Berna Souza earned degrees from Kauai Community College and UH West-Oahu. She hopes to earn a Master's in Educational Technology to better support her students and fellow teachers by learning to implement new digital tools and media in authentic ways. Souza's personal timeline details her early computer experiences in 1987 and keyboarding class in 1994. She notes challenges in balancing technology integration with hands-on learning.
2. Berna Souza
Started school in 1984 at Kipapa Elm. in Mililani.
Graduated from Mililani High School in 1997.
College degrees:
-Lib Arts AA (2004) and ECE AS (2006) from
Kauai Community College
-BASS ECE from UH West-Oahu (2011)
When I finish my Master’s in Educational
Technology degree, I hope to become a better
resource to my students and fellow teachers.
3. . . . Learning to use technological
tools that enhance the methods and
resources used in teaching and
learning. It involves the
implementation of new digital media
and software in authentic ways.
4. An Overview of Progress and Problems in
Educational Technology by J. Michael Spector
http://greav.ub.edu/Der/index.php/der/article/view/39/126
Educational Technology Research Past and Present:
Balancing Rigor and Relevance to Impact School
Learning by S. Ross, G. Morrison, & D. Lowther
http://cedtech.net/articles/11/112.pdf
Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology: The
Digital Revolution and the Schools by A. Collins & Halverson
<http://mit.kku.edu.sa/courses/media-arts-and-sciences/mas-714j-technologies-for-creative-learning-fall-
2009/readings/MITMAS_714JF09_read03_coll.pdf
5. Apple Macintosh:
* We had to use commands to
1987- First computer draw a straight line from one
experience in 3rd grade. point to the next- no mouse!
(http://schools.4j.lane.edu/davinci/history.html)
8. Hokulea: A 1976 voyage to Tahiti . . . sailing
into the traditions of the past.
Hokulea:1999 call to the future via satellite
phone to Kamehameha students.
10. iPads in the
preschool and
kindergarten
classrooms for
students to use
to design their
own creative art
and media clips.
11. BALANCE
The biggest challenge I
will be facing is the
balancing act between
the technology
integration and the
hands-on learning
experiences my students
thrive on.
Editor's Notes
The continued development of technology tools for education in the last 28 years has been nothing short of amazing.
Educational technology has so many definitions, but the bottom line is it makes teaching more engaging and interesting for our students.
To think that I had to use a typewriter with correction tape until I got to high school is quite funny. Getting to use an electronic typewriter was an upgrade.
Through the rest of high school and the first few years of attempting college, I avoided technology completely. I refused to learn how to email until it was made a requirement in my first interactive TV course in the fall of 2004. I also took cable classes and completed my bachelor’s degree almost entirely online.
This is our Promethean Board which we named Rocky. The boys are testing their alphabet knowledge together by playing with a game a downloaded from Promethean Planet for free. I also have an ActiView (Elmo) that I use to read small books, share the students work, and do activities together.
I don’t actually own an iPad or anything like it, but feel it would be a wonderful addition if money was not a factor.
Sometimes I feel like others in my profession frown upon the integration of technology because some aspects of its use conflict with some beliefs about how children learn best.