Course+Reflections

=Course Reflections=

Reflection – EDLD 5306 Concepts of Educational Technology
EDLD 5306 Concepts of Educational Technology was, of course, the first course of the Educational Technology Leadership program. This course was a very important starting point for the introduction to the world of educational technology. Our first assignment was an evaluation of the key ideas set forth in the Long-Range Technology Plan. In this assignment we were introduced to the vision for the future as well as why we need to make a change. I suppose that I was aware of these issues on some level but learned a great deal from this assignment about the what, where, and why of educational technology.

From this course I learned many new things, but I believe the most important was the strong need for infrastructure. This infrastructure is crucial at all levels of the educational system, so that we can give all students and teachers the same opportunities. Also, I learned what I would do if I were in a leadership role, and that would be to start with the infrastructure on my campus and work my way down. If the infrastructure is properly in place then the possibility that everyone has the access should exist. I would then turn to development programs for teachers, which is another main issue. If the teachers are not aware of these technology applications and how to use them properly then we cannot expect the students to benefit. Because I was not teaching at this point, I was not able to apply these concepts to any professional endeavors. I did, however, learn many things that were helpful to my personal life. I mainly benefitted from the exposure to the communication tools. The blog site that we created as a part of assignment two gave me many ideas to help me communicate better whether it be professional or personal.

The readings for this course were numerous and full of extremely useful information. One that stands out for me, almost 18 months later, are the articles on Digital Natives (Prensky, 2001). I hadn’t given much thought to the idea of digital natives vs. digital immigrants before, so this was an eye opener for me. I was especially concerned when Prensky (2001) speaks about how most of us older people were socialized differently from our kids, and that for us to learn what they know, it is like learning a new language. This is what we teachers will have to learn in order to effectively teach the young people of today. I found this point a bit daunting, and I suppose that is why this reading stayed with me. I thought this reading was especially germane to this introductory course, and it certainly helped me see what we are facing as educators in the 21st century.

My first introduction to my colleagues was in the assignment we did using a Wiki. If I remember correctly, I sent an invite to several people and the first person to join my wiki was Ellen Zimmerman. Gravity must have drawn us together because we ended up working so well together and that partnership has continued throughout this entire program. The dynamic between us is one of equality. We are both natural leaders, and there was a mutual respect there because of this. We both seemed to participate at an equal level, and there was never any conflict, hurt feelings, or any such controversy.

The overall feeling that I left this course with was that I’ve just been given the basic starting point of knowledge for this program. The questions that I had about the program and what direction we would be taking seemed to all be answered in this course.

 Prensky, Marc. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants part i. //On the Horizon - The Strategic Planning Resource for Education Professionals//, //9//(5)

Reflection – EDLD 5333 Leadership for Accountability
EDLD 5333 Leadership for Accountability was a very important course for me. Because I do not teach, I had not been exposed to the data that is used to evaluate performance in the public school system. This course provided me with a very comprehensive look at the data that is gathered and used to assess the needs of the students. I was exposed to a wealth of information on the Texas Education Agency’s website that included the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) data as well as the Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) data. I learned how to navigate through this data and pull out the items necessary to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the school. From this data, I learned how come up with an action plan to attack the problems.

This course was one of my most recent courses taken, and I was able to apply certain principles of leadership when I was asked to come up with the action plan. I am not currently working to I could not use these new skills in a professional setting, but they have definitely helped me deal with personal tasks that require leadership. Once again, as with our other courses, there were plenty of read assignments. The one that stands out the most with me is one that focuses on the benefits of professional learning communities (McTighe, 2008). In my professional life, I have always received great benefit from listening to my co-workers. This article speaks of the benefits of organized professional development communities as well as gives you some guidelines on the roles for the participants. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten together with a group for the first time, and we’ve had no idea where to start. This article shows you several roles to get started and just how these roles help to group focus on the ultimate goal of continuous improvement (McTighe, 2008).

Even though this course did not require any group collaboration, I still maintained contact with my core group of cohorts. We communicated in the discussion boards as well as via email and instant messaging. I hate to sound like a broken record, but we all seem to get along very well. Because the assignments didn’t require group work, there was no need for a leader or any such hierarchy. Even if that had become necessary, we have a few in the group that rise to the occasion and the other fall into place very naturally. I can honestly say that I have not experienced any significant conflict in working with any of my cohorts.  I think that the overall feeling in this course was positive. I remember some grumbling about how much work there was, but in the end we knew why. I thought the course was well put together and was extremely effective in teaching us what we needed to know. I didn’t feel that I was left with unanswered questions nor did I have any issues that I couldn’t figure out.

McTighe, J. (2008). Making the most professional learning communities. //The Learning// //Principal //, //3//(8), 4-7

EDLD 5368 Instructional Design
The benefits for educators that know how to design and implement online learning are extensive. Knowledge of that sort is of great importance to someone in education, and should be the goal of all educators. If an educator is equipped with the knowledge to design and implement online learning then they have conquered most of the task. All they really need after that are the proper resources in order to put to work their plan.

I ‘m not currently employed and am not sure what the future holds for my career, but I do have plans to use the knowledge that I’ve gained in this program. I created a Professional Development titled “Employing Technology to Create Inquiry-Based Curriculum” in this course, and I plan to use this course as a part of my internship. I’m interning at a local elementary school and am working with the Technology Coordinator and feel that this would be great to offer them. As for the future, I’m not sure if I’ll be teaching but hope to be involved somehow with education.

I still have a few questions about online learning but they mainly involve how to get schools set up with the proper equipment. I believe that it is crucial aspect of bringing schools up to date. I believe that is the main stumbling block and is all about funding. I wish that I had the answer but hopefully in the near future we’ll get it figured out.