Week 5

The technology outcomes that I have envisioned for myself through the professional leadership course are that I will be able to identify and analyze data and procedures in my school district that need to be improved related to technology. Through this new knowledge, I was also hoping to be able to make positive suggestions and changes in technology for BISD. With the conclusion of this course, I can definitely identify the sections of technology and what my school needs improvement on, however, I am not sure that I could fix all the problems that I now have the knowledge to identify. To be specific, I have a better knowledge of what a STaR chart is and what the domains are. I can read a Star chart, and be able to reply with some intelligent depth. I have a better knowledge of what each person does according to technology in my district based on the research I did for the organizational chart. I received a large amount of very useful and practical information on copyrights and how to keep the students safe on the internet. This information will be useful for future professional development sessions. I am much more familiar with the long range plan for technology, and I am still uncertain about blogs. In the instructional leadership course, I have not achieved all the positive results that I envisioned myself achieving, but I did receive a good amount of useful knowledge. Much of what I have learned has been mixed in with doubt, and worry over whether or not I am organizing my newly learned material in the format expected by my professors.
The outcomes of my learning for this course do help me in the work that I do for my school. As a technology leader in my school, I am constantly trying to identify data using technology, and find new ways that we can make positive changes related to technology. My new knowledge helps me to identify technology needs, and makes me more aware of how extremely important technology is in the 21st century classroom. I gained a new knowledge of different types of sites and tools that I can use with my students to enhance their learning experience. This is definitely something that can help me in my endeavors to become more successful in the world of technology and administration, and it will give me a drive to be creative and innovative with technology. In my opinion, this class served as a motivator for using technology more than anything. This was a pleasant surprise to me, as motivation is something that all professionals can use in their daily duties.
I did not achieve the success that I wanted to achieve in terms of personal advancement with technology. I wanted to be able to leave this course with a new knowledge of how to enhance and improve technology in my district. I do not know exact examples of ways that I could implement these new ideas and motivation that I have acquired. I feel as though my knowledge would have been broader if I had been given access to examples and correct ways to do certain tasks. The creation and maintaining of the blog was very unclear to me, and I do not feel as though I have achieved what I would have liked to in terms of advancement on this skill. The amount of work that was involved in the course actually hindered me more than it helped me. I needed more time to reflect on what I was learning and have a chance to master every skill, rather than rushing and not performing each skill to the best of my ability. If I had been given the chance to spend more time on assignments, I feel that I could have attained a higher level of understanding and achievement.
I feel I was somewhat successful in carrying out the course assignments. The assignment on summarizing the Long Range Plan for Technology will help me in my endeavors to increase the tools and use of technology that we have in this district. I created a blog for the first time and found that it was not as difficult as I suspected. I have a much better understanding of the STaR chart and how it can be used in the different facets of my school. Yet, I do not feel that I was overly successful on any one assignment due to the length of the assignments and the discussion boards. I felt rushed to complete all the parts of each assignment, which prevented me from truly reflecting and studying the information as I would have preferred. I felt very discouraged during Week 4, because I did not have examples or enough instruction on the exact information that was required to complete the assignments. Therefore, I feel I have been successful but not to the degree that I normally strive to achieve.
I have been exposed to a plethora of new information about technology. I feel much more comfortable in seeking out new ways in which technology can be used in the classroom, and campus wide. I am now familiar with new and innovative methods in which technology can be used, and the ways in which the district needs to change policy in order for technology use to increase. Through the coursework, I feel that I will be in the forefront of helping to integrate technology. I am also much more comfortable training others on how to advance the use to technology in the classroom after taking this course. I feel motivated to make the classroom an interactive stage for students to experience technology, and to make them successful in the 21st century. I will also work with the campus improvement committee in setting goals to gain more technology and use it in our school. As a technology facilitator, I felt that I had a mature knowledge of technology. Now that I have completed the Instructional Leadership course, I feel even more comfortable helping my school and district move into the 21st century with technology use.
Blogging has value because it allows students to post their own work and communicate with personnel at the school that can help them to be successful. Blogs are more open for the students, teachers, and parents. The 21st century learner needs to know about blogs, as technology is moving more and more toward this form of communication. In my opinion, the biggest advantage for using blogs is that they are actually interactive. Websites have been beneficial in giving students, parents, and stakeholder’s information, but they have not been able to reply or give their opinion to this information. Parents, students, and stakeholders can respond to blogs, or create their own blogs. Blogs give teachers the opportunity to teach at any time and anyplace, rather than just in the classroom. Teachers can post any information they feel viable, and others can ask questions, or respond to this information. In conclusion, blogs bring on higher order thinking in the fact that they cause the users to interact and collaborate on discussions.
I am on the fence about blogging pros and cons. I do feel that there are values and disadvantages in the case of blogging. From the information in this course, I have been introduced to some advantages of blogging. The 21st century learner can communicate with teachers and other personnel when needed. Teachers and administrators can communicate with parents and stakeholders through blogs. However, I feel that these things can also be achieved to some degree through a website. When I interviewed my administrator, he had the same opinion on blogs. One thing that my administrator said that really rang true to me was the fact that we do not need to change something that is already working. The main concerns when it comes to blogs are the issue of privacy. Anyone can look at a blog, and young students might say things on a blog that can open them up to an intruder or predator. Our district has been extremely successful with the website, and I do not feel that we need to add blogging for added confusion. When blogging becomes a must, we will move on to that facet of technology, but until then, we will stick with what works for our district.
To use a blog for communication, an effective procedure would be that each teacher has a blog for their specific subject and level. All parents and students involved with that teacher will be able to communicate with them through the blog. The teacher can add new information and inform the parents and students to refer to the blog and hold online discussion boards. Teachers, as well as stakeholders can also look at blogs of others in order to get new ideas, share curriculum, and new ways to explain difficult problems to students. Administrators and supervisors can also create blogs concerning information in the district to inform stakeholders and keep their concerns at bay. This would be a very effective way to keep everyone involved and improve our district by hearing opinions of outsiders as well as insiders. Requiring everyone to use blogs for their professional use is the most effective way to get everyone involved in this effective form of communication. Using the blog as a new form of communication would bring our school to the fore front of the technology revolution.