Guide for inexperienced teachers with no funds on how to acquire technology involvement

In my opinion, Aldrich defines different levels of interactivity by defining different levels of student involvement and independence in learning. With HIVES at level zero, the professor speaks and does not engage the students, at level one, the professor pauses and answers questions. At level three, the students are tested periodically, at level four the students engage a lab or are involved in a process activity with a single outcome. Typically we analyze involvement based o the interactions students have within a single program.

In my class, I have assigned middle school students activities involving websites, and basic office tools (spreadsheets, documents and presentations). The students go to a class blog (http://littclass0910.wordpress.com) read instructions, download worksheets, click on links to sites, and email assignments into, myself, the teacher. Generally, my assignments seek to use a variety of tools to solve problems.For example, we run a business simulation unit where the students use spreadsheets to analyze sales of an online business sim game, write business plans to a word document and play again seeking to improve, recording the results on spreadsheets.

This, to me, is an Aldrich level 4 involvement, but not with sophisticated programs. My role is more coach like in that I encourage students to read instructions for their guidance, seek the help of online guides and ask peers, achieving as much independence as possible. My classes are a simulation of online course content purposefully. Reading instructions and reading guides are part of my objectives and I teach some skills around reading directions and guides towards that end. My classes sometimes achieve a level 5 in that the product outcomes are determined by the students.

My project is focused on providing resources for teachers to go from zero technology involvement to some involvement. One of the central focus points of this project is to get teachers to involve some student independence in technology at an inexpensive level where inexperienced teachers feel comfortable embracing.