TECHNOLOGY AT AMA
Why Teach Technology?
"We don't expect our students to write until we've taught them handwriting; we can't expect them to type if we haven't taught them keyboarding." ~ Laurie Patterson, technology integration specialist (http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech072.shtml)
Today's society is characterized by digital connections. Students are using tablets, laptops, desktops, smartphones, and more on a daily basis. They know how to swipe and text, yet many have never had a mouse in their hand or know how to properly use a keyboard. Gone are the days of hand-written papers and projects; Microsoft and Google now fill those roles. It is important that students are familiar with, and proficient at using the computer keyboard and mouse, not just for classwork, but for mandatory testing, including NWEA and M-Step.
While much focus is on becoming competent at using a computer keyboard, students (particularly at AMA Upper) will also become familiar with digital citizenship, including research and literacy. Printed volumes have seemingly been replaced with resources throughout the World Wide Web. In order to develop outstanding digital citizens, students need to become familiar with how to find and sift through the mountains of information - some true, some false - that can be found online, as well as give credit to online authors and resources.
The technology curriculum at AMA provides students with exposure to and learning of a variety of topics. A sampling of learning goals for students at both AMA Upper and AMA Lower is found below, though the list is not exhaustive.
What Are Students Learning?
AMA Upper:
"We don't expect our students to write until we've taught them handwriting; we can't expect them to type if we haven't taught them keyboarding." ~ Laurie Patterson, technology integration specialist (http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech072.shtml)
Today's society is characterized by digital connections. Students are using tablets, laptops, desktops, smartphones, and more on a daily basis. They know how to swipe and text, yet many have never had a mouse in their hand or know how to properly use a keyboard. Gone are the days of hand-written papers and projects; Microsoft and Google now fill those roles. It is important that students are familiar with, and proficient at using the computer keyboard and mouse, not just for classwork, but for mandatory testing, including NWEA and M-Step.
While much focus is on becoming competent at using a computer keyboard, students (particularly at AMA Upper) will also become familiar with digital citizenship, including research and literacy. Printed volumes have seemingly been replaced with resources throughout the World Wide Web. In order to develop outstanding digital citizens, students need to become familiar with how to find and sift through the mountains of information - some true, some false - that can be found online, as well as give credit to online authors and resources.
The technology curriculum at AMA provides students with exposure to and learning of a variety of topics. A sampling of learning goals for students at both AMA Upper and AMA Lower is found below, though the list is not exhaustive.
What Are Students Learning?
AMA Upper:
- Keyboarding - location of keys on a US keyboard; proper hand placement and position; goal of typing 30 words per minute (wpm) with proper hand placement/position by the end of 8th grade (3rd grade goal is at least 10 wpm with touch typing)
- Digitally-rich Projects - including graphics, spelling, grammar, and thesaurus tools
- Google - Docs and Slides (students log in to Google with their unique American Montessori Academy username and password)
- Digital Citizenship - exploring and understanding online safety, responsibility, and respect for themselves and others; navigating the Internet; recognizing, resisting, and being an upstander to cyberbullying
- Research Skills - keyword searching, evaluating and analyzing information, plagiarism and proper source citations
- Basic parts of the computer; powering off and on; caring for equipment
- Keyboarding - location of keys on a US keyboard; beginning hand placement and position, including home row; how and why to use the shift, enter, backspace, and space keys; basic typing
- Mouse use - proper hand placement and position; single clicking vs. double clicking; dragging
- Digital Citizenship - exploring and understanding online safety, responsibility, and respect for themselves and others; navigating the Internet