As part of my staff development learning plan, I need to submit a midyear reflection on my goal of integrating technology into all curriculum areas.  This is what I submitted.

The 2012-2013 school year is the first full school year after the introduction of Google Apps.  Certainly more and more teachers are beginning to recognize how useful sharing, collaboration and working in the “cloud” can be.  The availability of Google has been a definite help in promoting technology integration throughout the district.  Blizzard Bags in turn have also helped promote an increased acceptance of Google.  I have been encouraged by the apparent assimilation of the technology guidelines throughout the building. For example, I find that most of our staff has begun to take the proper  attribution of  “free use” and “creative commons” material seriously.  Students have readily accepted the copyright guidelines and I have also noted an increased sense of engagement among those students who have been exposed regularly to Google Apps.  There is still work to be done to get all staff members on board. I still feel that we need to have a device that is available for all students at all times. Technology should not be something that we decide to do.  It should be available when it will enhance learning and it should be put aside when something else will accomplish that purpose more effectively. The issue is no longer technology per se, it is what we do with it.  It can modify or augment what we are already doing.   More importantly, it can redefine what we do in the classroom in a way that truly engages students and also enhances powerful learning.  I hope we are getting beyond “Oh look I’m using technology” to understanding that we now have the ability to do things that couldn’t be done before and that our students need to became productive and happy citizens of the 21st Century not the 19th.