What outcomes had you envisioned for this course? Did you achieve those outcomes? Did the actual course outcomes align with those that you envisioned?
My initial expectation was to learn the styles of leadership for my campus. After the first week, I was blown away with great information. Although my assumption about this class was wrong, I learned more about technology in the classroom the last five weeks than my previous seven years as an educator. I am looking forward to learning all angles of researched based technology for my campus. It is imperative that digital natives have access to technology in the classroom. I am excited to continue experimenting with the blog, and look forward to implementing this in my new character and leadership class. A blog has also been set up on a message board for coaches across Texas. I underestimated the amount of information I would learn from this class. This course has been extremely helpful as I look to improve as an educator and leader.
To the extent that you achieved the outcomes, are they still relevant to the work that you do in your school? Why or why not?
Before this class, I was never able to identify the why there was such a growing gap between the older generation and new generation. After reading the research, terms, and definitions given by Prensky, I had my light bulb moment for technology in the classroom. His article about “singularity” and the differences between student’s consumption of information before the Internet is relevant and should be taught to educators (Prensky, 2001). Today’s students need information technology to be effective, because our society now demands it. The outcomes of this course are very relevant to teaching digital natives. If schools and teachers do not take advantage of today’s technology, we will lose a generation of learners to the fast paced and real time effects of the computer.
What outcomes did you not achieve? What prevented you from achieving them?
An outcome that I did not achieve was that I was unable to review and study as many my fellow student’s blogs as I would have liked. As for most, this is the busiest time of the year for me as a head boy’s basketball coach with tournaments and the Christmas holidays. I would have like to have spent more time browsing their blogs because I thoroughly enjoyed interacting with them on the discussion board. That may be the aspect I enjoy the most about education, there are some many talented educators out there, if we allow ourselves, we can learn something from them daily.
Were you successful in carrying out the course assignments? If not, what prevented or discouraged you?
Looking back at this course, I was successful in each of my assignments. It was beneficial to learn how to create a blog. I will use this as a tool for my basketball team as well as the classroom. The timing of some of the projects didn’t work out in the best interest for me, because of basketball tournaments and Christmas holidays. But, I was able to set aside time to dedicate to the assignments. Some weeks it wasn’t until the due date of the assignments, but I was able to successfully complete them! All in all, I am satisfied with the work I was able to produce in this class.
What did you learn from this course…about yourself, your technology and leadership skills, and your attitudes?
I learned that I have a long way to go before I can really be efficient with technology in the classroom. I have some ideas of the types of technology I want to incorporate; I just need a little help along the way. I look forward to collaborating online with my classmates for advice. I didn’t know before how much of an infant I was in the aspect of using technology for my students. I understand and utilize the newest technology in my daily life, but I was not aware of how beneficial various components of technology could be in the classroom. I am willing to use these techniques with my students, because I understand how well they will learn from it. At this point I need more professional development in the area of implementing instructional techniques in the classroom.
What is the educational value of blogs and blogging to the 21st century learner?
The education value of blogs can be endless. Blogs can be used in all classes. A history student can create a blog to research different wars enabling veterans to view their blog and provide information by commenting on their posts. A science student could research information concerning the H1N1 virus asking doctors and scientists to view their posts and comment. A math student could research how most professions use math on a daily basis since the comments from students continues to be that they will never use math in the “real world!” A basketball team could create a blog with their schedule, results, statistics, directions to their out of town games, and any other information they would like to share. I look for blogs to become common in all classes in the near future.
What are the concerns of blogs and blogging in education?
The concerns of blogging in education is that it is often hard to monitor who posts comments. In the age where we are constantly hearing of sexual predators preying on young people they met on the Internet, educators have to figure out a way that ensures the safety of our students. Educators will also have to be sure to provide students with specific guidelines on how to properly use blogs and ways to avoid falling into traps would be predators often attempt to set. Just like any other aspect of education, we as teachers and administrators have the responsibility to set a positive example for our students in the area of blogging.
How can you use blogging to communicate with school stakeholders?
Once again, blogging can be used in an array of ways to communicate with stakeholders. For example, our district complete a brand new gymnasium, renovations to the football stadium, built brand new science labs, and broke ground on a new pre-k building. Our district could have created a blog updating stakeholders on the progress and asking input from them concerning the details of various projects. Stakeholders would have been able to comment on and provide input allowing them to feel more involved in the process. This most likely would help them take ownership and have pride in the beautiful facilities the passing of the bond allowed us to have.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Technology Action Plan
Technology Action Plan
Goals
As I sought to formulate an action plan to improve technology and how it is utilized on our campus, I thought I would start by identifying goals and areas that needed to be addressed. In order to do that I turned to our district wide Technology Plan. Here are the goals that caught my eye as they pertained to integrating technology to deliver and enrich instruction:
Goal One: Improve student academic achievement through technology. Mitchell Long, the Technology Director for our district, said in order for this to happen all students will be “technologically literate” by the end of their eighth grade year and that all students in grade levels that are tested will meet the state and federal NCLB AP standards either on the TAKS tests or their IEP objectives.
Goal Two: Integrate technology skills and use in the various content areas. The primary objective of this goal is to increase the integration of technology and instruction.
Goal Three: Provide technology and learning opportunities to the community and parents. This can allow stakeholders to have an integral part in the educational environment. We learned last week that a “wiki” could be a tool used to meet this goal.
Goal Four: Improve teacher/administrator skills in using technology in instructional settings. The plan goes on to say that in order for this occur 100% of teachers and administrators must participate in professional development sessions that address district wide deficiencies lined out in the StaR reports.
Goal Seven: Improve technology infrastructure for our district. If administrators and teachers are expected to use technology they have to be given the proper equipment to do so.
Evaluation
After looking at the goals for our campus we need to look at how those goals can be evaluated.
Goal One: One way for this goal to be evaluated is to look at the StaR chart results. This information can be taken annually and aide in developing steps to ensure all administrators, teachers, and students are “technologically literate”.
Goal Two: The most effective way to evaluate this goal is for the administrators to observe teachers and see how they are using technology during instruction. The StaR chart data can also be used.
Goal Three: To evaluate if this goal is being met you could survey stakeholders to see if they feel their voice is being heard.
Goal Four: Once again we will need to review the StaR data to ensure this goal is met. The good thing about the StaR data is that it is updated every year so we are up to date on the newest, most important aspects that need addressing.
Goal Seven: This goal is imperative. You cannot expect administrators and teachers to use technology successfully if they are not provided the proper equipment to do so. StaR data will reveal if teachers feel they need more equipment to adequately implement technology, but you could also create a survey asking administrators and teachers if they are receiving necessary equipment; and if they aren’t, what equipment they need to meet those requirements.
Professional Development
Some professional development issues that need resolving in our district are:
· Proper training for all programs-At our district we usually have a blanket professional development session for all programs we are expected to use, i.e. gradebook, attendance, quia, Microsoft outlook etc. For some this is ok, but there are always teachers that feel they are not properly prepared to utilize these programs and become frustrated quickly.
· Proper training for all equipment-A few of my colleagues comment frequently about not being properly trained to use the equipment that we have been provided (Ex. ELMOs). A training session for teachers to learn basic and advanced functions would be influential.
· More time for collaboration-Very little time is dedicated to teachers sharing ideas and strategies that work regarding technology. This could be the most effective tool because it is always useful to see how programs work in real world settings and not just in an in-service setting.
Goals
As I sought to formulate an action plan to improve technology and how it is utilized on our campus, I thought I would start by identifying goals and areas that needed to be addressed. In order to do that I turned to our district wide Technology Plan. Here are the goals that caught my eye as they pertained to integrating technology to deliver and enrich instruction:
Goal One: Improve student academic achievement through technology. Mitchell Long, the Technology Director for our district, said in order for this to happen all students will be “technologically literate” by the end of their eighth grade year and that all students in grade levels that are tested will meet the state and federal NCLB AP standards either on the TAKS tests or their IEP objectives.
Goal Two: Integrate technology skills and use in the various content areas. The primary objective of this goal is to increase the integration of technology and instruction.
Goal Three: Provide technology and learning opportunities to the community and parents. This can allow stakeholders to have an integral part in the educational environment. We learned last week that a “wiki” could be a tool used to meet this goal.
Goal Four: Improve teacher/administrator skills in using technology in instructional settings. The plan goes on to say that in order for this occur 100% of teachers and administrators must participate in professional development sessions that address district wide deficiencies lined out in the StaR reports.
Goal Seven: Improve technology infrastructure for our district. If administrators and teachers are expected to use technology they have to be given the proper equipment to do so.
Evaluation
After looking at the goals for our campus we need to look at how those goals can be evaluated.
Goal One: One way for this goal to be evaluated is to look at the StaR chart results. This information can be taken annually and aide in developing steps to ensure all administrators, teachers, and students are “technologically literate”.
Goal Two: The most effective way to evaluate this goal is for the administrators to observe teachers and see how they are using technology during instruction. The StaR chart data can also be used.
Goal Three: To evaluate if this goal is being met you could survey stakeholders to see if they feel their voice is being heard.
Goal Four: Once again we will need to review the StaR data to ensure this goal is met. The good thing about the StaR data is that it is updated every year so we are up to date on the newest, most important aspects that need addressing.
Goal Seven: This goal is imperative. You cannot expect administrators and teachers to use technology successfully if they are not provided the proper equipment to do so. StaR data will reveal if teachers feel they need more equipment to adequately implement technology, but you could also create a survey asking administrators and teachers if they are receiving necessary equipment; and if they aren’t, what equipment they need to meet those requirements.
Professional Development
Some professional development issues that need resolving in our district are:
· Proper training for all programs-At our district we usually have a blanket professional development session for all programs we are expected to use, i.e. gradebook, attendance, quia, Microsoft outlook etc. For some this is ok, but there are always teachers that feel they are not properly prepared to utilize these programs and become frustrated quickly.
· Proper training for all equipment-A few of my colleagues comment frequently about not being properly trained to use the equipment that we have been provided (Ex. ELMOs). A training session for teachers to learn basic and advanced functions would be influential.
· More time for collaboration-Very little time is dedicated to teachers sharing ideas and strategies that work regarding technology. This could be the most effective tool because it is always useful to see how programs work in real world settings and not just in an in-service setting.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
STaR Chart Presentation
STaR Chart Info, Summary, and Conclusion
STaR Chart
View more presentations from dandrew10.
STaR Chart Opinion Piece
The area of the StaR Chart that I believe is the most integral is Teaching and Learning. It does not matter if you are proficient in Educator Preparation and Development, Leadership or Administrative Support, or if you have Infrastructure for Technology in place. If you do not implement technology in the area of teaching and learning the other areas are void. The campus statewide summary states that to be advanced in the area of teaching and learning “instruction is teacher-facilitated and students work with peers and experts to evaluate information…in order to problem solve.” This goes against the traditional come in, sit down, and listen approach that many of us experienced as we made our way through school. But with the modern technological advancements and our student’s fascination with technology, it makes sense to implement technology in order to grasp their attention. We all know that when students are interested in a subject, they will be more likely to comprehend and retain the material being presented.
As for our campus, we made a jump in 2008-2009 in Teaching and Learning. . We made the jump from a “developing tech” campus to an “advanced tech” campus. The subgroups we improved on are frequency/design of instructional setting and student mastery of technology applications. I believe this is a direct correlation to our teachers being more comfortable with technology therefore; they are more likely to implement it on a consistent basis in their classroom. While our district has improved in the area of professional development regarding technology, it is my belief that we can take it to the next level to ensure our teachers are adequately trained and continue to make the most of technology in the classroom.
As for our campus, we made a jump in 2008-2009 in Teaching and Learning. . We made the jump from a “developing tech” campus to an “advanced tech” campus. The subgroups we improved on are frequency/design of instructional setting and student mastery of technology applications. I believe this is a direct correlation to our teachers being more comfortable with technology therefore; they are more likely to implement it on a consistent basis in their classroom. While our district has improved in the area of professional development regarding technology, it is my belief that we can take it to the next level to ensure our teachers are adequately trained and continue to make the most of technology in the classroom.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
TEKS that give students multiple opportunities to master knowledge/skills
I compared K-2 standards with 3-5 standards and realized that students are having the opportunity to have overlapping skills for mastery. Objective 1A at both levels expects those students to use the mouse, keyboard, disk drive, and modem. This vertical alignment between the 2nd and 3rd grades will be a critical role in the success of the long-range technology plan. Objective 1B at both levels also expects students to know how to save files. Object 4A for both grades also expects Texas students to apply key work searches on an effective level. If funded and implemented correctly, these objectives will be monumental for the future of our next generation.
Pre-K Technology Applications TEKS.
I believe that the guidelines for pre-K are integral in building a foundation for computer literacy. It is important to navigate through a problem and understand the names of the parts of the computer. The students who engage in enriched programs are beginning to process hands-on information years ahead of the workforce generation. This background of information also levels the playing field for those who still do not have computers at home.
Reflection on Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology
I was not aware of this plan before this analysis. I am encouraged by the goals set forth by the state of Texas. I was not aware that the Hispanic population is now the majority in Texas. I do believe that the 21st Century learner demands different instructional strategies due to the age of information. New learners are tested differently than those of an older generation; therefore they should be taught differently as well. Current TAKS tests require students to apply to synthesis knowledge as opposed to the type of tests 20 years ago. Older standardize tests were knowledge-based which fits better with the “sit down and be quiet” style of teaching. I believe that this plan can assist me as an administrator to become more aware of the delivery styles that our students need. Technology aligned curriculum provides differentiated instruction for all learners and also allows students to apply knowledge subjectively according to how they understand the information.
Instructional Leadership, Part One Assessment
After analyzing the Technology Applications Inventory discovered that I am up to date on most technological applications that are used in the classroom today. Areas that I need improvement include “interactive virtual environments…such as virtual reality or simulations.” I have not had any exposure to such software of programs that would allow me to implement these types of “environments” into my classroom effectively. Another area in which I need improving is designing and creating “interdisciplinary multimedia presentations.” I have utilized power point presentations in the classroom but this sounds like these are more detailed than a regular power point.
In the SEDTA survey for teachers I found that our district is top notch when it comes to having up to date technological services. Our district furnishes each teacher with an “ELMO” as well as desktops, laptops, scanners, and any additional programs and/or tools we may need. Our administration is extremely supportive when it comes to purchasing tools that teachers will be able to utilize in order to improve instruction. One area that I wish our district would advance is allowing teachers more time to collaborate in the area of technology. Every year during the week of in-service prior to the first day of school we have four, one hour training sessions on various technological applications and that is usually the extent of our technology training for the year. This leaves many teachers who are not comfortable with technology frustrated and with the feeling they are spinning their wheels.
After studying this assessment I believe that these are an accurate reflection of my personal strengths and weaknesses as well as our district’s strengths and weaknesses where technology is concerned.
In the SEDTA survey for teachers I found that our district is top notch when it comes to having up to date technological services. Our district furnishes each teacher with an “ELMO” as well as desktops, laptops, scanners, and any additional programs and/or tools we may need. Our administration is extremely supportive when it comes to purchasing tools that teachers will be able to utilize in order to improve instruction. One area that I wish our district would advance is allowing teachers more time to collaborate in the area of technology. Every year during the week of in-service prior to the first day of school we have four, one hour training sessions on various technological applications and that is usually the extent of our technology training for the year. This leaves many teachers who are not comfortable with technology frustrated and with the feeling they are spinning their wheels.
After studying this assessment I believe that these are an accurate reflection of my personal strengths and weaknesses as well as our district’s strengths and weaknesses where technology is concerned.
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