I learned tremendously about myself, my motives, my technology experience, my leadership experiences and my attitudes technology and leadership. How do I feel about myself and technology? At first I felt like I did not know much. I learned from the Technology/Leadership surveys that I know more than I thought. Sometimes, we tend to underestimate ourselves. I know I did. I have been integrating more technology every year since I have been a teacher. This was a wonderful realization for me.
What were my motives for wanting the Masters of Educational Technology degree? Well, that answer is two-fold. I want to be marketable and I want to be comfortable integrating technology to advance my students. My students will be taking the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, STAAR, test next year. The test will assess the same subjects as the TAKS test before it (TEA, n.d.). I know that integrating more technology will allow students to be prepared for the test.
What were my technology and leadership experiences? This question was answered with the Technology/Leadership surveys. My starting point was not as low as I thought. According to Gladwell, I am a Maven. I definitely enjoy helping others, organizing details, and relaying information to others. Now I know where I stand, I can take small steps to make a difference (Gladwell, 2000).
My attitude towards technology and leadership has changed since I started this program five weeks ago. I have faced some of my fears and cast down some of my negative thoughts. I am determined to become an expert at transitioning with technological advances.
References
Galdwell, Malcolm. (2000). The tipping point: How little things can make a big difference.
New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company.
Texas Campus STaR Chart Summary. (n.d.). In STaR Chart Texas Education Agency online.
Retrieved from http://starchart.epsilen.com/statistics.html
Friday, December 16, 2011
Were I successful?
I believe I was successful in carrying out the course assignments. Success defined by dictionary.com (n.d.) says that it is “the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors”. I attempted. I planned to complete the work in a timely manner. I revamped my afternoon work schedule. I revamped it again when it did not give me enough time in the afternoons to study. I gave it my best effort. So I must believe that I was successful. I know that I could have done better because there is always room for improvement.
Gladwell talked about the Broken Windows Theory. If a window is broken, then it should be fixed so that more damage will not occur (2000). I could apply this theory to my life during this timeframe. If I was disappointed in something, my way to fix it was to communicate with my Instructional Associate. I appreciated the timely responses I have received. This curbed any discouragement that was trying to come. The only discouragement I had was underestimating the amount of time this program would take to complete on a weekly basis. I plan to overcome this with appropriate planning.
References
Success. (n.d.). In Dictionary.com online. Retrieved from
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/success
Galdwell, Malcolm. (2000). The tipping point: How little things can
make a big difference. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company.
Gladwell talked about the Broken Windows Theory. If a window is broken, then it should be fixed so that more damage will not occur (2000). I could apply this theory to my life during this timeframe. If I was disappointed in something, my way to fix it was to communicate with my Instructional Associate. I appreciated the timely responses I have received. This curbed any discouragement that was trying to come. The only discouragement I had was underestimating the amount of time this program would take to complete on a weekly basis. I plan to overcome this with appropriate planning.
References
Success. (n.d.). In Dictionary.com online. Retrieved from
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/success
Galdwell, Malcolm. (2000). The tipping point: How little things can
make a big difference. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company.
What outcomes did you not achieve?
The outcomes I did not achieve were reviewing the Technology/Leadership surveys more, using the Multiple Intelligences Theory in my classroom, and using RSS feeds for instructional purposes. I did not reach my personal goals for various reasons. When reviewing the surveys it seemed that time did not permit for me to return to them. The class was more fast-paced than I anticipated. I did keep the surveys in mine, as I completed the assignments. I was aware of my areas of weakness. The areas that I was weak in were more challenging to complete.
When trying new strategies in the classroom, I considered the C-Scope curriculum I must follow. I was extremely excited about the Multiple Intelligences Theory. At the beginning of the school year, I gave the students a Learning Styles Survey. The Multiple Intelligence seemed more adaptive to understand how students’ learn. I would like to give it to compare; however, at the moment the curriculum will not allow for this. We are at the end of a semester and tests were given to assess the students.
I also enjoyed the RSS feeds assignment and information. I know this will save me some time on finding teaching material for class. I have yet to revisit RSS feeds and find some links for instructional purposes. Mills said RSS feeds could be used for websites (2007). I will purpose to use RSS feeds with the Reading department’s website I plan to create. It will be online safety tips. I teach middle school students. I agree with Adelman that middle school students are a prime group for predators to target (2004). After reviewing, online safety, I am positive my group of students and parents would appreciate learning about safety and security. As, I read I could connect with the parents and with their concerns.
Even though, all of my goals were not met, I am excited about this class. It gave me a foundation and finally I am breaking down the wall of technological fear. The fear subsided less and less as each week’s assignment was completed. I believe that the goals will be met and that I will continue to strive in this digital world to be a teacher who chooses to teach (Gladwell, 2000).
References
Adelman, H. (2004). Teaching online safety. Voices From the Middle, 11(3), 17-22.
Galdwell, Malcolm. (2000). The tipping point: How little things can make a big difference.
Mills, Lane. (2007, December). The next wave now: Web 2.0. The School Administrator. 4-5.
When trying new strategies in the classroom, I considered the C-Scope curriculum I must follow. I was extremely excited about the Multiple Intelligences Theory. At the beginning of the school year, I gave the students a Learning Styles Survey. The Multiple Intelligence seemed more adaptive to understand how students’ learn. I would like to give it to compare; however, at the moment the curriculum will not allow for this. We are at the end of a semester and tests were given to assess the students.
I also enjoyed the RSS feeds assignment and information. I know this will save me some time on finding teaching material for class. I have yet to revisit RSS feeds and find some links for instructional purposes. Mills said RSS feeds could be used for websites (2007). I will purpose to use RSS feeds with the Reading department’s website I plan to create. It will be online safety tips. I teach middle school students. I agree with Adelman that middle school students are a prime group for predators to target (2004). After reviewing, online safety, I am positive my group of students and parents would appreciate learning about safety and security. As, I read I could connect with the parents and with their concerns.
Even though, all of my goals were not met, I am excited about this class. It gave me a foundation and finally I am breaking down the wall of technological fear. The fear subsided less and less as each week’s assignment was completed. I believe that the goals will be met and that I will continue to strive in this digital world to be a teacher who chooses to teach (Gladwell, 2000).
References
Adelman, H. (2004). Teaching online safety. Voices From the Middle, 11(3), 17-22.
Galdwell, Malcolm. (2000). The tipping point: How little things can make a big difference.
Mills, Lane. (2007, December). The next wave now: Web 2.0. The School Administrator. 4-5.
Are the outcomes relevant to my work?
The outcomes I achieved in the Educational Technology course, EDLD 5306, are relevant to my role as an educator. Honestly, for 3 years I have been completing the STaR, Student Survey. Well, now I really understand that it charts how well the teacher, school, and district are completing the goals set in the Texas Long-Range Plan. This makes my work more meaningful as I make valid connections.
Prensky (2005) made the connection for me again when he introduced the understanding of digital immigrants versus the digital natives. Up until this course, I thought that I could become a native immigrant. Now I understand that it is nothing I can do now to become a native. However, I can compensate as a digital immigrant willing to learn technology now. Prensky said, “Not-so-smart immigrants spend most of their time grousing about how good things were in the ‘old country’” (2005). I agree with Prensky. To progress forward, one must not complain, but one must find the solution to the problem.
Another worthwhile outcome was the Web 2.0 technologies, wiki, and blog that I learned. “The next wave” is here now (Mills, 2007) and I plan to learn and progress with the new wave. I had already used photopeach in the classroom; however, animoto is a comparable application that would fit my Reading lessons. The wiki gives the all the students a voice where they can work collaboratively online on projects (Warlick, n.d.). I plan on incorporating more of these tools in my lesson plans to allow more time for classroom instruction. The blog is a resource I could use for current events, novel reviews, and personal reflections on selected text. All of the resources and usages seemed overwhelming. I plan to set a timeline of what tools I will use to increase student learning.
References
Mills, Lane. (2007, December). The next wave now: Web 2.0. The School Administrator. 4-5.
Prensky, Marc. (2001, September/October). Digital natives, digital immigrants part 1. On The
Horizon, 9(5), 1-15.
Warlick, David. (n.d.). Wikis can be a multitasking administrators best friend. The Executive
Wiki, 36-38.
Prensky (2005) made the connection for me again when he introduced the understanding of digital immigrants versus the digital natives. Up until this course, I thought that I could become a native immigrant. Now I understand that it is nothing I can do now to become a native. However, I can compensate as a digital immigrant willing to learn technology now. Prensky said, “Not-so-smart immigrants spend most of their time grousing about how good things were in the ‘old country’” (2005). I agree with Prensky. To progress forward, one must not complain, but one must find the solution to the problem.
Another worthwhile outcome was the Web 2.0 technologies, wiki, and blog that I learned. “The next wave” is here now (Mills, 2007) and I plan to learn and progress with the new wave. I had already used photopeach in the classroom; however, animoto is a comparable application that would fit my Reading lessons. The wiki gives the all the students a voice where they can work collaboratively online on projects (Warlick, n.d.). I plan on incorporating more of these tools in my lesson plans to allow more time for classroom instruction. The blog is a resource I could use for current events, novel reviews, and personal reflections on selected text. All of the resources and usages seemed overwhelming. I plan to set a timeline of what tools I will use to increase student learning.
References
Mills, Lane. (2007, December). The next wave now: Web 2.0. The School Administrator. 4-5.
Prensky, Marc. (2001, September/October). Digital natives, digital immigrants part 1. On The
Horizon, 9(5), 1-15.
Warlick, David. (n.d.). Wikis can be a multitasking administrators best friend. The Executive
Wiki, 36-38.
Envisioned Outcomes- Week 5
My outcomes envisioned for the Educational Technology class, EDLD 5306, were a basic introduction to the program, history of technology in education, and a guide to my journey in obtaining my Master’s degree in Educational Technology. Entering into the program, I felt instantly overwhelmed. Kilpatrick (2010) said that “it is a complicated subject”. The complicated part for me was the unknown. Now, I have officially tapped into the unknown. It’s not as frightening as the experience started out mentally.
As I began this course, I found the introduction I expected in Week 1’s assignment. In Week 1, we were introduced to the Texas Long-Range Plan. I did not expect the plan to be as thorough. With the book as a guide, ISTE’s Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards, What Every K-12 Leader Should Know and Be Able to Do, I have been able to see the overall vision for students and teachers to become 21st learners. The history of technology in education has not been explored in this course. I expect to explore that topic later. A guide was given to me the first week of school with the technology and leadership assessments.
The Keirsey Temperament Sorter (n.d.) rated me as an Idealist Temperament. This category resembled my personality the most. Just like idealists, I tend to be organized, respectful, and enjoy meaningful relationships. (Keirsey, n.d.). The Leadership survey showed that my weaknesses are in gathering and analyzing data, creating timelines, and working with media. The Technology survey showed areas of improvement for WebPublishing, Listservs, and Browser Operations. I believe my Internship plan is reflective of strengthening these weaknesses.
Overall, expectations for the first class were met. The journey has begun. I am now attempting to build the bridge over the digital divide (Dodds & Mason, 2005). I know this is one of many steps. I look forward to many more.
References
Dodds, Richard, & Mason, Christine Y. (2005, May). Bridge the Digital Divide for
Educational Equity. The Education Digest, 70, 25-27.
Keirsy, David. (n.d.). Keirsey.com. In The Four Temperaments online. Retrieved from
http://keirsey.com/sorter/instruments2:aspx?partid=0
Kilpatrick, P. (2010, September). The Relationship Between Technology and Ethics.
University of Notre Dame. Metropolitan Club, Chicago, Illinois.
As I began this course, I found the introduction I expected in Week 1’s assignment. In Week 1, we were introduced to the Texas Long-Range Plan. I did not expect the plan to be as thorough. With the book as a guide, ISTE’s Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards, What Every K-12 Leader Should Know and Be Able to Do, I have been able to see the overall vision for students and teachers to become 21st learners. The history of technology in education has not been explored in this course. I expect to explore that topic later. A guide was given to me the first week of school with the technology and leadership assessments.
The Keirsey Temperament Sorter (n.d.) rated me as an Idealist Temperament. This category resembled my personality the most. Just like idealists, I tend to be organized, respectful, and enjoy meaningful relationships. (Keirsey, n.d.). The Leadership survey showed that my weaknesses are in gathering and analyzing data, creating timelines, and working with media. The Technology survey showed areas of improvement for WebPublishing, Listservs, and Browser Operations. I believe my Internship plan is reflective of strengthening these weaknesses.
Overall, expectations for the first class were met. The journey has begun. I am now attempting to build the bridge over the digital divide (Dodds & Mason, 2005). I know this is one of many steps. I look forward to many more.
References
Dodds, Richard, & Mason, Christine Y. (2005, May). Bridge the Digital Divide for
Educational Equity. The Education Digest, 70, 25-27.
Keirsy, David. (n.d.). Keirsey.com. In The Four Temperaments online. Retrieved from
http://keirsey.com/sorter/instruments2:aspx?partid=0
Kilpatrick, P. (2010, September). The Relationship Between Technology and Ethics.
University of Notre Dame. Metropolitan Club, Chicago, Illinois.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
National Educational Technology Plan: Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology.
This plan given by the U.S. Department of Education explains the steps to synergizing technology with education. The plan’s goals are increase college graduates and increase students’ college readiness level to succeed in college. The plan emphasizes technology based learning and assessments (National, n,d,). Recreating technology based learning gives instructors and learners digital tools to enable them to expand their knowledge base and understanding (Boss & Krauss, 2007). The five categories in the plan are Learning, Assessment, Teaching, Infrastructure, and Productivity. With the Learning area the focus is to captivate the learner. As the learner engages in the information, the learning process becomes easier. Multi-media communication brings real-world experiences to the students. The Assessment area can give data needed to make instructional decisions. The technology assessments must be data driven. This will allow for consistent improvement for the technology plan. Teaching category focuses on technological collaboration. With technology educators must team up together to cultivate classroom instruction. Integration can be guided with there is apprehension. Collaborative online learning systems will provide educators with the level of technological support they need as they explore answers. Infrastructure allows for technical support. The best method is 24/7 support for all staff and students. This gives learning ability before, during, and after-school hours. Productivity is the last area of transforming American education. In order for technology to produce, education must use it in ways they haven’t before. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing, but expecting different results. This sums up being productive in new ways to me. If we want success with technology, we must use it analytically to create and redesign (National, n.d.).
References
National Educational Technology Plan: Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology. (n.d.). In U.S. Department of Education online.
Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/technology/netp-2010 Stansbury, Meris
District Technology Plan
Desoto ISD’s technology plan goals are numerous. One goal is to provide a technology network that will support instruction and student learning. Another goal is to support educational software by supplying all educators with access. DeSoto ISD’s goal is to give professional development opportunities for software and equipment. An additional goal for the district is to provide computer access to all students. They plan to allocate appropriate funds to obtain equipment and software. Technology is distributed to each campus based on the need. Desoto technological advancement goal is to support the technological resources necessary for staff such as the gradebook, parent portal, and eduphoria. Staff will be trained on district information management systems. New teachers are trained for t he systems. Also when new systems are introduced, the staff is trained (Campus Improvement Plan, 2008-2009). Recently our district adopted a new gradebook system called Tyler SIS. Before the program began, two teachers from our campus were trained over the summer. Then the teachers trained us in a staff meeting. The teachers also communicated any additional questions to be answered to tech support. The transition has not been problem-free. However, transition has happened with the understanding that we are all learning. Together by trial and error the system has become more efficient.
On our campus we have two Technology Specialists who are educators. They meet regularly on the Technology District Committee. They are charged to update the district with our campus-based needs and to train the campus with viable updates. There was no budget specified for technology on the budget online document. Also, the only evaluation I am aware of is the STaR report that is evaluated for the district. It was interesting to look at the information given for the technology plan. All of the answers to the questions were not attached to the Desoto ISD Campus Improvement Plan (2008-2009).
Reference
Campus Improvement Plan. (2008-2009). In DeSoto ISD online. Retrieved from
http://www.desotoisd.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=GjLT49MBgyk%3D&tabid=319&mid=982
Value of Assessing Educators’ Technology and Students’ Technology Skills
Educators must have a plan. They should also have a way of evaluating the plan for success and modifications. Texas developed the Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology as the plan to develop educators and students technologically (TEA, 2006). With these set guidelines it is imperative that measurements are given to assess if the objectives on the plan were met. As you assess the plan with the STaR Chart you break down each category to measure. The importance of each score is then weighed with the actual score to the desired score. Teachers can then plan and build lesson plans accordingly. It is also important that educators know the technology level of students. This gives teachers the ability to expand knowledge starting with their level of understanding. These are all pieces of a puzzle to be evaluated so that the puzzle can be effectively put to together to operate efficiently. The pros for assessment are “themes quickly emerge” for vision, professional development, and necessary resources needed (Stansbury, n.d.). The cons for assessment are limited in opinion. The only major con I interpreted was the use of one’s time to complete. The framework was set and the development of the questions is from the framework. The pros outweigh the cons. With the time needed to take the STaR assessment, valuable information is taken and used to make technological instruction and learning valuable for all educators and students.
References
Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020. (n.d.). In Texas Education Agency online.
Stansbury, Meris. (2007, July 25). Savvy educators reveal secrets of reform. In eSchoolNews
online. Retrieved from
http://www.eschoolnews.com/?s=savvy+educators+reveal+secrets+of+reform
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Web Conference: Thursday, November 17, 2011
Well, this marks the moment for many firsts in my journey to complete this Master's Degree. I am experiencing a mesh of emotions ranging from anxiety, nervousness, to excitement, and more.
I enjoyed the Web Conference. It explained the Internship and the class load better to me. I am a visual learner so connecting to a person (Ms. Borel) helped. I have completed the first week. Now I am into my second week and the nerves have not settled yet. I enjoyed the fact that I could ask questions. I definitely plan on using the Web Conferences often to clear up any questions I may have about the assignments.
When the time was allowed for comments or questions, I appreciated others asking questions and even other students answering questions. I already have a sense of collaboration. Also, I know that as I learn to navigate technology more efficiently, I will expose my students to more. I plan to embrace the information…..one day at a time. I look forward to all this course has to offer. I wish us all the best.
I enjoyed the Web Conference. It explained the Internship and the class load better to me. I am a visual learner so connecting to a person (Ms. Borel) helped. I have completed the first week. Now I am into my second week and the nerves have not settled yet. I enjoyed the fact that I could ask questions. I definitely plan on using the Web Conferences often to clear up any questions I may have about the assignments.
When the time was allowed for comments or questions, I appreciated others asking questions and even other students answering questions. I already have a sense of collaboration. Also, I know that as I learn to navigate technology more efficiently, I will expose my students to more. I plan to embrace the information…..one day at a time. I look forward to all this course has to offer. I wish us all the best.
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