Week 5 Assignment, Part 1: Course ReflectionsWhat outcomes had you envisioned for this course? Did you achieve those outcomes? Did the actual course outcomes align with those that you envisioned?
I anticipated that this Instructional Leadership Technology Course would provide me with the information that I would need to lead a campus in this new age of technology. I wanted to be exposed to any specific hardware that is currently being used in schools as well as the latest software that districts are employing on their campuses. I was also looking forward to finding out the ways that technology is being integrated into the classroom and how these methods are affecting student learning. The legal issues related to technology use were also of great interest to me and I was hoping to learn what I could do to limit my school district’s liability and what should be done to reduce possible misuse of campus technology.
This technology course did not address some of the outcomes that I had envisioned but at the same time it addressed some additional topics that will be very helpful to me as a campus leader. I had not anticipated learning all that I did about the Texas Long-Range Technology Plan, The Texas STaR Chart, and the NET’S for administrators. The information that I learned about how and what to use to evaluate my district and campus technology needs will be very useful. The required course readings exposed me to new and innovative ways to use technology in the classroom and reminded me that I must allow my teachers to take risks when they are working with new technology. As a leader I must give my teachers the confidence to try new learning techniques with their students. The course addressed legal concerns by introducing me to Acceptable Use Policies, firewalls, filters, and student education relating to proper internet use.
The actual course outcomes aligned with those that I envisioned. I was introduced to many more aspects of campus technology than I anticipated. My knowledge base regarding technology and how to implement it on my campus is much broader than it was before I took this course.
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 outcomes of this course are very relevant to the work that I do on my campus. Learning more about the Texas Long-Range Technology Plan, the NET’S for administrators, and the Texas Star Chart will help me improve technology integration on my campus. There is an urgent need to have District and Campus Technology Plans that are updated and properly aligned with the educational goals of the district. I need to be able to properly analyze and evaluate data from various sources such as the Texas STaR Chart and AEIS data in order to determine areas of need for my campus. New and innovative ideas for integrating technology into the classroom are also very relevant to the work that I am doing on my campus. Many times I need to be able to help my teachers as they attempt new teaching strategies in their classrooms. I need to be familiar with both hardware and software that can help them be successful. I also should be knowledgeable with technology that can help me as an administrator perform my duties more effectively. Legal issues and the proper use of technology by both students and faculty members on my campus is also a very relevant issue that was addressed in this course. I am going to review our Campus Acceptable Use Policy and see what changes may need to be made in order to address current technology concerns. The use of technology such as firewalls and filters on our computers also needs to be re-examined to make sure that our campus is protecting our students from information that is not beneficial to the educational process. This course also brought up many points for me to consider as I look to implement new technology on my campus such as making sure that the software and hardware that I choose to purchase is compatible with existing technology. I also will need to make sure that the technology that I purchase will be flexible enough to perform all the services that I need it to for the price that I am quoted. I do not want to purchase technology that is outdated or not compatible with what I already have on my campus. I believe that it is very important that I make sure that we have a strong technology infrastructure on our campus if we are going to expect our teachers to implement technology in their classrooms.
What outcomes did you not achieve? What prevented you from achieving them?
I did not receive as much information on specific types of hardware and software that are being implemented in successful schools. If I can be exposed to best practices related to technology that are being used on successful campuses then I believe that I can learn from these other schools. Some technology hardware and software was addressed in the articles that I read in this course, but I feel that if a specific section was devoted to this topic it would have been more beneficial to me. I also believe that I did not learn as much about the actual technology that is being implemented and used in the classrooms successfully by teachers. Exposure to the way that teachers in successful schools are using technology in their lessons on a daily basis would benefit me as an administrator on my campus. What type of hardware are these successful teachers using in their classrooms? What software are they implementing that has been successful in improving their student’s learning? These are just a few of the questions that I would like to see answered in more depth. The outcomes above were addressed in part in various places throughout the course, but I believe that if these topics were put into specific sections and studied in more detail it would be very beneficial. I will be able to achieve the outcomes I desired by putting in some more research time on my own. Being exposed to the topics in this course has helped me identify what areas of technology I need to learn more about in order to lead my campus toward the new age of technology. The outcomes that I desired will all be achieved after I have put in some research on my own.
Were you successful in carrying out the course assignments? If not, what prevented or discouraged you?
I was successful in carrying out all of the required course assignments. Some of the assignments were more difficult to complete than others due to various aspects of the assignments. The Week 1 assignments involved primarily self-assessments that were not difficult to complete and summarize the results. The LoTi Survey and the SETDA Teacher Survey required more time and effort to complete but the instructions were clear and I was able to complete the assignment with no problems. In Week 2 we analyzed the Texas STaR Chart and our Campus STaR Chart and examined the strengths and weaknesses of our individual campuses. Access to the STaR Charts was not difficult and then it was just a matter of reviewing the data and drawing my conclusions. The other parts of our Week 2 assignments involved posting data to our blogs. I had some difficulty at first in finding the proper online resources that would allow me to post my slideshow in my blog. The information was given to me in the course instructions but at times I still had difficulty using the suggested websites to perform the required tasks. This is probably not due to poor instructions from my professor but due to my lack of previous knowledge of blogging. The Week 3 report that required conducting interviews with administrators, SBDM members, students, and technology directors was one of the most difficult assignments that I had to do in this course. The report itself is not what made it difficult, but the time that was required to interview the participants. Finding time to interview staff members is very difficult during school. Administrators and teachers are so busy that conducting interviews is a difficult process. The organizational chart in Week 4 was not difficult but it was new to me and took me a little time to learn to use the software tools that were needed to create a chart. The Integrating Technology Action Plan took me some time to complete but once I had the data organized it did not present much of a problem.
Overall I felt that the assignments in this course were more difficult for me to complete than the other courses I have taken due to the time that was required for the assignments. I don’t know if this is due to this being a very busy time for me in school or if the assignments were more time consuming.
What did you learn from this course…about yourself, your technology and leadership skills, and your attitudes?
The information that I received from this course included state and federal technology requirements for school districts, how to analyze data to develop a technology plan, hardware and software that are being used in the classroom, legal considerations for school districts, and setting up a proper infrastructure in a school. The use of several technology surveys also showed me personal strengths and weaknesses relating to technology as well as my school district strengths and weaknesses. I learned that I need to know more about state and federal requirements for technology in my school. I also am not efficient enough in the use of many technology tools that I should be including the use of powerpoint, blogging, and wiki’s. While I can use the technology to perform basic tasks; I am not as skilled as I should be. I understand that there are many areas of technology that I need to receive training on if I am going to be able to educate my staff and students in the proper use of some of these technology tools.
It will be hard for me to be a technology leader on my campus if I do not have a basic knowledge of both hardware and software that is on my campus or that is needed on my campus. This course has provided a lot of helpful information that has exposed me to technology needs and trends that I need to do further research on. I have also discovered many technology needs that I am going to have to address for my campus to continue to move forward in technology integration.
I believe that I have a good attitude toward technology and the use of technology on my campus. I have already began the process of integrating new technology in my classrooms but we are facing many challenges relating to teacher use of technology and having the proper infrastructure to support our technology. I am going to have to work closely with our technology director to address the infrastructure concerns on our campus. I want my teachers to integrate technology into their classrooms and into their lessons on a regular basis. If I am going to ask my teachers to use technology then I am going to have to make sure that I provide them with technology that works and an infrastructure that supports what I am asking them to do.
This course exposed me to many aspects of technology that I am going to be able to use to lead my campus toward a new age of technology. I have established a good technology base upon which I can build for the future.
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