Reflections on assignments in EDLD 5306 Concepts of Educational Technology

As with any introduction course, I expected this class to pique my interest in many areas of educational technology without becoming bogged down in any one area. I feel that this class performed exactly to my expectations, a complement to the designers. Often it seems as though an introductory course will delve too deeply into certain areas that will be covered in an entire class later in the program. Detail is good, but when presenting too much detail to an audience that is just beginning to understand new concepts, the presenter can dishearten or overwhelm the audience. This class moved quickly, efficiently, and delivered just the right amount of content to give me solid perspective on how instructional technology at the classroom and campus level relates to what is happening on a national and global level. I especially enjoyed learning about campus STAR charts and how they can be used to evaluate trends in schools’ technology use over time.

The outcomes I’ve achieved are very relevant to the work I perform for Irving ISD. Though not currently an information technology professional in my school district, my current position requires that I report on the news events happening in our classrooms. Not only did this class give me a perspective of current technology events unfolding in education, it also helped me to understand more clearly how technology is being integrated into Irving ISD classrooms. Equipped with the increased knowledge and vocabulary that I’ve acquired over the past several weeks, I am able to more effectively present my district’s technology success to the community. Since I hope to become an education technology administrator following completion of the degree program, I can use the next year and a half to become an informed observer of educational technology. Armed with the tools learned in this course plus the information to be learned through the next 17 months, I will be an excellent candidate for a position in the field of educational technology administration.

I am still a bit unclear as to the exact nature of the dynamic and spiraling construction of TEKS. I read the required readings and completed the exercises, but the way TEKS are constructed eludes me. I cannot honestly say what prevented me from achieving understanding of TEKS construction, it just did. Hopefully when I prepare to take my teacher certification course, there will be more time spent there explaining how and why TEKS are constructed the way they are. I do understand how the requirements apply to the various grade levels, but I neither understand what makes it dynamic, nor do I understand how it is spiraling. I also don’t believe I achieved a thorough understanding of the process a school principal takes in translating all teacher STAR charts into the school STAR charts? Does the principal merely average the Key Area ratings from the teacher charts to come up with the school ratings for the Key Areas, or is there a more advanced formula (TEA, 2006)? I thought the STAR chart lessons were very informative and that is a very useful tool, but I would have appreciated more time spent on the process of using it to evaluate technology integration and use at all levels.

I feel as though I was very successful in carrying out all course assignments. The assignment instructions were clearly outlined. I am also very appreciative of the complete and detailed grading rubric provided with each assignment. Though I didn’t always earn the maximum amount of points possible for each assignment, I felt as though being able to use the rubric as a checklist for the standards required was a very welcome element. I also think that the way assignments were presented – specifically the requirements to create a blog and wiki – was very productive. Having to figure out the “nuts and bolts” of those websites without detailed instruction and instead just broad guidelines was a good example of how to present this type of lesson in classes to students and in professional development. Furtheremore, Richardson's explanation of blogs as a tool for collaboration and using RSS feeds to keep students and parents updated on assignments was illuminating (2004). These simple concepts are easily understood by teachers and will appeal to their sense of value for blogs and wikis.

Because I have not been a public school teacher before in Texas, it became very clear to me that before becoming a technology leader, I will need to learn everything I can regarding STAR charts, Technology Application TEKS, and how Acceptable Use Policies are applied in an ever-changing educational technology environment. Though I didn’t grow up using technology as a student to the extent our kids do today, my technology skills are quite advanced compared to a lot of my peers. Also my ability to assimilate to and understand changing environments will allow me to excel in the educational technology realm. I also found that because of what I do in my current job, I had a hard time accepting the suggested practice of letting students discover the web without filters. As public information specialist for my school district, a large part of my job is protecting students FERPA rights and making sure the media does not use their names or images if parents haven’t agreed. Along those same lines, my first inclination is also to protect students from dangers that lurk on the Internet. But a funny thing happened in last week’s discussion. The topic of Facebook was brought up and how many districts have told teachers that they will not include students as “friends”. Many were in agreement that there is no place for Facebook in education. It was at this point that I began to understand that only with education will we be able to truly create an open educational environment. We had to create wikis for this class, which I define as a social networking tool. Since Facebook is so attractive to young users, we must educate our students as thoroughly and early as possible regarding the proper and professional use of social networking so that we can all get the most benefit out of developing a global social network. Perhaps by allowing student-centered learning and exploration of Web 2.0 tools such as social networking, blogs, wikis, etc, students will better learn to be responsible and enlightened content providers (Mills, 2007).

Texas STaR chart: School technology and readiness: The campus chart. (2006). Austin, TX: Texas Education Agency.

Richardson, W. (2004). Blogging and RSS – The what’s it? And how to of powerful new web tools for educators. MultiMedia & Internet @ Schools, 11(1), 10-13.

Mills, L. B. (2007). The next wave now: Web 2.0. The Education Digest, 73(4), 4-5.