Week+2-+Part+2.5+Technology+Facilitator+Standard+3

//Educational technology facilitators apply and implement curriculum plans that include methods and strategies for utilizing technology to maximize student learning.// My school district is like any other in regard for preventive action to avoid lawsuits and bad publicity. When a parent complained about their son having access to facebook, the father first complained to me and then the principal. Principals will have to mediate, moderate, and make decisions about how to resolve these conflicts (Price 2005). The parent was worried about students have too much freedom and access without district filters, which were lifted just this year to free the internet. The end result was the student being removed from my class and my principal having three other teachers and myself block facebook, youtube, and my space in our class labs using a computer monitoring program. Does this stop the student from accessing it on another student's phone or at their home computer? No, but I need to make sure I am still discussing the good and bad aspects of all this technology availability. Prensky (2008) says it's students after-school education, not their school education, that's preparing our kids for their 21st century lives. I can only speak from my experience, but I agree. The way our elective and scheduling is set up, students who are in both band and athletics their seventh and eighth grade year, do not get technology applications type courses until high school. This has been a battle, we're been fighting for years. However, with recent budget concerns, this isn't likely to change anytime soon as more staffing would be needed to accomodate those students.
 * __TECHNOLOGY FACILITATION STANDARD III__**
 * TF-III: Teaching, Learning, and the Curriculum**
 * Self-Assessment**
 * Learn as a Learner**

I know that I am going to have to constantly stay up on what's going on. Technology competency is not a skill set that, once mastered, is static; rather, it is highly fluid, changing at the pace of technological innovation (Williamson 21). One way is to use the four practices that Prensky listed to make education relevant to students' lives and truly prepare kids for the future.
 * Lifelong Learning Skills**

Prensky, M. (2008). Turning on the Lights. //Educational Leadership.// Price, B. (2005). Who's in Control of the Technology-Integrated School? //Principal Leadership.//6;1. Williamson, J., & Redish, T. (2009). //ISTE's technology facilitation and leadership standards.// Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.
 * References**