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.