1) Technology (software mostly) is what I teach and what I know.... so it's difficult for me to approach the concept of curricular integration of technology in a "traditional" way.
2) In my current role, I am not governed by any state, local, federal, etc. standards related to what I teach. It is based on needs and demand rather than what any external authority says is appropriate.
3) I am a procrastinator
That said, I do have one option as far as curricular integration goes, and I think I'm going to have to use that one. And that is the use of a computer based training module as a replacement for a traditional instructor led class. As it happens, there is also a class on the horizon that I'm going to need, and I will use that as a base.
There is a basic technology proficiency test that my organization uses in some of its departments that people are required to complete. It's extremely basic stuff, but we find that a very small subset of our population still has some issues with it. At first glance it sounds like an odd approach: Integrating additional technology to reach out to people who don't understand anything about technology, but I can use that as part of the challenge I suppose and one of the first things the CBT will have to do is show the students how to use the CBT.
Rather than create a CBT though, since my deliverable for this class is a unit / lesson plan, I will develop that.
As far as integrating this into my current offerings, this is really going to be beneficial. There used to be a course that we offered called, "Introduction to Computers at Spectrum Health." Even when it was offered quarterly, there wasn't always enough interest to actually hold it. So if one or two people wanted it (or even really "needed" it) it wouldn't be held since there weren't enough people to take it. Once a CBT has been developed and deployed in our LMS, we have the ability to:
1) Build audiences that are required to complete either it or a proficiency teste
2) Make it available "on demand" for individuals 24x7
3) Include a basic level of technology proficiency on someone's official transcript for our company
So I think this idea is a win/win.
As far as standards go, I will refer to the test they have to take currently as my standards. In my role, I am not in charge of deciding what people outside of my department are "supposed" to know, only designing and deploying solutions to get them there.
Yep, sounds like a win/win to me as well. We'll be revamping our program next semester -- e.g., taking newer standards and matching them to classes. Through this process, I'd like to create common assessments for courses that allow more people who aren't in K-12 to have a path to assignment completion without feeling like they are creating their own workarounds.
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