Week 5 Reflection

I was very excited to delve into EDLD 5352. Technology is my first love, thus I was anxious to learn and share. Prior to starting the class, I had envisioned that, because of my background the course would not be too difficult. I had hoped to review what I already knew, and learn a few things that I was not aware of. The happiest years of my educational career were when I was the “Technology Coach” for my current campus. The position was a district paid job, thus while services were provided to a local campus, my salary was not paid for out of the campus budget rather the district budget. Five years ago there were 14 Middle Schools in the CFISD and 14 Technology Coaches - one per campus. After my first year in the role, CFISD realized major budget shortfalls, and unfortunately the Technology Coach positions were “deleted” from the system. My Principal saw such value in me and my role that he finagled a way to keep me in the Coach position using campus funds. For the next 4 years my position transpired into a part time Coach along with part time classroom teacher.

When considering Lamar University’s Master’s Degree Programs, I was torn between the M.Ed. in Educational Administration and the M.Ed. in Educational Technology Leadership (ETL) degree. I finally decided on M Ed. As I believe it will open more doors for me than the latter. I was happy to see this EDLD 5352 class as part of the M Ed class roster. Because of my love of technology I probably envisioned more for this course than what actually was. However, I do believe that the class was a good overall benefit to anyone in the M Ed program.

EDLD 5352 was a good balance of review of what I am already familiar with plus a couple of new tricks and tips that I will use in the future. In Week 1, I took two both the Technology Applications Inventory and The SETDA Teacher Survey. I have taken many surveys in the past, so these formats came as no surprise to me. Both surveys’ in Week 1 were about technology use at school. Although there are similarities between the two, there are far more distinct differences. The first survey I took was the Technology Applications Inventory. This instrument included a series of 58 questions within four Domains; Foundations, Information Acquisition, Solving Problems with Technology Tools and Communication. The survey itself was very easy to take. The answers were either “yes” or “no”. The questions were clear and concise. As I took the survey, it was obvious to me where my personal strengths and weaknesses lie. The second survey I took was the SETDA Teacher Survey. Unlike the Technology Applications Inventory, the SETDA Survey was long and difficult. Whereas the Technology Applications Surveys goal seemed to be the discovery of how fluent the teacher is with technology, the SETDA Survey was not only about the teacher’s fluency, but also about the student’s knowledge base, and how well the teacher is aware, teaches and integrates technology into his/her every day interaction with staff and students.

Week 1 also had me review the Texas Long Range Plan, and the Texas’ Technology Applications TEKS. The TEKS curriculum is divided into four strands: Foundations, Information Acquisition, Solving Problems, and Communication. As a Technology Coach, I was familiar with both the Texas Long Range Plan and the TTA TEKS. For me, working through these is always good. Both bring me to realize what is expected, what I am already incorporating into my teaching and what I still need to accomplish. As a teacher, the surveys strengthened my belief in my personal technology skills. Upon completion of The Technology Applications Inventory, I felt good about myself and how advanced I am, given all of my “yes” answers. It reminded me of my weaknesses in the areas of proper keyboarding standards, citations, and the use of Boolean search strategies (which I rarely need). Contrarily, I found it difficult, actually impossible to complete the SETDA Teacher Survey. As a technology tool, I am sure that it would give me extremely specific information as to my strengths and weaknesses. However, I would have had to actually finish the survey in order to get that info.

As an administrator or as someone on an upper level of technology in a school District, I would certainly recommend that my teachers and staff members take the Technology Applications Inventory or one similar to it on an annual basis. I would NOT recommend the SETDA Teacher Survey based on its length (unless teachers would receive PD or some other type of credit). I would however, consider giving the SETDA Survey to a select group of teacher leaders who might benefit from its results.

In Week 1 I was directed to create a blog at http://www.blogger.com/. While I was familiar with and had already created blogs in the past, I am excited to learn the new tricks of posting a PowerPoint on the blog. The curriculum pointed me in the direction of several free online convertors. I discovered that there are differences between these tools; some bring more user friendly than others. Blogs are wonderful places to post your knowledge and/or opinions. You can also post a reply, but this medium is not best for interaction of collaboration. It is difficult to do a search for blog topics that you might be interested in. One tool that we did not cover that I think would have been beneficial to all is the Wiki. I feel that the Wiki is far more flexible to organize, maintain and truly collaborate. The benefits of both of these internet based sites are the sharing of ideas. However, they are only as good as they are used. My school has a campus based Wiki. The problem is that it is not used to the extent that it should be. Teachers only find the time to Wiki when an issue is of immense personal interest (ie the Christmas Party—LOL) Most of the time, unless people can rely on true anonymity, they will refrain from speaking their minds on either a Blog or a Wiki.

Week 2 brought us to The STaR Chart. The STaR Chart is a tool for technology planning and assessing. As it should be, the survey is an online resource for district self-assessment of effective technology integration across the curriculum. The results indicate the district’s status toward reaching the goals of the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology. As the Technology Coach for my campus, I have been the administrator of this device for five years. It is one survey that is required by both my district and the state of Texas. Teachers are always bombarded with so much extra work in the areas of documentation and data. Because the STaRChart is relatively easy and usually takes less than 10 minutes to complete, I never feel too bad about asking out teachers to complete yet another survey. The STaRChart is a good reminder of where we are as individuals, schools and districts and keeps us up to date as to where we need to be and go.

Week 3 was probably my favorite week as the assignment had me analyze, interview and report. It brought everything into focus as to where we (principal, teachers and myself) are, where we need to be, and how we might get there. Although it was not a requirement, I found good use in gathering information from a free online survey site called http://polleverywhere.com/ . Along with the poll I created, I also interviewed many students on campus, along with my own two high school aged kids. I can tell you that most of our kids are disappointed with the lack of and the non use of technology in school. Teachers understand that as schools and educators we are not where we need to be, but also know that we can only progress if sufficient time and resources are allocated to us.

Week 4 put me in touch with out District’s Director of Technology. As soon as I saw the assignment to create a flow chart of Technology personnel, I knew that it would be a real time saver to contact Harold Rowe, rather than recreate the wheel. He was ever so prompt in alerting his secretary to get the information to me, which I had within 24 hours of my request. Seeing the Technology positions in a flow chart reminded me of the enormity of personnel it takes to run the technology within our district. The best part of the assignment was that I got to see on paper the different positions that I might be interested in, in the future.

In summary, I can say that I am very glad that this course in Technology is part of the M ED curriculum requirements. As a teacher and an administrator most of the components and requirements of the course were well worth the effort and the experience.