Week 5 Assignment: Course Reflections

Before the course began I anticipated learning about the role of an administrator concerning technology. I know that the more use technology the more likely my staff is to follow that leadership and use technology in their teaching. I anticipated learning about newer technologies that my students are already involved in and how to use those with my current curriculum and to enhance instruction. All of these anticipations were met and achieved through the various readings, discussions, and assignments that were assigned in the weekly assignments. I feel that I have a better understanding of my role as an administrator or technology facilitator in order to lead a staff toward technology usage in the classroom to enhance and facilitate learning.

Not only did I learn about a leadership role in the area of technology, but I also learned how to further extend my current teaching through technology. I’m currently looking for ways to use blogging and wikis and if my principal allows cell phones to enhance my current teaching. I have a strong desire to show my students how to use technology in a good way and for an educational use. To my knowledge they mostly use their cell phones to text and that is why I somehow want to incorporate cell phones into an educational lesson. I want my students to know how to blog and post on a wiki about a topic we are studying before they learn how to do it one their own. As an educational technology campus facilitator I want the teachers who are under me to be comfortable with technology applications in order to enhance instruction.

An area that I would like to become more familiar with is wikis. I feel that though the class I became very comfortable with blogs. I would like to do further research into wikis and howto use them in the classroom. I believe my students would benefit from using them and commenting on subjects that we are learning about. If we had had the opportunity to post on a wiki as part of one of our weekly assignments I believe I would have become more familiar and comfortable with them. Using the wiki as an assignment is how I believe my students will best learn and become comfortable with them.

Each assignment provided indepth, hands on learning. Week three gave me a little trouble because some of the district personle I had emailed interview questions to were not able to get back to me in a timely manner. I did my best with the answers I received from other technology personel inorder to complete the assignments and activities. I was unable to find the district technology improvement plan on the website, but eventrually received it late from a technology facilitator. After receiving this document I was able to better complete week four’s assignment and activities.

Through the many articles and discussions in this class I was able to understand the components of blogs and wikis. I received many ideas on the use and integration of technology systems to enhance learning. I realized that I need to be aware of what my students are using on the internet and be active in teaching them how to use technology systems for learning. I also realize that as an educational technology campus facilitator I need to be up to date on the latest technologies and make a point to use them on my campus and with my staff. This in turn will encourage the teaching staff to explore technology as well. As an educational technology campus facilitator I want to lead teachers by helping them to experience technology use for their own learning so they in turn can be more confident in teaching their students how to use technology for their learning.

I have only used blogs for a personal diary and to keep updated with friends’ lives. I was enlightened through many articles to find that blogging not only enhance our leadership abilities, but also provides opportunity to improve student success. I like the idea of seeting up a controlled blog for my classroom that can benefit students by providing peer editing and discussions. Students can create their own learning and conncet to others, forming online learning communities. I have spoken to a third grade teacher about setting up a blog for both our students (I teach 5th grade) to discuss how to solve two and three step problems. Blogging can focus on learning. Projects can be self-contained with in a class or school, or collaborative across schools. As an educational technology campus facilitator I want to be supportive of my teachers and encourage them with ideas and detailed instructions.

A major concern I have for using blogs in the classroom is the fact that information in blogs and other web publishing tools can be biased, inappropriate or unthruthful. I anticipate it being difficult for me as a teacher and/or administrator to oversee students’ and teachers’ appropriate use of blogs. I also worry about students finding incorrect data, inappropriate material, and possible predators. Students do not always realize the dangers that are lurking online. Although there are many concerns of blogs, I feel that the good far outways the bad. A major concern that I would have as an educational technology campus facilitator would be the negative attitudes of teachers toward new technologies. I feel that it is my job to help teachers understand the benefits and how technology can further their professional development and extended learning. I would like to help them realize that the good aspects of technology far out weight the bad or negative.

One way I envision using blogs is through book studies or when learning new instructional and technology strategies. Because there is little time to meet for these discussions, I believe blogs would be a convenient and effective way to provide professional growth and development. I would also like to set up a blog for my parents concerning their child’s internet usage and how they can help their child with what we are learning in class. These tools would enable conversation and dialogue between me and other parents. As an educational technology campus facilitator I want to set up blogs for teacher learning. Hopefully through these teachers will realize how they can use blogs with their students in the classroom. I would also like to present ideas for administrators to use it with various stakeholders/community members in order to discuss current events pertaining to the campus.

Week 4 Action Plan

While our campus has at least one teacher per grade level engaged in using technology to integrate the curriculum and enhance instruction, not every teacher is using technology. In fact some teachers are using little to none. In order to increase the usage of technology through integrating curriculum, enhancing instruction, and teaching the technology TEKS, I have planned professional develop activities that will increase teachers knowledge about power point, mobi, and blogging. Through interviews and looking at state and district technology goals I have come up with some specific technology needs for our campus. Students enjoy learning through games, watching videos, and texting and there for are motivated to learn through these devices. It is important that students experience relevance through technology. Also, teachers must realize how important it is for students to experience technology for learning purposes to prepare them for future success.

At the onset of the professional development for my campus I plan to present teachers with statistics of student knowledge in the area of technology. I would also like for teachers to learn how students’ thinking and processing skills have changed because of technology. Although we are an elementary school, I still want teachers to be aware of how technology is being used in 21st century jobs and to remember that we are preparing our students for jobs that have not even been created yet.

I plan to do three separate trainings, one for the power point, mobi, and blog. In order to get teachers comfortable with the idea of using power point, mobi, and blogs I will first give teachers a short definition of the technologies, why they were invented and what they are predominately used for. Next I will present each of the three technologies using various grade levels and subjects. Next I will give instruction on how to use the technology. Then I will assign each teacher a “project” that pertains to their curriculum and TEKS for them to create or practice with. The last part of the training will require each teacher to pick how they will use the technology in the next six weeks. A list of TEKS will be available for them to gain ideas, or they can choose to use a subject they have been working on with their class. I will assist teachers in identifying the curriculum TEKS and technology TEKS that will be used in their project.

In this training teachers will gain ideas on how to incorporate power point, the mobi, and blogs to increase learning content and technology TEKS. Teachers will become comfortable and confident in using these technology applications. The projected improvement will be more knowledge and usage of technology at our campus in order to enhance instruction and prepare our students with 21st century skills. Follow up will include teachers emailing me power points made by students, emailing me the URL address of blogs created for their classroom, or scheduling a time for me to come watch their class use the mobi for instruction.

Texas STaR Chart Presentation

Presentation of STaR Chart information including Avondale's results.

Week 2 Infrastructure for Technology

In order to prepare our students for 21st Century careers, our schools need to provide a 21st Century infrastructure that offers high speed connectivity among schools, colleges, medical facilities, libraries, businesses, and homes. They must also be equipped with ample digital tools and resources to support all learners. Districts must have an infrastructure that is safe and secure, flexible, scalable, and reliable. Current connectivity must be sustained through regular maintenance, upgrades, and technical support. Districts must have individuals with the technical and networking skills to ensure that networks remain reliable, secure, flexible and available to meet the ever changing needs of the school. A 21st Century infrastructure is required to provide a quality education to all students.

Some of the goals of the infrastructure area include having a 1:1 ratio of computers to every student, teacher and administrator. 24/7 access for parents and community members would also increase all stakeholders involvement. Assessable and affordable internet access would support learning and involvement.

Texas schools have been fortunate to have the support of the Texas legislature and the federal government in building the technology infrastructure needed. Not all districts, campuses, and classrooms have the connectivity and tools that they need to integrate technology into the teaching and learning process. The loss of funding from the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund has had a significant impact on school infrastructure. Some districts are able to get funding through bonds while others struggle to maintain current connectivity and keep network equipment functioning.

In order to prepare our students with 21st century skills, our districts and sate must make funding for infrastructure a priority.

Week 1 Pre-K Technology Applications TEKS

Prekinderegarten students should use technology to assist and benefit their learning. They should develop an awareness of controls and handling various technology units in order to become comfortable and independent users. Technology helps prekindergarteners to develop appropriate concepts. They should be able to use the parts of computer input systems and operate voice/sound recorders and touch screens. Students in this category should also use technology to create and express their own ideas.

Pre-K Technology TEKS lay the foundation by enabling students to become increasingly aware of technology devices and their controls. In this stage, students experience the information gained and practiced from technology.

Starting in Pre-K students are required to name and use input devices on a computer. This continues through the upper grades. Students are still supposed to know the names and purpose of the input devices on a computer. This allows several years for students to master these TEKS.

Week 1 Long-Range Plan for Technology

Through the summary of key ideas I learned that the Long-Range Plan of Technology includes a plan for students, parents, educators, as well as community and school board members. This can be very useful when as an instructional leader I am bringing together all stakeholders in decision making. There is a repetitive focus on preparing our students to have 21st century knowledge to interact in a global marketplace. In order to prepare our students, the information must be relevant and diversified and foster problem solving and reasoning skills. As an instructional leaders, my goal will be to lead the way in technology usage and providing the time needed for teachers to apply themselves with the confidence to assist students. I want to be the encourager and supporter for my educators as they embrace technology in their differentiated instruction. I see my role as preparing educators for the 21st century workplace so they in turn can present 21st century learning. I plan to do this through modeling, assessing our needs, and providing financial means.

Week 1 Technology Assessments

I felt that the Technology Applications Inventory was an accurate measure of my technology knowledge and skills. The questions included a wide range of areas in technology including the usage and understanding components. The Foundations Domain revealed a broad knowledge and basis for technology use. Areas of improvement include, primary and secondary memory, how to find the amount of RAM, secondary storage, digital file, and analog and digital technology. The Information Acquisition Domain revealed a great understanding of vilifying researched on the internet. Areas of improvement include locating and acquiring LANs and WANs and understanding vector graphic files and bit-mapped graphic files. The Solving Problems with Technology Tools Domain revealed a good basis of understanding of word processor, spreadsheet, and other product related tools. Areas of improvement include linear and non linear multimedia projects, interactive virtual environments, and technical writing strategies. The Communication Domain revealed that I am actively using many formats in order to communicate via the internet with technology skills. Areas of improvement include using telecommunication tools for publishing and using an electronic evaluation tool storage.

I felt that the SETDA Teacher Survey was also an accurate survey because it touched on areas for student, teacher, campus, and district learning. My results of the survey revealed that our district and campus are keeping up with and mandating that our students be taught 21st century technology skills. It also revealed that I as a teacher am presenting current and mandate technology skills to my students and using them for collaborative efforts. Some areas that I as a teacher can improve on include researching best learning practices, visually representing concepts, and using digital tools to enhance learning.