Technology Skills Assessment and Reflection - Assignment 1

It was very easy to assess my own personal technology skills and evaluate how technology is valued on my campus. Teacher technology resources and the lack of opportunities for student computer use has long been a topic of discussion on my elementary campus.

In completing the Technology Applications Inventory, it became very evident that I have some knowledge and skill in computer use but overall need to increase my knowledge and use of technology both inside and outside of the classroom. In the foundations domain, I felt comfortable in creating, saving, and sharing files. I am able to perform basic software application functions, can keyboard, and use correct standards. I have limited experience in creating video files, editing, audio, and other productivity tools.

The lengthy State Educational Technology Directors Association Teacher and Administrator surveys allowed for me to truly evaluate how much time and effort I include technology in my instruction. To my knowledge, teachers are only given the STAR chart once yearly to evaluate the current technology on campus. Other than this evaluation, I do not believe that data is collected to determine if technology impacts student achievement. A typical student on our campus spends about one hour a week using technology. For the most part, this is when the class has been scheduled to come into the computer lab to work on web based software that the district has purchased. Teachers individually decide how to integrate technology into their teaching. Being that each grade level has one laptop and LCD projector, teachers have to share and plan when and if technology will be used. Since most find it difficult and timely, less than 20% of our campus educators use technology to impact student learning. Teachers are not rewarded for professional development efforts and are not given sufficient updated technology resources inside of the classroom. Only the librarian and a small group of teachers take workshops to learn about best practices with technology.

I need to further my knowledge and skills in productivity tools, audio, video, and web use. I feel comfortable with word processing, emailing, and PowerPoint, and use these skills very often for my classroom. I have yet to need to use audio, video, and more complex technological tools since computer use and resources are extremely limited on my campus. My computer at home has more recent and updated software than the computers on campus. I agree with the assessments and feel that I will be more apt to take professional development in this area so that I can impact student achievement and model computer use.