Week 5 - Web Conference Reflection

I logged into the web conference on Tuesday to hopefully get some clarification on the Internship Plan and Principals Competencies Chart that were due this week. I was a little lost on what we were supposed to be choosing for activities.

After listening to the conference, I did learn that you could use activities from the internship plan again on the competencies chart.  This was nice to know.  I also saw a few examples of activities that we could put down.  This was very helpful. 

The assignment this week was a very stressful one for me.  Choosing 18 months’ worth of activities for jobs I wasn’t sure about was a hard thing to do.  I am still not sure I know exactly what I should be putting down, but I will do my best and hopefully I will get some feedback if I didn’t choose the right kinds of activities.

EDLD 5306 – Concepts of Educational Technology Reflection

For the past year I have been thinking about going back to school to get my Master’s Degree but I was stuck with not knowing which one to do and stuck in the ‘change is hard’ mindset. An email from Lamar University showed up on a day that I was particularly ready for a change and I decided to follow through to see what they had to offer.  I saw a degree plan that was connected to technology and since that is what I really love I jumped on board.  The time from idea to reality and the class beginning was very short so I never really looked closely at what the degree offered beyond the technology component. I was surprised to find out that the leadership part of the degree title actually meant I would also be getting training that would allow me to take the Principal Certification exam at the end of the program. This was unexpected.

As I started the first class, Concepts of Educational Technology, I really hadn’t thought much about what the class would be about.  I figured we would be learning about technology and why we should teach it in school and I was hoping to learn more about how to use it in the classroom. I was just getting back from a weeklong trip and two days after the class officially started and was leaving in five days for the Thanksgiving Holiday break.  I was so busy just trying to get books ordered and learning how to login to the courseware and figure out what was due that I never had the chance to reflect on what the course would provide for me as a teacher.  My main goal was to survive.  Six kids, a full time teaching job, two major holidays, family, out of town trips, camping, the end of the semester at school, and now 8 or more readings, videos, reflections, self-assessments, web conferences, writing assignments, internships (that I didn’t realize started NOW), principal competencies, mentors, blogs, wikis, books to read, and deadlines to meet all kept me focused on the right now and what had to be done.

It has all been a whirlwind.  I am not sure I have had time yet to even realize everything I have achieved over the past couple of months. I have gone from just thinking about getting a Master’s to having finished my first course. I have done and dealt with all those things listed above and more.  I have done it, and I have done (at least in my opinion) a good job at it.  I completed every assignment.  I completed them by the date they were due and I received high grades on all of them.

The course did so much more than I ever envisioned.  I was expecting to learn about technology. What I did learn about was the use of technology in the classroom but not so much here’s how you do it but more here is the theory about why you should do it in the classroom. Which when you think about it is a great place to start.  The why is a good thing to know because it helps you improve the implementation of technology when it comes down to making the choices of what technology to use in the class setting.

I believe these concepts are and will be relevant to the work I am doing now and the work I would like to do in the future. Like I mentioned earlier, I love technology. I use it every day in my life and while teaching.  But it is just me using it.  I want to use technology in the classroom.  I want to use it as a tool to connect with students and have them use it as a tool to learn and connect with the content and with me. 

So while I wasn’t sure what I was getting into when I started the class, I was surprised at the amount of work I was able to accomplish.  I learned a lot about what I am able to get done in a week.  I also learned some new things about technology.  I had never done a wiki before so it was nice to learn what a wiki is and how it compares to a blog.  I can see myself using a wiki in my job and with my classes.  This is what I was expecting to learn, more about technology and how to use it in the classroom.  The leadership portion of the class was more of a surprise to me.  This part of the class is going to stretch my comfort level and make me change some of my attitudes.  This is probably a good thing.

So I look forward to the next 11 classes and 18 months of course work.  It was a rough start in many ways but I learned a little about leadership, technology and even more about myself so hopefully the rest of the program will flow along smoothly and before you know it I will be accepting my Master’s degree.

Web Conference Reflection - Week 2 (Required)

Today I attended the required web conference for my EDLD 5306 Concepts of Educational Technology course. It is the second time I have attended a web conference for the Master’s Degree I am working towards.

This time I thought the conference was much more valuable in the content that was presented. I understand the first conference I logged into was everyone’s first try at attending a web conference so it was more about learning how to get logged in and less about course content.

There were several items mentioned in today’s conference that I did not know before.  One was the fact about being exempt from the GRE testing if you had a 3.0 or better in your undergrad courses.  I think I did so I am excited about that.  I was also glad to hear about the certifications possible after this program and the accreditations that were attached.

I am a little nervous about the leadership end and the internship.  I am good at what I do, but part of that is doing a lot on my own.  Collaborating and working in groups and leading teams are not my strong points and therefore will be an area that I will have to work on.

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Understanding the LISD Technology Plan

Most school districts today are doing more to implement technology and have created plans to guide them.  LISD is no different. Like other school districts around the state and the nation, Leander is working to improve in 4 critical areas - Teaching and Learning (TL), Educator Preparation (EP), Administration and Support (AS), and Infrastructure (I).

One of the main goals of the district technology action plan is to "improve the level of technology integration to ensure the best possible teaching and learning for all students". (District Improvement Plan, 2009)

• Some of the strategies used to achieve this goal include:
• Provide a viable curriculum that embeds the use of technology (TL)
• Integrate content and skills using technology to facilitate higher level learning (TL)
• Staff self-assessment and reflection on technology impacts within the classroom (EP)
• Research the newest technology available and ensure access, training and support (EP)
• Model and demonstrate technology to staff (AS)
• Promote current technology applications that enhance learning (AS)
• Articulate the districts vision of technology use to staff (AS)
• Embed internet and communication technologies in the classroom (I)

Each goal of the plan has specific measurement devices to assess the effectiveness of the different strategies.  Some of these measures include self-assessments, lesson plans, snapshot data as well as campus data inventories.

Budgeting for technology integration has been achieved through the use of special bond elections earmarked especially for technology infrastructure. Each campus also allocates a portion of its budget to provide access to technology and technology education.

By involving all levels of district personnel in the use and implementation of the technology plan the goals can be reached.

The National Education Technology Plan (NETP)

In the fall of 2010, the National Education Technology Plan was released by the US Department of Education. The plan provides a road map for the future of technology in US education.  Transforming American education and the ways in which students and teachers collaborate to improve education and provide real world experiences that fit 21st Century life are all goals of the NETP.

The Plan provides goals that state and local educational groups can achieve.  Some of these include:

1. Focusing on what is being taught, but also on how it is being taught. It encourages leveraging the power of technology to differentiate and personalize.
2. Using technology to better measure student skills and then use the data obtained to diagnose strengths and weaknesses to provide an opportunity for students to achieve continuous improvement.

The NETP also points out that technology can be used to improve the quality of education and build the skills of American educators. Technology allows educators to:

• be more connected
• collaborate easier (eliminate teacher isolation)
• access data quickly and easily
• have resources to improve content teaching quality
• have resources to improve reteaching and student involvement

The National Education Technology Plan is a good starting point for American education.  It provides a vision of where we as a nation need to be in order to produce well educated and well-rounded students that are ready to be productive partners in 21st century society. It is a rigorous plan that calls for a new way of thinking for many school districts, administrators and teachers.

Implementing a plan of this magnitude always brings challenges.  Building the physical infrastructure for the new technology takes time and money and in today's educational landscape budget cuts not excess seem to be the norm. It is also a difficult job to bring an older generation of teachers up to speed on new technological innovations. And with the speed that technology changes, it is difficult for both districts and teachers to keep up with the hardware and software changes.

Despite these challenges, the need for improvement in how education uses technology is here.  There is no time to wait. Educators and education systems at the state and local level must act to implement technology and its use in the school and the classroom.

Technology Assessment: Is it Necessary in Today's Education?

Eating, drinking, checking email, and posting to Facebook; these are essential activities to the daily lives of most Americans, especially young adults and teens. Technology has definitely become an important part of our lives but is there really more to technology than just the ease of staying in touch with friends?

Understanding the true power of technology and being able to use that power is essential for advancement in both the workplace and in education. And the best way to improve the technology skills of general population is to implement training in our public school system.

This is where the need for technology assessment becomes necessary. The average teacher was born before any of today's technology was even ever thought possible. Current research, such as the Texas STaR chart, show that many teachers do not use technology to its fullest potential or understand how to use the technology available. It shows that some schools don't even have access to current technology assets. They show that teachers need more training in order to implement and understand both how to teach the use of the technology and how to use the technology to teach.

As teachers we have learned that preassessing students lets us understand better what they already know and what they need more help understanding. It gives us a starting point and lets us differentiate better for the students we have. It's no different for teachers. Assessing a level of understanding for teachers and their tech skills is a great starting point. In fact, I recently took several self assessments including the NetCorps Technology Literacy Self-Assessment. They allowed me to understand my own strengths and weaknesses and I am now better equipped to improve my tech skills.

I believe most teachers want to be able to use technology to improve their teaching. Giving them the power to understand what is available and where they stand is the first step to improving their technological prowess.

There are problems with assessing teachers that come with the benefits. I see these problems as being just one more thing we as teachers have on our plate. More testing, more administrative requirements, more 'stuff' that keeps us from teaching. This is not how to win the hearts and minds of the faculty.

But, by allowing teachers the power to understand where they are lacking in technological skills through self evaluation and then letting them have the power to help design their own course of training to fit their needs and their content the cons associated with Technology Assessment can be minimized.