Benchmarks for Assessing the Technological Literacy of a Highly Qualified Paraprofessional

Under the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) all instructional paraprofessionals working in a program supported under Title I, Part A, are required to meet the federal definition of being highly qualified by the end of the 2005-2006 school year. In meeting the NCLB requirements, the capacity to support teaching and learning activities in the content areas must be demonstrated. As school districts incorporate increasing amounts of technology into their classroom curricula, the role of the paraprofessional must keep pace with new pedagogical methods for using technology to support student learning. Through the development of technological literacy, the paraprofessional can create an authentic educational experience that enhances learning for every student. This model framework suggests benchmarks for establishing performance standards in the area of computer technology for paraprofessionals. Core competencies for supporting educational content areas and maintaining home-school relations are also included

Integrating Interactive Technology to Promote Learner Autonomy: Challenges and Rewards

In an increasingly complex and interconnected world, students and faculty must understand and harness the power of technology to synthesize, analyze, and communicate ideas and information. A multi-modal, multidisciplinary approach of teaching and learning is critical. This presentation will examine how to best leverage the technological strengths of 21st century learners in an interdisciplinary networked community, utilizing on-line tools such as Twitter and e-portfolios. This will be anchored within a context of a larger discussion of current education theories, including cognitive, social constructivism, and connectivism. Four presenters will address recent research on the impact of technology tools on teaching and learning . Section one will describe the dynamic process in which pedagogy, content, and technologies influence each other when designing online experiences. Section two we will discuss the pedagogical benefits of the University\u27s new on-line, interdisciplinary networked community of learners, the Virtual Public Square project. Section three will show how Twitter has been used in a foreign language course to promote learner autonomy. The final section will discuss the high-impact practice of utilizing e-portfolios for both faculty and student assessment in a freshman course. Each of the four sections will address the wide range of student responses in terms of habits of mind and the gap between faculty and student perceptions in defining the characteristics of 21st century digital illiteracies