5306 Course Reflections #5

I need a writing refresher. Working in the IT industry, married an IT techie, and teaching technology to middle school students, answers are required to be concise, brief, and to the point. Must scholarly writing be lengthy? I do not feel I can stretch a reflection effectively to meet the requisite word count for each of the questions. Over the holiday, I hope to read the Publication Manual for the American Psychological Association and review more critically the Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards.

My husband calls me pedantic, I admit that I am. When you ask me to check my email daily, I will. I even created a link on my iPhone to Zimbra. I also want to cite sources correctly using the APA format. As a leader, my finicky disposition has its advantages and disadvantages. As an advantage, my co-workers know that when given a task, I will think it through, and try to cover all the bases before hand. On the flip side, I have a tendency to over analyze and expect more from my peers based on my standards.

5306 Course Reflections #4

Each week, I was able to manage my time to complete the assignment before the deadline requirement. I found the lessons to be relevant and enriching and I have been able to use some ideas gleamed in the classroom. Unfortunately, I did not gain much from the Final Word discussion. Seven days to post and respond seems a bit too lengthy a time period. Towards the end of the week, some students are making their first post, some are responding, and then some have already posted their reflection. I feel more relevant and sincere exchange of information existed when a fellow student asked a question or advice and information was shared in return. The response time to email is slow especially when you consider at turn-around time of 18 to 24 hours in a 168 hour deadline week. One email sent on Dec 9 at 6:40 A.M. is still waiting for a response. That is discouraging.

5306 Course Reflections #3

If we are to plan the next 16 months of our lives around International Society for Technology in Education NET*s (National Educational Technology Standards) for Technology Facilitator, it would have beneficial to me to have a week’s extensive lesson on the NET*S. I know it was addressed in a number of articles; however, I do not feel that I can adequately decode the wording of the NETS*S to align what I do and want to do to support the technology growth at my campus. The current NET*S for Technology Facilitator were published in 2001 and the 2011 NET*S are currently being drafted.  Will we need to modify our plans to meet the newly drafted standards? Additionally, I do not confident in communicating and gaining knowledge from the web conferences. I attended the first two weeks’ conferences, but it was not a productive experience. I was not able to attend the last two due to the schedule changes.

5306 Course Reflections #2

I have completed the course with an acceptable grade, so far. I am still working on my time management and it seems that it is taking less time to complete each week’s To Do List. What I have learned in this course has been valuable. I have developed an understanding of the district’s technology plan and how it has affected the expectations and goals of the campus and thus the expectation and goals of individual teachers. The district is reliant on funds that are not property tax based and that affect the district’s plans and decisions. From the readings I have learned that technology integration is more than adapting a lesson to the software available on a computer. Students need to take an active role in their learning—collecting data, analyzing data, applying the data, and presenting the data. This week, my 7^th grades students have been offered a choice in topic to research and in groups, they are developing a presentation with a Web 2.0 tool that they feel would best fit their presentation goal..

5306 Course Reflections #1

I have been entertaining the idea of getting my masters for a few years. Now that my girls are either married or in college, I felt the time was right. Going into the first course, I had no idea what to expect. My major objective was to see if I could manage the time and if I still was capable of tackling formal studies. I didn’t even take note of the course title. Quite honestly, I felt overwhelmed by the amount of work required. I feel that the Academic Partnerships representative grossly underestimated the amount of time required each week. I was also frustrated that the course had not been adequately maintained and by the amount of broken links encountered during the first two weeks. But I have survived. I have an “A” in the course despite a zero on the week two web conference  and not knowing I was given a second opportunity to submit because it was posted on Epic "details" instead of communicated in an email.

5306 Creating and Posting a Slide Presentation

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

W2 p4 creating_ posting_slide_presentation

View more presentations from vfmason.

5306– National Educational Technology Plan

”Under the Obama administration, education has become an urgent priority driven by two clear goals. By 2020,

• We will raise the proportion of college graduates from where it now stands [39%] so that 60% of our population holds a 2-year or 4-year degree.

• We will close the achievement gap so that all students – regardless of race, income, or neighborhood – graduate from high school ready to succeed in college and careers” (U.S. Department of, 2010. p.V).

The plan addresses the all-encompassing use of technology in teaching and learning for students and educators. Today’s young students are exposed to all types of evolving technology from birth. Through the use of technology, teachers will be able to individualize, differentiate, and personalize education in order to motivate and engage students as a first priority. Only 18.5% of a student’s learning is experienced in grades 1-12. Individuals need the skills to continue learning after formal education through procedural knowledge. Connections through technology will improve teaching as a team activity between students, educators, experts, activities, and online communities (U.S. Department of, 2010). Preparing teachers to teach in the age of evolving technology will require universities and professional development organizers to prepare courses that model and practices the use of technology to aid learning. “The best way to prepare teachers for connected teaching is to have them experience it” (U.S. Department of, 2010. p.44)

Other than professional development training outside of work, the plan suggests that teachers can learn technology skills in the classroom with the students. I hope our PDAS evaluators are aware of this plan.

References

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology. (2010). Transforming american education: learning powered by technology Draft. Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/sites/default/files/NETP-2010-final-report.pdf

5306 – School or District Technology Plan

The McKinney ISD Technology Plan is somewhat extensive. The goals are as follows:

1. “Improve student academic achievement with technology resources ubiquitously integrated in curriculum and instruction” (Crowe, 2009). (5 objectives, 13 strategies)
2. “Improve efficiency and effectiveness of all business operations and processes” (Crowe, 2009). (5 objectives, 13 strategies)
3. “Improve the capacity of all teachers to integrate technology effectively into curriculum and instruction” (Crowe, 2009). (4 objectives, 10 strategies)
4. “Provide an efficient and effective information infrastructure to enable successful application of technology throughout the district” (Crowe, 2009). (4 objectives, 11 strategies)
5. “Improve communications between schools, teachers, parents, and the community” (Crowe, 2009). (3 objectives, 9 strategies)

The district has aligned each strategy to Texas Long Range Plan for Technology (LRPT), No Child Left Behind (NCLB), and the E-Rate (ER) program. For more detail go to http://www.mckinneyisd.net/information/docs/MISD%20Technology%20Plan%20Final%202-26-09.doc

According to the plan, McKinney ISD intends to create a staff training classroom which will include all types of district provided technology and a content creation lab to enhance professional development. Unfortunately, according to the plan evaluation, the project is behind schedule or over budget. I know this because of the evaluation tool in place. The plan evaluation describes a color-coded system attached to the strategy chart. RED indicates that the project is behind schedule or over budget. At the other end of the color spectrum is BLUE indicating that the project is implemented.  The district has most of the plan’s infrastructure in place and is on target with implementation and sustainment.  Financial support of the non-discount part of the plan is at risk.

References

Crowe, T. McKinney Independent School District, Technology Departmnet. (2009). Strategic technology plan 2009-2014 Retrieved from http://www.mckinneyisd.net/information/docs/MISD%20Technology%20Plan%20Final%202-26-09.doc

E-rate discounts for schools and libraries. (2010, JulY 14). Retrieved from http://www.usac.org/_res/documents/sl/pdf/E-rate-Overview.pdf

5306 – Technology Assessments

As a Technology Applications teacher of middle school grades, I teach each year a sampling of 120-150 8^th grade students. Two-thirds of the students that I teach have not met the standards of TA TEKS for the previous years. Many of the students do not have the skills to keyboard properly or even to center a title in word-processing document using the application’s Center function. Students which have technology literate parents are more successful. Remediation at each grade level would be necessary in order to build the required skills each year. The ability of the students is a reflection of the ability of the educators. Although many of the teachers may meet SBEC standards for Technology Applications, the time restraints within the curriculum encourage production without proper technological process. Students are assigned projects or tasks to complete using skills or non-existent skills that should be taught previously. When the project/task is graded for content, the technology skills required should be assessed also. As all educators are aware, when you prepare to teach, you become more knowledgeable. The technology skill levels of the educators on my campus vary greatly and are manifestly coinciding with their subject’s technology needs. The district offers basic, intermediate, and advanced courses in the usual Microsoft Office applications. However, unless the educators are formally assessed at one point, I do not believe they would be aware of their skill inadequacies. In turn, I believe a formal assessment of 8^th graders would provide district-wide data to support appropriate professional development and embedded technology lessons throughout K-8 grades.

EDLD 5306 Cohort 17 Web Conference on 23 November 2010

Oddly enough, it is somewhat comforting that other students have the same concerns that I do. I do wish the data streaming of the web conference was more clear and consistent.  It seems redundant to attend the conference and then listen to the recording to hear all the information. I wish there was a closed captioning option.

I conducted a Google search on Data-Based Decision Making Web Tool for Educators and it resulted in the same website URL referenced in the overview and Epic courseware and the website is still “not found.”

I have already selected my book for Week 4, Teaching With the Tools Kids Really Use: Learning With Web and Mobile Technologies.  From Dr. Abshire’s comments, I should be reviewing the information about the internship.

Justin C. set up a Facebook link for Cohort 17. Thank you Justin! I am trying the Blogger plugin for Word 2007 suggested by Mercedes and Justin. Great! I love trying new tech tips.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Be safe.