and
professional development” so that it is more “responsive to the
organizational incentives and workplace constraints teachers
face.”
In regard to potential technology use,
UCAP’s technology mission statement contains goals for student
learning as well as objectives related to staff-related
professional development. These technology-related goals are:
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to utilize UCAP’s technology to its fullest extent and in
alignment with the teaching goals and strategies of UCAP staff;
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to make available numerous and varied opportunities for students
to use technology in meaningful ways as part of their academic
development at the school.
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to make available professional development opportunities (and
provide staff with adequate time) to facilitate the use of
technology in the classroom; and
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to make available additional technology-related resources
(hardware or software) to meet new or existing goals for the
classroom use of technology.
II. Skills
The curricula of UCAP’s Technology Specials
elective classes--offered separately to first- and to
second-year students--offer outlines for the types of computer
skills that UCAP students should acquire.
Additionally, UCAP teaching staff have named
the following technology-related skills as being important for
students to learn. These skills are borrowed from The
International Society for Technology in Education’s National
Educational Technology Standards for Students.
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Students should use technology tools to
enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.
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Students should use technology tools to collaborate in
constructing technology-enhanced models, preparing publications,
and producing creative works.
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Students should use telecommunications to collaborate,
publish, and interact with peers, experts, and other audiences.
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Students should use a variety of media and formats to
communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple
audiences.
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Students should use technology to locate, evaluate, and
collect information from a variety of sources.
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Students should use technology tools to process data and
report results.
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Students should use technology resources for solving problems.
III. EVIDENCE OF LEARNING
“For all of the investment in educational
technology, there is a surprising lack of hard data on its
effects.”
Since quality assessment data on technology
use in schools is lacking, determining how to evaluate the
impact and the effectiveness of technology as a tool for
teaching and learning is a daunting task
As a starting point, though UCAP could:
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measure the impact of technology on our
students by determining to what extent UCAP has provided access
to computers beyond what our students have outside of school (or
had at their previous schools);
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determine if and how UCAP students have
previously used computers as learning tools and compare that
data to what UCAP has offered students in terms of computer use;
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examine how computers are allowing UCAP
teachers to alter, enhance, or make possible learning activities
that would, otherwise, not be possible.
UCAP is only beginning to grapple with the
issues related to assessing the impact of educational
technology. However, in finding ways to assess the value that
classroom technology adds, UCAP might contribute to the
discussion concerning the return on our educational technology
investments.
