Week 5 - Course Reflection

Week 5 Reflection -

* What outcomes had you envisioned for this course? Did you achieve those outcomes? Did the actual course outcomes align with those that you envisioned?

I knew that the course title was Instructional Leadership, but had no idea that this coursework would link leadership to technology. I do not believe that I could have possibly envisioned all that I learned in this course. As a prospective leader on campus, I was not aware that so much of the technology responsibility lies with the principal. I did learn how to interpret data from various sources which give great insight as to where an individual campus or district align with state and national technology expectations. I believe that I learned a great deal about technology and what information a principal needs to determine campus needs in technology equipment, skills, and professional development.

* 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?

Knowing about the Long Range Technology Plan and expectations for the state, districts, school personnel, and students is very relevant to my current position. Incorporating this newly acquired knowledge will definitely help me become more of a digital citizen and encourage me to be a better model for technology use. I believe that I feel more comfortable using and implementing technology than previous to taking this course. I will be more inclined to use this valuable information as an educator and will be able to share this knowledge with other professionals therefore impacting many more educators and classrooms. Analyzing campus, district, and state technology data has encouraged me to make a greater impact on technology use on my campus. I believe that since my campus is comparable to the state in all areas but one, we are headed in the right direction to achieving technology goals. We are one level below the state in the Infrastructure key area so I feel that I can go back to my campus leadership team and influence necessary technology budgets, suggest technology focused professional
development sessions, and increase the awareness of incorporating meaningful technology in the classroom.

* What outcomes did you not achieve? What prevented you from achieving them?

I believe that I did learn some very valuable technology tools, but did not get to experience as much as I could due to the accelerated pace of the coursework and readings. I would have liked to experience setting up a wiki or participating in a class conference. I believe that I was not allowed experience completing assignments like this because too much emphasis was placed in posting in a discussion board rather than on completing more technology based projects. I feel like too much emphasis was placed on the readings and not enough on actually completing technology products or projects. I enjoyed completing the week 4 assignment. I had to understand the structure of technology and district leadership in my district so I contacted our Instructional Technology Director, Miguel Guhlin, who also happens to be one of our course’s contributing authors. Mr. Guhlin graciously shared district links and department information that helped me understand the leadership roles and communication necessary to implement good technology practices within the district.

* Were you successful in carrying out the course assignments? If not, what prevented or discouraged you?

I was successful in carrying out the course assignments but do feel as though much time was spent on reading and the discussion board. I would have much rather done more in-depth study of my district plan, set up a wiki, searched and thoroughly read more students’ action plans, or commented on other students’ blogs. I was discouraged when I received helpful information close to our assignment deadline. For example, students were asked to create a flow chart of the technology integration team from distict down to campus. I contacted a district technology director to get the information but focused mine solely on primary responsibilities in technology. One day before the assignment deadline, students were sent a flow chart example as a guide. This flow chart entailed all of the district roles and responsibilities, even those outside of technology. Many students blogged or emailed each other that this information had us questioning if our approach to the assignment was correct or if our flow chart was adequately describing necessary roles. Discussion board confusion and some late updates only added to the five week course confusion.

* What did you learn from this course…about yourself, your technology and leadership skills, and your attitudes?

I learned that I really must be a continual learner in the area of technology. I felt as though I had adequate skills to make me a competent technology user and am sought after for troubleshooting skills. However this course has allowed me to expand my technology horizons in order to ease communication, technology practice, and implementation. I had no real prior experience with analyzing teacher technology data, located in the STaR chart or LoTi survey. I had no idea that technology is an area included in the campus improvement plan or that educators and administrators had responsibilities to become digital learners and citizens.

* What is the educational value of blogs and blogging to the 21st century learner?

Blogs are wonderful educational tools. They allow digital citizens to express feelings, gather information, and share knowledge. Administrators can use blogs to communicate school information, provide teachers with a resource, and most importantly, model the importance of integrating technology in the school as a means of communication. Teachers can use blogs to communicate with other professionals for a variety of reasons. Many teachers blog to share ideas and practices. Also lesson plans and curriculum ideas are easily shared with people over the technology highway, the Internet. Teachers can utilize blogs to communicate with parents about the classroom, expectations, assignments, current school events, and whatever else may need to be shared with the community so that stakeholders are involved in their child’s education. Students can also use blogs to communicate their own ideas, present products, and share knowledge. Integrating technology will help in creating intrinsic motivation for learning and stimulate interest. Blogs can also be accessed from anywhere with Internet connection so work and learning can take place outside of school. A 21st century learner can correspond and appreciate someone as if they are close by even when they are countries away.

* What are the concerns of blogs and blogging in education?

Schools, administrators, teachers, and parents should also be concerned about blogging. It can be a very good tool, but if not monitored can cause predicaments. Blogs can be used as very personal means of expressing opinions. Teachers can easily give away identifiable, personal student information if not careful. People can post comments on a blog that degrade the school, teacher, or are simply disrespectful. Students can use blogs to express their opinions about peers or adults that are inappropriate. Once a blog is created, only the originator can make changes to it so if something on the blog is inappropriate it is on there for all who wish to view it. Safety and security are major issues with blogs.

* How can you use blogging to communicate with school stakeholders?

Blogging can be used to communicate with a variety of school stakeholders. The school district can utilize a blog to communicate information to district personnel and parents. Teachers can use blogs to communicate with students, parents, and the community. Students can complete writing activities or studies on a blog. Generating written thoughts is no longer a paper and pencil task. Teachers can place students in discussion groups to encourage peer learning, sharing, and collaboration. Student technology products like PowerPoints and documents can also be shared on blogs. Students can learn from other students in different cities, states, and even countries. Content subject area topics could be experienced first hand with experts and people who may not otherwise impact a classroom. Teachers can use blogs to post videos or discussions that occurred in class. Educators can follow other educators’ blogs and learn about what has been successful in other schools around the world. Teachers can also communicate various school information to parents such as lessons, important news, helpful websites, and homework.

Technology Flow Chart, Professional Development, And Action Plan

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Technology Flow Chart, Professional Development, And Action Plan

View more documents from Bianca Darley.

Infrastructure for Technology for Franklin Elementary

The Texas Long Range Plan for Technology 2006-2020 has four key areas to assist the state, districts, and schools evaluate how they are progressing toward being sufficient to teaching 21st Century learners. In examination of the School Technology and Readiness (STaR) data for my campus, it was easy to identify that my school was below state progress in the Infrastructure key area. This area includes determining a computer:student ratio, adequate internet access, connectivity speed, technical assistance, other available technology resources, LAN/WAN resources, and distance learning capacity.

My elementary campus scored in the Developing Tecnnology range while the state fell into the Advanced Technology descriptor. I believe Franklin Elementary scored this classification because we do not have a large number of working, updated computers in our classroom. We have one computer lab with about 20 computers and most teachers have one or two older functioning computers in their classrooms - totaling 80 computers on campus. Our campus has approximately 550 students which means that about 7 students would access the same computer. When teachers do integrate the technology in their lessons, the computers freeze up, do not have the appropriate programs, or are not adequately connected to printers or other technology resources. We do not have a computer lab assistant or technology troubleshooter on our campus, so we must rely on the district helpdesk to assist when trouble occurs. With a lot of prayer, perhaps a district technology representative will answer and assist you over the phone but most likely not. We have 2 digital cameras and 8 campus printers. Our librarian has the only interactive white board on campus and have limited access to LCD projectors and laptops.

The Texas STaR Chart document (2006) lists some of our above mentioned technology problems as similar challenges to other schools within the state. Not all districts, campuses, and classrooms have adequate tools that are needed to integrate technology with real-life learning. Teacher and trouble shooting support will need to be on the forefront of a campus' budgetary needs. Maintenance of the technology is imperative since technology is changing and improving at such a rapid rate.

It is my recommendation that the campus analyze the trends in the STaR chart data to determine which changes are most feasible to make in a short amount of time and with limited budget. The campus did feel more at ease with technology two years ago when there was a technology assistant available on campus. Perhaps this is a possible addition to our growing budgetary needs - more help! The campus leadership team should also look into grants and opportunities for the district and outside community organizations to assist in donations and funding.

Citations for week 2 blog:

Retrieved from http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/technology/techapp/teks/framewrk/index.htmTexas Education Agency, School Technology and Readiness (2006). School Technology and Readiness; a Teacher Tool for Planning and Self-Assessment, Aligned with the Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020.

Retrieved from http://starchart.esc12.net/docs/TxCSC.pdfTexas Education Agency (2006, December). Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020; A Report to the 80th Texas Legislature from the Texas Education Agency.

Retrieved from http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/technology/lrpt/LRPTCompleteDec06.pdf
Texas Education Agency (2008, September 15). Campus Statewide Summary by Key Area. Retrieved from http://starchart.esc12.net/docs/campusSWSummarybyKA20072008.pdf

S Ta R Chart for Franklin Elementary

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

S Ta R Chart for Franklin Elementary

View more presentations from Bianca Darley.

PreK Technology Application TEKS and the foundation to continual learning

Technology Application TEKS are listed for grade clusters Kinder through 12th grade. Each cluster has 4 strands that detail student expectations for technology knowledge and use. However the most important in my opinion are the standards listed for PreK students. These standards lay the foundation similarly to any other academic, social, and emotional learning.

PreKinder guidelines are given to assist teachers in building a technical knowledge base and this helps the students develop a multitude of skills. Social and emotional development are crucial to determine school readiness. The PreKinder technology TEKS detail various outcomes for young students. There are four skill outcomes in the Social and Emotional Developmental domain. Young students are able to build self-concept, self control, social competence, and social awareness when they participate in a technical class community. The second domain of Language and Communication are essential to integrating technology into daily routines and interactions. Listening comprehension, speaking, speech production, vocabulary skills, and sentence structure skills are built to encourage students to understand and use language as a form of communication. Young student skills are also impacted in emergent literacy in the areas of reading and writing. They learn about forms, features, and functions of reading and writing when the teacher serves as a model and the students are encouraged to participate in early writing activities. The PreKinder students build motivation to write, learn to convey meaning, form letter skills, and build concepts about print when they are invited into the technical world in the classroom.

Technology Application TEKS begin in identifying the basic student expectations in PreK and continue to utilize that knowledge to spiral and link previous learning to enhance technical skills. For instance, PreK students are expected to use and name a variety of computer input devices such as a mouse, keyboard, touchscreen, voice/sound recorder and CD-ROM listed under TEK(X)(A)(2). Learning these skills allow that learning to be scaffolded to learning in Kindergarten and continuing grade level domains. They learn at an early age to expand their ability to acquire information, solve problems, and communicate with others. Students in Kinder through 12th grades are expected to do the same. §126.2. Technology Applications, Kindergarten-Grade 2 (b)(2)(a) state that the student is expected to use a variety of input devices in building their data input skills. The mouse, keyboard, touchscreen, voice/sound recorder and CD-ROM are listed and scanners and digital video are added. Disk drives and modems are added to the foundations list in §126.3. Technology Applications, Grades 3-5 (b)(2)(a). The continuum embraces previous learning and allows for continual growth in these skills. With the appropriate foundation built in PreKinder, young students will be more apt to use previous skills to enhance their learning in many subject areas.

Long Range Technology Plan

The Long Range Technology Plan helps various groups of people identify tasks or goals that will help integrate technology into our classrooms. It is imperative that our school children become proficient technology users and learn that inquiry is what keeps us all as continual learners. The Texas Board of Education, local education agencies, and even parents, communities, and the private sector have been identified as groups that can positively impact both teacher and student integration of technology and learning. The plan thoroughly describes what each group can do to support schools in getting students ready to be 21st century digital learners. This is helpful since the plan will be implemented in stages and will be used to improve technology use on campuses.

Understanding that teachers must be comfortable learning about and utilizing technology has to be in the forefront of teacher preparation programs and local education agencies. Teachers serve as the models and encourage student actions. Teachers must see the relevance in using technology in their lessons to encourage and promote student engagement, construct meaning, and lesson relevancy. Students are expected to be proficient technology users by grade eight, so technology must be introduced and encouraged early on in a student's learning.
This information will assist me as an instructional leader since I will be encouraging and ensuring that teachers get what they need to be comfortable, willing, proficient users of technology.

Leaders cannot have the expectation of teachers to use technology if the teachers are not given adequate resources or experiences with technology. Principals must ensure that there is an adequate amount of budget dedicated to technology yearly. There also must be emphasis on keeping technology current and updated. Budget is also necessary to encourage professional learning in this area. Teachers must be expected to participate in professional development, but must be encouaraged and rewarded for doing such. Documentation of continuing professional development hours, the giving of technology software or applications, and recognition will help educators see the importance and relevance of incorporating technology in the classroom. Inviting the community to become more technology proficient will also help encourage students use and relevance. Inviting parents to take a computer course at the school or offering open times for community computer use will help teach adults the importance of being a comfortable technology user. So many things can be done on the computer now and since many of our community parents do not have computers at home, they can be taught where to access such resources and encouraged to visit local libraries or colleges to continue computer education and use.