Course Reflection


What outcomes had you envisioned for this course? Did you achieve those outcomes? Did the actual course outcomes align with those that you envisioned?

When beginning this course I was not sure what it would be about or what we would be learning. In fact I thought it was just Instructional Leadership couse. There was nothing in the title or information that I had received that let me to believe otherwise. I was excited when I learned that it was about technology. I have been a big advocate for technology in the classroom. However, this course was not necessarily about the actual mechanics of technology programs, but was how we would approach being a leader to support and promote technology in our district. I learned that a principal along with the many other duties of leadership must also be a leader when it comes to successfully integrating technology into everyday curriculum. As far as this course aligning with what I had envisioned I can say that this course was not what I expected.


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 course was very relevant to what our school is doing. We are are ahead of most schools when it comes to technology. Many of the articles that I read discussed podcasting, blogs, and webpages. We currently are very involved in podcasting and integrating different components of technology into our curriculum. We are trying to have our students be at the center of the action rather than just being spectator. I was surprise throught communication with other students on the discussion board how far advanced our school is. I shared our districts website and podcast links and many of them and they are sharing these with their school.

What outcomes did you not achieve? What prevented you from achieving them?
Overall I felt that I did achieve everything in this class. It was a class that did require a lot of time and at times I felt quite overwhelmed. I had to really stay ahead of all of my assignments each week, but still ended up working quite a bit on the weekends. My goal was to not have to work on the weekend, so I guess you could so this was something that I did not achieve. One reason was that I could not finish my discussion posts until Sunday because the people in my group waited until the last day to post their reading quotes.


Were you successful in carrying out the course assignments? If not, what prevented or discouraged you?
The work load for this course was quite demanding. The discussion board post were quite tedious to read. That many readings in one week was challenging and then to respond to other classmates was lengthy as well. However, I do see the benefits from this. Because this is online course we are missing the conversations we could have in class. Being able to communicate our opinions and feelings about the articles gave us the conversation we were missing out on. I also was able to see certain points from the article that I might have missed. I enjoyed making the powerpoint and learning how to upload it through slideshared. I was overwhelmed with some of the assignments, but completed them thoroughly and felt that I did them well, which really made me feel proud.



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

One thing I learned is how important technology progress is for schools and that we have district, state and national plan to carry this out. Technology is not just something that is to be used for record keeping and in the business office. Technology is to integrated into the curriculum. Students are to use this technology to assist in the mastering of skills and ways for them to communicate what they have learned. I have always loved training teachers to use technology and will continue to do so. Every year teachers at my school submit the STaR chart survey, but I know that my teachers do not understand why or what the results mean. I plan on using the powerpoint and sharing they information with them. One thing I learned about our technology at our school is that we have just about everthing and are doing blogs and podcasts. One think we need to work on is the integration into the curriculum. Students are to be using this technology not just merely watch the teacher use it.





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

I already have a blog through my school, but did not know how to create my own blog. I have experience uploading podcasts to my school blog, but did not know how to upload documents and powerpoints to my blog using slideshare. Using slideshare is one thing I will take away with me and use. Blogging is a useful tool. We do use them at our district. It is still new and many of our stakeholders are not aware of this. I think this is one area that we need to improve upon is informing our stakeholders where we are technologically at our district. Our high school teachers and students are beginning to use blogging in their classes. I will be interested to see how it changes and gets more involved over the next two years.




What are the concerns of blogs and blogging in education?
Blogs are powerful learning tools. When it comes to the internet there are many concerns including when blogging. One that thing that is a concern is possible bullying. Many kids can be mean and it is easy to bully students when you do not have to talk face to face. Teachers need to monitor class blogs carefully. Another issue blogging can have is reliability of the information. If a student is sharing on a teachers blog and interacting with other students the information that they are they are giving can be easiy plagiarized and be inaccurate information. Parents fear blogging because they do not understand what it is and why we do it. I think this is an area of training and communication that our school needs to improve on.

How can you use blogging to communicate with school stakeholders?

Blogging is not a fad and will not be going away. Although we are a low socio economic school, 75% of our parents and other stakeholders have access to the internet. Along with the state and national technology plan blogging will allow schools to become closer to becoming a 24/7 school. Blogging allows for two way communication and allows for information to be delivered quickly. Another benefit to blogging is it it is mostly free. Blogging also allow for schools to promote themselves to communicate the successes. One usefulness to blogging is to have surveys posted. This is an easy way to gather data from stakeholders and parents on issues that you need to be aware of. Although schools are new to blogging, it will be common practice in the very near future for all schools, parents and stakeholders to participate and communicate through the school district’s blog.

Week 4 Upload Assignments

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STar Chart Educator Preparation & Development / Opinion Piece

From the four areas of the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology, I chose Educator Preparation & Development. This section is the accountability for training teachers in becoming proficient at using the technology and integrating it successfully into the classroom. It also determines the level of proficiency the teachers feel that they are at technologically. I feel that many teachers score themselves too low in this area, while others score themselves too high. I also think this area can fluctuate. Not due to the school not training teachers, but to teacher turn over. Every year schools experience an influx of new staff. I feel that this can skew the results somewhat. The state results show that they are staying mostly in Developing and Advanced Tech. Not many schools are reaching Target Tech. However, my school has reached Target Tech. I have spoken with many other teachers from other schools that do not have near the technology that our school does. They do not know how we are able to pay for this. Our school has always made sure that we research what funds and grants are out there available to improve technology. Over the last 2 years we have been apart of Vision 20/20. Years before that we managed to purchase Smartboards for every classroom through the use of reading grants and end of the year surplus. My school also feels that it crucial to receive on going training and support through out the year. I think this is key for all schools. If they want to reach Target tech. they are going to have to have the faculty available to assist teachers. Not just at the beginning of the year in service, but all year long.

First Web Conference With Dr. Abernathy

Today I attended my first web conference with Dr. Abernathy. I have been apart of distance learning at my school, which involves a large machine and making sure the right numbers are entered. This was so simple and quick. I think this would be great to do at the beginning of each weeks' assignment. Being able to ask questions directly to the professor was very helpful. I also think this will be a great resource for principals. Meetings can be held without having to leave the building and you can collaborate with other principals from other school that are not in you area.

Texas S Ta R Chart Troup Elementary

Check out this SlideShare Presentation: Overview of the Texas STaR Chart and Troup Elementary's Data

Texas S Ta R Chart Troup Elementary

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Technology Applications TEKS Summary

According to the Pre-K guidelines for technology applications children should learn basic functions of the computer and related technologies. The learner should, start, use, and exit programs, use a variety of input devises, use technical terminology, follow basic oral or pictorial cues, listen to and interact with electronic storybooks, and use software to enhance learning experiences. These guidelines lay a foundation for future grades by giving prekindergarten students prior knowledge when they begin having to master TEKS. The students are given early experiences and opportunities to expand their learning. In the Foundations strand of the Technology Applications TEKS students have multiple opportunities to master knowledge and skills. In Foundations K-2 1A, 1B, and 1c students will use technology terminology, start, exit, create, name, and save files. These same TEKS apply to the Foundations stand in grades 3-5 but they must also learn to delete files, identify and describe characteristics of digital input, processing, and output, delineate and make necessary adjustments regarding compatibility issues, and access equipment on a network such as a printer. The Foundations strand in grades 6-8 TEKS is expanded to include URLs, LANs, WANs, WWW, and HTML. As the learner advances in grades they are introduced to more complex skills. Spiraling skills gives the learner an opportunity to continuously revisit and then expand their learning of various skills.

Long Range Technology Plan

I have heard of the Long-Range Technology Plan, but have never taken they time to read it. As an instructional leader staying current and familiar with the Long-Range Plan would help guide and integrate technology on my campus. The Long-Range Plan will help to know what technology expectations need to be achieved on my campus. Using appropriate technology will help to individualize instruction for learners. Administrators should not expect their faculty to become proficient at using technology applications in the classroom and through other daily routines if they too are not proficient as well. Vision 20/20 is something that my school is involved with. All our 7th-12th grade students have their own IMAC laptop. In addition the teachers post podcast to assists students with learning even when they are at home. I feel that our school is well on our way in meeting the goals and guidelines in the Texas Long Range Plan.

Journey Through Technology

I am very fortunate to work at a school that promotes technology and makes it a priority to reach the goals in technology that the state of Texas has set forth for public schools. I have been given multiple opportunities to learn very large variety of different technology applications and use them in my day to day teaching and working at school. I also am called upon by my district to test new technology in the classroom and then train the teachers on how to use it. I have become a vital part of our elementary technology services. Although that is not my official job, I am called upon weekly to assist with technology trouble shooting. My strengths in technology are that I am fast learner and am able to train teachers well. Another strength is that I am not afraid of technology and am willing to try anything. After reading and completing the technology surveys I did find some things that I am not sure that I am proficient at. However, sometimes it is not that I do not know but did not understand the terminology. An area of improvement for me would be to learn some of the technology lingo. The Technology application inventory deals mostly with the teacher’s technology performance abilities. The SETDA Survey is much more detailed. It is about how the teacher uses technology in the classroom and what kind of impact is it having on student success and learning. In addition it also deals with competencies, legalities, and the benefits you receive from technology inservice. I think both assessments are valid, but do feel the SETDA survey is more thorough.