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?

I envisioned myself gaining much knowledge in the field of technology. I thought that I would learn more about differenrograms and components of the computer. I also envisioned myself learning about the different tools and resources that would be beneficial to me as an administrator. I did achieve some of the outcomes. I did learn about blogs and how useful they can be. I learned that they are fairly easy to create and manage. I also learned about the different tools that teachers can use in the classroom that I did not think about. Tools, like cell phones, podcast, and wikis. I have an idea of how they may be utilized, but still need more information on how to handle them. The articles and lectures did touch on them, but there was not enough information to leave this class with the knowledge of how to begin to use them in the classroom. The actual course outcomes did not realt ply align with what I envisioned. I was thinking that I was going to learn more about the actual computer programs and how they can be helpful to me as an administrator.


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?

The achieved outcomes are not really relevant to me or to what I do now. I am not in the classroom, so I can not use many of the things that were mentioned. I am also not yet an administrator, so I can not use the ideas they had for that area. The achieved outcomes will be useful and valuable to me when I do become an administrator. I felt that creating a blog and posting on it using different formats was useful and interesting. I like the idea of being able to use blogs to hold discussion groups for book studies. I also like the idea of using podcast to make a school newscast. As an administrator, the articles on safety were very informative and will be useful. This class has helped me realize the dangers that are out there and that I will need to be proactive to ensure that my teachers know about them. The knowledge I gained from the copyright article will also be useful and help me when knowing what can be copied and what can not.


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

I feel that I did not really achieve the deep knowledge that I was looking for from this class. I thought that I was going to learn more about computer programs and how they would be useful to me as an administrator, but this class was about using the different forms of technology in the classroom. It did cover how I, as an administrator could use blogs. I felt that the class was an overall good class, but the assignments felt a little repetitive. The assignments along with the discussion quotes and responses were a lot of work and some of the articles seemed to be saying the same things. I think that some of them could have been deleted or could have been substituted with other articles about technology. I felt rushed every week to complete the work and do not feel that I took enough time to really learn the information to the depth that I would have liked.


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

I believe that I was successful in carrying out the course assignments. The directions on the assignments were for the most part fairly clear and my coach always provided us with an overview which cleared up those few things that I was uncertain of. The directions on how to access the STaR Chart for my campus were easy to follow and I did not have any problems with it. The directions for creating a blog were also fairly easy and I was able to create one with out any difficulty. Uploading the slide presentation was another story. I tried using www.authorSTREAM which seemed fairly easy, but it took forever. I was on there waiting for the file to be converted for several hours and finally gave up. I decided to try using www.slideshare.net which was faster, but the directions were not as clear, especially when it came to the very end, posting it on the blog. I also had trouble with starting the Technology Action Plan. I was unsure of how to begin and it took me a while to figure out how to start. What helped was a site that had a form of a template and I picked what I felt was important to me. I was successful in carrying out the assignments, but there was always something that proved to be a bit difficult or confusing in each week, which took me longer to complete since I wanted to make sure I was completing it correctly.


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

From the pre-assessment, I learned that I do not know as much technology as I thought. I still have much to learn and to work on to become proficient. I also learned that there was much more to technology out there than what I thought there was. I learned that many things can be utilized in the classrooms and that technology is essential to education. I also learned how important the STaR Chart is and how it can be used to create staff development based on the needs of the staff. The STaR chart also showed me that my campus is still developing in the area of technology and that we need lots of staff development if we are to implement it into the lives of our students and lessons. I also learned more on the Long Range Plan for Technology and what its goals are for today’s students and why they are important. I also learned that as a Leader it is important for me to use technology and integrate it into my everyday life and help my staff do the same by providing them with the training, tools, and resources that will make them successful.


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

I think that the educational value of blogs and blogging is very important. It is an easy way for students to use technology in order to collaboratively work together. Blogs also provides students with an easy way to post work for others to read. This also allows others to comment on your work, which is always important for the student if they are to become independent and self evaluators. Blogs allow students to become writers and also teaches them to be reflective about what they are working on or reading. Using blogs in the classroom also helps the teacher because it creates a way for them to bring in the reluctant student and make them interested in the work and allows them to be creative. Blogs gives everyone a chance to work together and students must learn how to talk to one another and learn how to comment and evaluate each others blogs and how to give positive comments. Teachers must also learn more about blogs and how to keep students safe while using them.


What are the concerns of blogs and blogging in education?

I think that there are two main concerns of blogs and blogging. These concerns need to be addressed if we are to avoid them. These concerns are how to keep students safe and cyber ethics. Teachers will need to find ways to keep their students safe from online predators. They can do this by using online filters and also by teaching students about online predators and how to protect themselves. Students need to report any suspicious questions or activity that points towards what might be an online predator. Teachers and students must also know how to behave online. They both must be taught what is considered as ethical and what is not ethical behavior online. They must know that what they say online is out there for everyone to read and there may be consequences for the work they published. Everyone should also be expected to report any bullying or harassment that might be happening online. These two problems can be prevented by having proper training for both teachers and students. Overall, blogs are a useful tool that teachers and administrators can take advantage of, but will need to know how to protect themselves and their students before they begin.


How can you use blogging to communicate with school stakeholders?

Blogs can be another means in which can be used to communicate with stakeholders. Blogs allows everyone to keep track of what is going on in the district or school, without having to attend any meetings. This is important since not all parents can attend meetings because of their different work schedules and always lose out on important information. Blogs can be useful on both ends. They allow parents to keep up with current events and allows them to post comments on the blogs. These comments can be beneficial to the school and district. They can see what outsiders are thinking by the comments posted, which allows the school or district to have a different outlook on what was discussed on the blogs and helps them decide if any changes might be necessary. Blogs make this communication possible because they can be easily created and maintained. My school currently has a website that is connected through the district home page. The website is created and written by us and the principal monitors the content. Lots of work goes into updating the website constantly and parents or other stakeholders can view information about our school, but can not post any messages on them.

Organizational Chart

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Organizational Chart

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Organizational Chart

Roles and Responsibilities

v Board of Trustees: The Board of Trustees establishes the policies by which the schools operate. In carrying out the task of setting policy, the board identifies needs and establishes priorities for the school system, allocates financial and human resources among the priority areas, and evaluates school performance.

§ Superintendent: Responsible for planning, operating, supervising, and evaluating instructional programs; proposes a budget for the next fiscal year.

¨ Instructional Technology (IT) Department: Applies funding to target areas and ensures schools are able to support technology in their schools.

¨ Curriculum and Instruction: Creates and monitors the districts technology plan.

§ Professional Preparation and Support: designs and implements teacher preparation, support, and retention programs

¨ Principal: Implements, Monitors, and evaluates the use of technology on campus. Provides staff with opportunities to implement technology by offering the tools, resources, and on-site training teachers will need to implement plan.

§ Teachers: Implement, teach, and evaluate the use and learning of technology by students on campus. Provides sessions to students and parents on the use of online tools, safety, and ethics.

¨ Students: Use technology that will help them with their learning.

¨ Parents: Monitor students use of technology at home and to assist students and teachers with the use of technology.

§ Campus Instructional Technologist: Assist and train teachers with the technology use and knowledge on campus and with any problems that may arise. Provides parents with classes on how to use computers.

Role of the Principal

The principal plays a key role. They need to make sure that their campus is using technology and following the technology plan. They can do this by constantly monitoring the classroom to see what teachers are using and what they are not. It is also imperative for them to look at the STaR chart results to see where weaknesses lie. This will help in deciding what type of staff development the staff needs and where their strengths lie. It is up to the principal to provide time during the school year that allows for staff development. Staff development can happen either in or out of the school. They can decide to use a staff member or bring someone in. The principal must also look at the schools needs in regards to tools and resources and budget according to those needs. They also need to be familiar with technology and use it daily.

Technology Plan and Evaluation

Needs

The plan to integrating technology into our school is based on the school’s educational vision and is part of an overall school improvement plan. Our vision is to provide a safe and engaging environment that encourages lifelong learning to enable all students to be able to function in the 21st century and our teachers are dedicated to making a difference toward helping our students achieve success.

Our AEIS data shows us that 91.3% of our students are economically disadvantaged and 51% are considered to be Limited English Proficient or LEP. Our 4th and 5th grade Reading TAKS scores were in the 60’s and their commended performance was extremely low. Science follows with a percentage of 73.9 and followed by Math and Writing which were both in the 80’s. The STaR chart data helped us see that we still need to grow in the areas of teaching and learning. We need to bring in more technology if we are to meet the needs of our students.

Based on the above information, our campus needs are:

• Increase teacher use and knowledge of technology.
• Train teachers on how to incorporate and use technology in the classroom.
• Continuously evaluate the needs of teachers in using technology.
• Integrate technology that increases student understanding into lessons.
• Funds to purchase more technology tools and resources (Elmos, Neo 2 labs, Study Island, e-Instruction systems, etc...).
• Develop a system that evaluates technology problems that can be addressed quickly and efficiently.

Goals and Objectives

The technology plan for our campus:

1. Will improve student learning.
2. Will help students perform authentic tasks.
3. Will help students learn skills that will prepare them for future careers.
4. Educators, parents, students, and community members will be able to support the school's initiatives in the use of technology.
5. Professional development and support staff will be provided with ongoing training to support the plan.
6. Our school will increase their commended average of at least 30% in all subject areas.
7. Our school will have improved by at least 10% in each subject area.

Resources

Smart boards, e-Instruction, Destination Reading Software, Internet, Neo 2 lab, projectors, Elmos, video camera, photo camera, software on computers, power point
Personnel: CILT team, Campus Instructional Technologist
Data: STaR Chart, TAKS, AEIS Data


Professional Development Training

1. Teachers will be trained in cyber ethics and safety in order to keep our students safe and to inform teachers what they can and can not copy and use.
2. Teachers will be trained in how to create and use podcast in the classroom in order to create media files that they and students can create and use.
3. Teachers will be trained in how to create blogs and how to use them in the classroom.
4. Teachers will be trained on how to use the smart boards in the classroom to increase interaction and understanding of the lesson.
5. Teachers will be trained on how to use Elmos effectively
6. Teachers will be trained on how to best integrate the use of the Neo 2 labs to increase knowledge and participation
7. 3-6 teachers will be trained on how to use the Destination Reading software whole group and individually in order to increase reading skills.
8. Teachers will be trained on how to use the e-Instruction systems in order to increase participation, evaluate students, and make lessons interactive.
9. Teachers will be trained on My Data Portal in order to monitor student TAKS, ITBS, and Benchmark test online and be able to read trends and goals.

Evaluation

The use of technology will be measured in several ways.

Administrators along with a team will review our Campus STaR chart to view our trends and to see if the campus has made any improvements in any of the 4 areas. If improvements have not been made, administrators and team must meet and analyze why technology did not show improvement. The administration will also assess the use of technology when doing formal and informal evaluations and through teacher meetings and planning sessions. Administrators along with the CILT and SBDM team will review AEIS data in order to review student performance on TAKS and ITBS test and look for trends from grade levels and increased percentage of improvement and commended.

Teachers will use TAKS, ITBS, Benchmark, and Mini-assessment data to help them analyze trends in the sections. This will also help guide them in planning lessons that integrate technology that will help them increase student performance. Teachers will continuously track and monitor their students and classrooms and hold them accountable by using online tools and resources like My Data Portal. Teachers will also use our schools AEIS data to track trends and make goals for the next school year that will increase student performance.


Works Cited:

Agency, T. E. (2009). Texas STaR Chart. Retrieved December, from http://starchart.esc12.net/.

District, D. I. (2009, February 16). Special Report on Pupil Achievement. Retrieved December 2009, from http://www.dallasisd.org/inside_disd/depts/evalacct/profiles/2007_08/english/SRPA_287.pdf.

Dr. Abernathy, K., & Cummings, C. (2009). (S. Dr. Jenkins, Interviewer) https://lamar.gocourse.net/Learn/Home.aspx.

Online, T. e. (2009). Technology Plan . Retrieved December 2009, from http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/primer/techtemp.html.

The Texas STaR Chart

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The Texas STaR Chart

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