Digital Learning Environment Inventory

The following Digital Learning Environment Inventory assesses the digital tools available to teachers and students at Santee Education Complex in Los Angeles, California.  Inventory conducted Winter 2014.

 

  • What tools, software, operating systems, and equipment are available in your school and classroom? (including but not limited to: videoconferencing, streaming, photos sharing sites, video sharing sites, document sharing sites, podcasts, blogs, wikis, social networking sites, etc.)

a.  Throughout the campus, there is one computer in every classroom designated for teacher use. These teacher workstations are all PCs, and they are all 10 years old. I don’t use mine—although there are some teachers that use them everyday. The majority of teachers at Santee have also been loaned one Mac Book Pro laptop.

b.  All teacher computers are equipped for Internet access, primarily using Internet browsers such as Internet Explorer (PCs), Safari (Macs), or Chrome (Google). All teachers’ Mac Book Pros are equipped with the Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Power Point, Access, Outlook).

c.  Email access is frequently problematic. Often, it is difficult to access AOL or Yahoo email accounts. All teachers are given a Microsoft Outlook Email Account for their professional use. I currently use a Gmail account while on site.

d.  A limited number of teachers use the web-based program engrade.com as their grade book. Engrade allows students to access their grades from their computers at home [if they have one connected to the internet] and/or their smart phones. LAUSD is currently transitioning their student information systems—and all secondary teachers will eventually be required to use the district’s online grade book. The date for said implementation has moved on several occasions—and this date is currently unknown.

e.  All classrooms are, in theory, equipped with Wi-Fi, accessible to both teachers and students. In reality, many classrooms either possess a weak Wi-Fi connection—or no absolutely no connection.

f.  The district technology coordinator has established a very strong firewall that blocks numerous websites from teacher and student use, including most social media sites (Facebook, Twitter) and many other sites due to key word searches deemed inappropriate. YouTube is blocked from student use, but is accessible to teachers.

g.  There are four computer labs available for teachers and students. Each lab has roughly 30 computer stations. These are generally outdated PCS. At least a fourth of the computers in each lab do not function properly. Teachers can reserve these labs with one of the administrators.

h.  The school allows students to use cell phones, iPods, and all other devices in any part of the school, at the discretion of each individual teacher. Few students regularly use their personal laptops or tablets on campus [1 out of 100 students], although a majority [55-65%] of students have access to personal smart phones.

i.  While many of our students have computers and Internet access at home, a huge number of our students do not have Internet access at home. Roughly 75% of our students have computers with Internet access at home. That leaves about a ¼ of the student population with no computer or laptop with Internet access while at home. Nevertheless, a greater number of our students have access to smart phones while at home—either their own smart phone or a family member’s device.

  • How does your school make use of school and/or teacher websites?

The school has a website, santeefalcons.org, that provides access to school news, calendars, faculty and staff information. Students can access teacher emails through the school’s website. Some teachers [less than 25%] have updated teacher profiles with syllabus, classroom expectations, homework assignments, links, classroom resources, etc. linked to the school’s website.   I use the school’s website primarily for its updated school calendar.

  • How are you currently utilizing technology for learning?
  1. I use Internet sources on a daily basis to display images, videos, and Power Point presentations related to classroom discussions and topics.
  2. I frequently use YouTube videos for instructional purposes.
  3. I use an online grading program [engrade.com] so that students can access their current grade and email me 24/7.
  4. Earlier this year, I created a professional, ‘teacher’ instagram account. I use it to post photos of exemplary student work, highlight students of the week, provide extra credit opportunities, share yearbook information to the student body, and share Students Run LA images. It’s still in its beginning stages, but I’ve enjoyed using this tool, as many students are frequent users of Instagram.
  • From the list of global e-learning sites included below, which are available and which sites are blocked by your firewall? The only sites that you’re required to explore are listed here, but feel free to look at/comment on others on the list that I have attached. Please reserve time to explore these sites and process what they have to offer.

All of the provided websites (see list below) are available to teachers through the Santee Education Complex firewall.

  1. Skype    www.skype.com
  2. iEARN   www. iearn.org
  3. ConnectAllSchools   http://www.connectallschools.org
  4. Peace Corps Speakers Match
  5. http://wws.peacecorps.gov/wws/speakersmatch/
  6. ePals  http://www.epals.com
  7. Global Nomads Group gng.org
  8. Omprakash  http://www.omprakash.org/about
  9. Primary Source   primarysource.org
  10. Edutopia  http://www.edutopia.org
  11. Outreach World http://www.outreachworld.org
  12. The UN Works  http://www.un.org/works/
  13. Global Education Conference http://www.globaleducationconference.com
  14. Online Newspapers  http://www.onlinenewspapers.com
  • What sites and tools are colleagues in your building using?
  1. A small number [less than 10 out of 60 faculty members] use edmodo.com
  2. Roughly 15 teachers use engrade.com
  3. The Social Science Department is beginning to use http://sheg.stanford.edu/rlh. This is the Stanford’s Reading Like a Historian website that includes Common Core aligned lessons in both World History and United States History.
  4. A majority of teachers use YouTube and other online video sites for instructional purposes.
  5. A majority of teachers use other online resources [online newspapers, online lesson plans, teacher created websites, etc.] in their classroom instruction.
  • Is there a system for evaluating student technology literacy in your school? If so, how effective or helpful have you found the assessment?
  1. There is a district wide technology requirement. Students must take 2 semesters of a technology course [Digital Imaging, Desktop Publishing, etc.].
  2. Students must also demonstrate Computer Literacy. Students can meet their computer literacy requirement with their technology course or by             passing a simple computer literacy assessment.
  3. Overall, the technology course and computer literacy requirement allow students to meet basic technology and computer literacy skills. Nevertheless, a great number of students leave Santee without the technology and  computer skills required to compete with their more middle class peers.
  • Gather suggestions from students on their ideas for integrating technology into their learning.

Based on an informal survey of my students (11th grade AP US History students and 11th grade US History students), the following suggestions were made:

  1. Students stated instruction and learning can be improved if all                                          students had access to a laptop or padlet.
  2. Students suggested one or more computer labs with updated                                                 computers/laptops for student use. Currently, only the library has a                                     computer lab with updated computers.
  3. Students suggested that the school’s Wi-Fi should be available to all,                                     including students. Currently, the Wi-Fi password is only distributed to                                     faculty and staff.
  • What tools that are not presently available, would help to achieve district objectives?
  1. Computer labs with updated, functional computers [not 10 year old desktop computers] available to all classroom teachers and students.
  2. Carts with classroom sets of updated, functional laptops available to all classroom teachers and students.
  3. Updated computer stations in each classroom for student use.
  • Using your Digital Learning Environment Inventory, develop a solution or suggest an improvement customized to your circumstance and curriculum. Create, implement and evaluate one change in a globalized lesson plan to use technology for learning in a meaningful way. (PLEASE NOTE!  If you are unable to use technology in your classroom this week, you may do it next week and submit this assignment next week.)

This week, my US History students have been exploring the Progressive Movement. To extend the lesson, and in order to get my students to think globally, I am having them do online research on one of four issues that Progressives worked on at the turn of the century—but their research will focus on one of these issues in another country. They are required to investigate this issue in the contemporary world, and their investigation should be focused on a foreign nation-state. The four broad issues available to my students: 1. Women’s Voting Rights [making connections to the Women’s Suffrage Movement]; 2. Child Labor; 3. Political Corruption; 4. Social Welfare programs. Students will create a 7-10 slide PowerPoint that illustrates their findings. Because of our limited technology resources [the library is the only adequate computer lab available for classroom teachers and students], and the space constraints/reservation system available, I have to allow more time for my students to complete their project. As evident in my Digital Inventory, all students do not have personal computers or Internet access at home.

One of the things I’m realizing as I attempt to incorporate technology into my lessons is the overall lack of technology available to my students—in my classroom, at our school site, and in their homes. There is one truly functioning computer lab available at our school site—the computer lab in our library—and one must reserve a spot in the library in advance [frequently, weeks in advance]. Moreover, a great number of our students do not have computers with Internet access at home. Another challenge is our students’ lack of computer literacy skills. While many are skilled computer users, many others simply have not had enough use of computers to become effective with even the most elemental software programs and functions. On the other hand, students really enjoy using technology, and any time a teacher makes an effort to incorporate technology into the classroom, the students are actively engaged. For my students and my school, it’s really just a matter of adequate access to the myriad technological resources that should be available to American students in the 21st century.

This website is not an official U.S. Department of State website.  The views and information presented are the grantee’s own and do not represent the Teachers for Global Classrooms Program, IREX, or the U.S. Department of State.

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