Reflections on ISTE's Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards

Reflections on Technology Facilitator Standard I: Operations and Concepts

According to Williamson and Rediish, this standard “refers to general, basic skills that are usually transferrable skills across different hardware platforms and software applications.” (Williams, 2009)
It was no surprise that the standards begin with this first foundational standard, that is one with which every facilitator and leader must be very comfortable in order to provide information to teachers with the goal of building their skills in operations and concepts. And yet, as the facilitator exudes confidence in his own skills, it is extremely important to take time with teachers to build their confidence to create lifelong learners. I have seen trainers who rush through the instruction, assuming that all teachers catch on quickly. However, some of our veteran teachers are such new immigrants to the digital world, that they feel lost when it comes to technology. In order to foster lifelong learning, we must coach these immigrants so that they want to learn more, rather than avoid technology. Williamson and Redish offer several suggestions such as educating our teachers as we would students, with differentiated instruction and according to different learning styles. “Individualization is especially important considering that technology competency levels are more varied than they were ten years ago.” (Williams, 2009) I am making an effort to coach and encourage teachers in our district to help them be comfortable utilizing technology as a tool. A lot of what I have learned has been through either modeling, or trial and error. I try to help others see that it is almost always possible to undo a mistake, and that we learn from those, too.
Williamson and Redish also comment that “Critics has expressed concern that technology skills training has been overemphasized in teacher professional development, while support for integrating technology into academic content areas has been neglected.” (Williams, 2009) I have to agree since the only training our district has provided, with the exception of one course that I recall, has not prepared teachers to integrate technology as a tool to support instruction in core subjects. It almost seems as if we are in the dark ages. Until the time that I began to take courses in ed tech leadership, I was not aware of the standards, the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology, ISTE, etc. It is past time for the word to be out, and I am working to do my part in this.

Reflections on EDLD 5364 Teaching with Technology

EDLD 5364 was one of the most practical classes that I recall, and I gained valuable information for immediate integration. Collaborating with the team was a positive experience, and we demonstrated that an online team can create a UDL unit that is easily implemented into current classes. I am proud of the unit we designed, and I plan to use this as the model for many more to come. As we read in the text about effort and assessment, I was particularly intrigued to see how authentic assessment can be employed; and as we demonstrate through the use of spread sheets and other technology how effort pays off, I am so hopeful that many more students will take an interest in putting forth the effort to achieve higher standards.

Reflections on EDLD 5362 Information Systems Management

As a student in EDLD 5362, I most enjoyed planning the model classroom. From the experiences interviewing a colleague about increased technology in the last twenty years, to viewing many websites to determine what I plan to utilize in my position, I have been challenged to increase my own use of available technologies, as well as encourage and demonstrate for others how to take more risks in exploring Web 2.0 tools. Some of the websites were familiar, but I appreciate the extensive list of resources and look forward to using many more than the ones I originally planned.
Evaluating our SIS has also been very enlightening, and I discovered it to be more comprehensive than I realized. That assignment helped me to determine the areas of our SIS that are satisfactory and others that are merely adequate and could be better. The opportunity to evaluate our district technology plan was also eye-opening. When I learned that ours is not easily accessible, I approached our technology director to see what can be done to rectify that. As the technology staff works on the district site this summer, I hope am looking for the plan to be more obvious to all who visit our website.
As I state first, the most enjoyable assignment, and one that caused me to really think about where I/we are going with technology, was creating the model classroom. Thinking about this has helped me to evaluate where I am with technology, and where I want to be in the next five years. The classroom I designed is not unrealistic, and I plan to present my plan, which is in line with the Horizon Report, to our administration and technology staff this summer. We were already allowed to apply for a local grant in which I wrote one for a SRS, which is part of the plan I designed.
I would never have known about some of the emerging technologies had it not been for the work in this class. The Horizon Report included information of which I was unaware, and now hope to incorporate into our district technology plan.

EDLD 5370 Comprehensive Exam

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B40X4d3ddH0EMmRhN2RlNWYtNDQxYy00M2JlLWJiYjctNTI1OTQ0NjY0NDdk&hl=en_US