Technology Course Reflections

• What outcomes had you envisioned for this course? Did you achieve those outcomes? Did the actual course outcomes align with those that you envisioned?
As I recall starting this course I was most excited about the chance to get into a topic that I felt like was moving to the forefront of our schools. I really wasn’t too sure about what I would be doing in my coursework and how relevant was it going to be to the position of an administrator versus that of a classroom teacher. I was most surprised to get into both aspects. I felt like the study of the vision for technology and the use of technology like the blogs really helped me get my feet wet. I feel like the course met my expectation for dipping into both topics.

• 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?
As far as my position, I believe that having experience in what is relevant with technology in the classroom as well as understanding how to provide the infrastructure needed to accomplish this will really help me in the long term. I really think as an administrator there are many more ways to begin to communicate with the community and technology can support that at such high levels.

• What outcomes did you not achieve? What prevented you from achieving them?
If I was to say there were any outcomes that I did not achieve, I’m not sure I could list them all. I think with technology there are too many components to address that how could it all be possible to get to them all effectively in a five week course. I believe that the course did a good job of scratching the surface of technology and its potential role in schools. I know that there has not been any class that I have asked so many questions of my campus administrative team any more than this, including “School Law”.

• Were you successful in carrying out the course assignments? If not, what prevented or discouraged you?
I do believe that I was able to carry out the course assignments. I felt like I had to really rely on the rubric to guide my work in order to stay focused on the assignments. If I had an opportunity to revise anything about the course I believe it would deal mostly with the assignments for week three and week four. I have colleagues that have started the Lamar Masters program and are in their first class after the fundamentals class. I found myself having to provide help and direction to those colleagues for those assignments because of their lack of experience in areas like curriculum development. I’m not totally convinced that I really “got” assignment four, however I did feel like it had me problem solving at a high level to come to a final product.

• What did you learn from this course…about yourself, your technology and leadership skills, and your attitudes?
As far as what information have I gained from this course I would say that the most important lesson was the idea that there is a plan for technology that we are following that I did not know existed. I also know that I will do a much better job with my Texas STaR chart in the future. As a potential leader, technology as a subject doesn’t scare me. Ultimately being the person that provides for the technology does frighten me to a point. Knowing that there are so many roadblocks to technology whether they are internet safety, cyber bullying or infrastructure and budgeting. I see, in my school district, that there are so many budget challenges and I realize that generally speaking technology is a priority. I think that my attitude is strong for technology; however I’m not sure that I can provide the real financial answers I will need as a campus administrator.

• What is the educational value of blogs and blogging to the 21st century learner?
I’m not sure that I can say where the concept of blogging for the 21st century learner ranks with educational value. I know that a number of students have accounts with social networking sites and I see those as a type of blog in some ways. The ability for educators to post research results and projects for sharing will allow for students globally to have access to a wealth of shared interest information.

• What are the concerns of blogs and blogging in education?
Blogging is a completely valid reality in education. I do realize that as a concept for gaining access to information instantly I would be most concerned with bad or misinformed information being taken as factual. Although the concept of Wikipedia is a good one, there are still errors. The fact that any user can change things in it prevents it from having a higher level of credibility universally. There is no question that a much larger amount of information shared in blogs will be accurate than not. I am just nervous about knowing what the percentage of misinformation will be.

• How can you use blogging to communicate with school stakeholders?
As school districts compete for the attention of the stakeholders, specifically the parents and students, we have to be creative with communication. I feel like emailing groups of parents that I teach is effective because I know that I am able to send them something directly. I don`t think I am ready to trust families to check my blog for current events. I can post assignments and information, such as resources, that can help parents with working on assignments with their student assignments.

Action Plan for Technology and Evaluation

The technology integration plan will be evaluated in several ways:

The Texas STaR chart campus results will be reviewed by the campus Director of Instruction and a determination of the level of technology inclusion in the classroom will be made.

Formal observations by campus leadership team appraisers will be done to determine if campus teachers are integrating lessons using technology.

Campus staff participation in staff development training activities will be reviewed annually at summative conferences.

Student assignment samples, resulting from lessons using technology, will be reviewed for comprehension.