Course Reflections

Coming into this class I wasn’t sure what to expect. It had been a while since I have been in college and was a little apprehensive about starting up again. I knew the class would be introducing us to the technology that is available to schools, so I was excited about learning new techniques and ideas. Now that I am wrapping this class up I can honestly say I have learned a lot. I had heard about the wikis and blogs but I probably would not have gone out and made them on my own.  I learned more about the administrative side of technology issues than I was expecting. I knew about the technology TEKS and ethical issues but I understand them a lot better now than I did before the class. Overall I have to say I learned a lot more out of this class than what I originally thought.

One of the things that I liked about this class is that everything I learned I can use in my job. To be honest I was getting to a point where I was questioning if I wanted to stay in the classroom or move onto something else. After this first class it has given me a spark to want to stay in the classroom and keep teaching. I have learned a lot of new techniques that I think will be very useful in the classroom and help the students along the way. Not everything I learned will be going straight to the students but some of the information learned in this class will help with moving my students and school in the right direction as far as technology is concerned.  Our campus has just started a technology committee and all of the material we covered in this class is relevant to what we will be discussing.

The biggest complaint I have about the class is that everything is rushed. This isn’t anyone’s fault, it’s just the way it is. Trying to teach and take care of a couple of organizations outside of school, it can get to where I am just trying to get the work done on time. I would like to have more time to practice using the new tools and techniques I have learned to make sure that I master them and I don’t just forget them in a few weeks. I don’t believe this will happen, but in an ideal setting a person would have more time. Again, this is my own fault for being so busy.  I do believe that by doing the internship and other classes coming up that all of these new tools will be put to good use.

Overall, I have been happy with the outcome of this first course. I have learned a lot and haven’t lost the rest of my hair yet. It was a challenge getting back into the swing of things since it has been a good eleven years since I have been in school on the student side.  The first couple of weeks were stressful in starting a new schedule and adding on to the to do list, but by the third week I started to settle down a bit. Seeing that my grades where okay helped a lot too. It would get frusterating at times because I was using newer software and  I was having to learn the changes with it while trying to get the assignments done. I would have got some of them finished a lot sooner had  I been using the older version. Again, it’s all just a learning curve.  I survived and am ready for the next class, although I am looking forward to the break in between the classes.

I learned a lot from this class. It was hard taking the first step in starting this program because I wasn’t sure if I had enough time to fit everything in. It is hard at times but I have learned that it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. There are a lot of new ideas and techniques that I have learned that will be very helpful in my classroom. Hopefully, these ideas will help my students succeed along the way too. At times teachers can get very frustrated with the technology department at our school. Some of the things I learned helped me see things from a different perspective and I am more understanding about some issues. There are still areas that need to improve and hopefully I can use the ideas that I learned from this class to help things out at my campus. 

District Technology Plan Presentation

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District Technology Plan Presentation

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Web Conference

Thursday night was the first time I have ever been involved with a web conference. It didn’t go as smoothly as I wanted but I made it through and it was a good learning experience for me. I had some issue with getting on at first. Once I logged in I received the message about waiting for response from the instructor. After waiting 15 minutes with nothing happening I type in the URL again. I guess I should have tried that a little sooner. Once I re-typed the address in the site popped up and the conference was going on already. The biggest problem I had was with the audio. If a student talked I could hear them clearly. At times the instructor’s audio was okay and at times it was running together and I couldn’t understand what was being said. I probably missed half of the conference. The chat board at the bottom was very convenient in this case. I still need to figure out the controls and options for the web conference. It was definitely a learning experience. Obviously I need more practice so I can get more out of it. 

National Educational Technology Plan

As our economy continues to struggle our nation’s leaders see education as the key to our future in a changing global environment. The NETP is a plan that lays out the framework for transforming education into the 21^st century.

Students should have access to information that will help them learn 24/7. They should be able to network with others locally or worldwide. In order for students to succeed they must be engaged and have access to personalized learning experiences. Most tools that professionals use are accessible to students, so why not let them use these same tools to further enhance their learning experience.

With technology, teachers have access to a lot of student data.  Schools should be using this data to increase the performance of students. This job falls on all involved with public education and not just the teacher. Administration, teachers, students, parents, and school leaders should all be involved with this process.

Teachers will have to be able to prepare and connect with their students. They should be able to take students data and create a learning environment that is relevant to the students in their classrooms. However, teachers should not be working alone. Technology should be used to create a team teaching atmosphere. On-line learning communities should be built so that teachers and other professionals can work together to improve students learning experiences. In order for all of this to happen though, our schools and communities will have to improve their technological infrastructure.

With all of this taking place our school dynamics will start to change. Our basic assumption of our education system will start to look different. Learning opportunities will not happen just during the normal school day but can be 24/7. Classrooms will start to change from everyone does the same thing, to students will have individualized lesson plans and they will work at their own pace.

All of this sounds good but I think there will be some challenges along the way. The biggest challenge will be how we are going to pay for all of this in today’s economy. Texas is going to be cutting education across the state and small districts are going to be struggling to cover just the basics of education. Also, teachers and students will have to learn how to work in a new type of environment. If we are headed to a point were students will have individualized learning plans who is going to be doing all of this? Will we have to add on more staff or add on more work days for school employees? Again, how are we going to pay for it? I think eventually schools will transform and change will happen but I think it will be at a slower rate than what this plan calls for.

District Technology Plan

Shepherd ISD is a 3A school district that has around 2,000 students. SISD is striving to improve their district technology for the benefit of their students and community. There are five main goals that SISD is looking to improve. The main goal is to improve the integration of technology into the classroom. This is to ensure that student achievement continues to increase. The administration would like to increase the amount of distance learning and video conferencing opportunities for staff and students. This is so students can have access to classes that Shepherd may not be able to offer. It is also a source for professional development . Teachers are encouraged to use technology for all aspects of classroom learning. The use of DMAC and WEBCAT to evaluate strengths and weakness of students has been added in the last couple of years. All campuses are to improve and use websites and on-line grade books to increase communication with parents, staff, and the community.

Another goal is focused on making sure that all faculty will meet SBEC standards and all students will meet the technology TEKS. Teachers will continue to have professional development to make sure that they are progressing with the state standards. The administration will use surveys to help determine what type of training to present to teachers. Also, all teachers have access to on-line resources for continuing education. Students will continue to have technology curriculum embedded into their course work to increase their understanding of the technology TEKS. Seperate technology classes will also be offered.

The district will continue to improve the technology infrastructure and work towards meeting all state and federal levels. The biggest goals in this area are to increase the number of computers and replace outdated equipment. More internet drops are needed in the classrooms. Most classrooms have only one or two at this time. Administration is leaning towards more wireless technology to help with this problem.

All campuses will use technology to improve efficiency in which student records and school information is accessed. With the new technology the district has more opportunities to communicate with parents, staff, and the community. All of these resources are to be used to improve communication. Also, emergency backup systems and security need to be addressed.

Shepherd’s professional development opportunities are planned through the Director of Curriculum, Superintendent, and campus principals. These opportunities are offered during in-service before school starts, at the region center, on-line or on staff development days throughout the school year. In the past no one is usually turned down for asking to go to a training session, but with all the budget cuts coming down the line, most of ours will probably switch to on-line classes. Currently Shepherd has about 40,000.00 budgeted for Staff development and distance learning/video conferencing courses.

With the help of grants and special funds Shepherd has been able to upgrade their technology within the last couple of years. There is still a lot of work to be done though. The district has about $400,000 budgeted for all technology programs across the district. As state funding being cut, it will be harder for the school to spend as much on this area. More staff development and training will be switched to on-line and web conference learning methods. Better surveys are needed to pinpoint areas in which teachers need help in. At the moment STaR chart is the only way in which teachers are assessed to determine their technology needs.

Technology Assessments

I think it is important to have an understanding of what level the teachers and students are on their technology skills. As new technology is coming into a school it is easy for a teacher to miss out on new techniques and tools that they can use to boost student performance or increase their own productivity. If the administration is putting the money into this I believe they have every right to assess teacher’s capacity to use the technology. By assessing the teacher’s skills they can better tailor professional development for those specific areas that the staff is having issues with. There is no point in having teachers go through training if they are already proficient in the area. It is also important to gain insight from the teachers to see what kind of technology will be best for their classroom. It’s easy to go buy new equipment, but if it’s not practical for a specific classroom than the school is just wasting money.

As the administration is assessing the faculty it is important to assess the students as well. Having taught freshman in high school it is a challenge to get a grasp of where they are academically and technically when they come onto campus. A lot of times we assume that students are great with technology and know how to use it. Yes, there are the technology TEKS that students should have mastered by the eighth grade, but most schools are not at this level yet. If I can see the results of my student’s technological assessment I can do a better job of lesson planning. I have made the mistake of assuming student’s can do a specific task on the computer and ended up having a lesson go down the drain because of it.  

The problem with assessments is getting an accurate result. Teachers have to fill out the STaR Chart for their districts. My question is how accurate are these. Anytime people fill out a survey they may not always be truthful. I don’t mean to say that they are lying on purpose, but when it comes to surveys people can get in a hurry and just put answers down. Or the survey may be confusing to some and they are not sure how to answer so they just guess. Before this class I didn’t realize what they used the STaR chart for. Now that I have learned a little more I will put more thought into the survey questions.