Web Conference #2 Reflection

Tonight I attended my second web conference for this class. I am amazed at my increased comfort level during these conferences. The first time I attended one of these web conferences, in my last class,I was so nervous. I didn't want to appear as though I was a rookie. Now though, I realize that most people feel the same way. I am more confident asking questions and answering questions. With the development of our PSA group, I was able to locate a free web service for my team to meet together and hold our own web conference. We used ooVoo. It all worked out very well. Everyone was able to participate easily. I was so excited!! As I continue learning these new tools, I am reminded just how stressful learning new things can be. As educators we expect our students to face these challenges daily. The stress of being vulnerable as a novice is not always comfortable. However, with each success I experience, I become more confident in my abilities to master the next hurdle or task. Our students go through these same feelings. Our job as educators is to make sure our students experience success to bridge the gaps between the fear of the unknown and the ability to take the next risk.

Web Conference Reflection

I attended the web conference the evening of Tuesday, 11/22/11. It was a full web conference with many attendees. Some students who arrived late were unable to get on. I appreciated Dr. Abernathy beginning on time. Dr. Abernathy answered questions about week 2’s assignment as well as about the upcoming PSA assignment. She also shared her thoughts and heart on what she hopes we, the students, will achieve through this course. I thought that was really neat to hear. It eased some of my nerves and inhibitions. Attending an online program by nature can be an isolating experience since we are so remote. Through the web conference though, students can connect both with one another and with the instructor. This experience provided an opportunity for us to feel connected and more visible. It also allowed for specific questions to be answered. I left the web conference feeling more at east about the upcoming assignments.

Digital Story - "My Zipline"

Completing this assignment was daunting at first. Coming up with a direction, a theme, and then editing down the material was complex. What began as a seven minute narrative ended up at just under 4 minutes. I simply couldn't figure out what more to delete and still capture the theme within my story. My partner Lesha and I interviewed each other using a word document housed in dropbox. We were both able to access the interview questions and critique each others scripts in this folder. This collaborative process was helpful in editing down ideas and maintaining our focus.

EDLD 5306 Concepts of Technology - End of Course Reflection

When I began this course I hoped to learn about technology in the classroom. This class increased my knowledge of technology in many ways. I learned how to create a Wordle and export it to a pdf and word document. I created an animoto. I have learned about RSS feeds and how to manage my subscriptions via my google reader. All three of these have great applications for the classroom. Allowing us to use these as part of our learning in this class was empowering. In addition, I have also learned about my district and state technology plans and better understand E-Rate and how schools receive funds for technology. My awareness of cyber-bullying has increased dramatically and I now have resources to use with both my campus and parents to help empower how we inform our students about Internet safety. Copyright laws are complicated, but I now understand them better and know where to go for more information. This class has given me an overview with some specifics to help me feel a little more empowered to be a source of reliable information for my campus.

As a dyslexia therapist, understanding how to utilize technology to support my students in the classroom is very important. Creating a blog to support my students and their families is on my action plan now that I know how to do this. Being able to subscribe to RSS feeds and inform my parents, students, and teachers of emerging technologies will be valuable and exciting. So many of my parents would love a blog they can access with resources that provide support for both home and school which they can access 24/7. I have already used Wordle with a few of my students as we identified derivatives from their connected textbooks. The students loved this and were so engaged. They came back the next day and wanted to do it again. It was exciting to see their enthusiasm. I know I have so much to learn and I look forward to it.

In my role as a dyslexia therapist I am not allowed to use much technology with my students because of the delivery method required for our dyslexia curriculum. When I do use technology I have to sneak it in. This is frustrating for me because I see so many ways that technology can benefit our students. My biggest frustration is that students are not provided with direct instruction in how to use technological tools before they are given to them. Then when the students become frustrated or the technology does not appear to support the student the way it was intended, the technology is discarded. My goal is that in learning about technology I will be better able to provide instructional support and education for both my students and campus teachers. I am truly excited to learn as much as I can to help my students level the academic playing field they encounter daily.

Overall I was successful in completing the course assignments. Many times, I wish I had had more time to reflect on an article or journal we read. There were a couple of weeks where I felt the workload was simply overwhelming and I actually wondered what the purpose of that many assignments could be. There was no way a person could complete them and truly remember what was read or reflected upon. I disagree with activities that seem purposeless in those situations. I was unable to participate in the required podcasts due to work and family requirements. However, I did take the time to watch them both and completed the reflection assignment, but was not given any points for that. That was discouraging to have invested those additional hours in something and not be given even partial credit for that work. Finding a way to balance the rigorous time requirements of these classes with family and work is challenging to say the least.

In the first week of this class we took a number of personal and technological inventories. I learned that as an Idealist, I am a positive, reflective and introspective person. I enjoy quality relationships and I am passionate about inspiring and empowering others. My top three intelligences are music, linguistic and intrapersonal. My linguistic skills suit me very well for an online course that requires as much writing as this course does. I’m glad I enjoy written reflection. I have communication and coaching strengths that help me in my current position. However, I need to develop my skills in the area of delegation and budgeting. I hope that my experiences over the next 15 months will provide me with opportunities to flex those weaker skills. Technologically, I have a number of strengths when it comes to basic Microsoft Office knowledge, Internet navigation, and some hardware knowledge. I am excited to grow in the areas of technology integration, building on what my students already know and finding more ways to utilize technology to support and engage my students with their learning.

Week 2 Web Conference Reflection

I was unable to attend either of the web conferences due to previously scheduled appointments. I did, however, watch both of the conferences to ensure I did not miss anything. I was surprised how long it took to get everything started and will use that knowledge to help me plan any future web conferences I may organize and facilitate. The administrative requirements to facilitate and get everyone logged in, mics off, and speakers on at appropriate times is something one needs to plan for. Obviously this was planned for because the total conference time did not run longer than an hour. It was neat to see how people could talk either via mic or text. I like that. It was also fun to watch family members interact by accident or on purpose with the conference. Because none of us know each other, it provided a sense of connectedness that otherwise would not be achieved in a program like this. I plan to make sure I can attend the next conference. Furthermore, I enjoyed hearing the overview of the program explained and feel much better about the course load.

Week 2: National Education Technology Plan

The National Educational Technology Plan (NETP) 2010 calls for a radical and highly needed transformation of our public education system. The goals contained within this plan are aggressive. To make matters worse, projected federal and state revenues are significantly reduced making the future of public education clearly uncertain. What is clear is the need for cost-effective and cost-saving strategies that improve learning outcomes and graduation rates for millions of Americans. Technology will help us execute these collaborative teaching strategies combined with professional learning to better prepare our students and educators. The five areas the NETP identifies to help close the educational gaps are learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure, and productivity.

Learning
Learners must have engaging and empowering learning experiences available 24/7 to help them become effective and global participants. The challenge is to find ways to combine technology with learning that reflects today’s modern society. A core set of standards-based concepts should form the basis of what all students must learn and reflect emerging technologies which are integrated into all content areas to create meaningful learning. Differentiated learning is huge focus with data driven instruction guiding what and how students learn. Through engaging and empowering lessons, students will become motivated to be successful, life long learners.

Assessment
Educators must utilize technology to measure what matters and use assessment data to drive instruction for continued improvement. Through the use of technology-based assessments, data about student learning can be achieved instantly and employed to improve student success. Online learning instruction provides greater insights into how students learn and facilitate deeper connections. Additionally, embedded assessment technologies in the form of virtual games and collaborative environments can be used to motivate and engage learners while assessing multiple skills.

Teaching
Technology connects educators to data, resources, and learning experiences that empower and inspire effective teaching. Connected teaching enables our education system to provide access to effective teaching and learning resources that are not available any other way. Online communities provide tools for educators to collaborate, share, support, and develop resources with and for one another. Online learning supports students and districts with limited resources and provides high quality teaching and courses for all learners. Through the use of connected teaching, learning needs are met for all students and teachers.

Infrastructure
All students and educators must have access to a strong infrastructure that support learning 24/7. Infrastructure as defined by NETP refers to people, processes, learning resources, policies, and sustainable models in addition to effective hardware and software. The goal is for every educator and student to have access to at least one wireless access device and appropriate software use when needed. This entails consistent access to the internet and wireless connectivity both in and out of the school. Additionally, open education resources (OER) must be utilized to create 24/7 learning opportunities for all students.

Productivity
The education system must redesign the current public school infrastructure to ensure the most efficient use of time, money, and staff through the best use of technology. This redesign must be made with the desired outcomes predefined. The role of public education has changed and must reflect the times we live in to ensure that our students are prepared for their future. Continuous measurement and data collection must become second nature for educators to track costs with outcomes. Education needs to re-evaluate classroom structures, think outside the box, and even consider multi-age groups based on learning needs.

Technology can enable transforming education, but only if we commit to the change that it will bring to our education system. Creative funding, grants and contracts must be identified to help bridge the gaps in state and federal funds needed for this technology restructure to occur.

Week 2: FISD Technology Plan

The Frisco ISD technology plan is well defined with a vision, mission and target goals. The mission statement includes the following words, “will empower students, educators, and the community to utilize current and emerging technologies as tools for life-long learning.” At the heart of this vision is the 21st Century Learner, which is illustrated with a web graphic on the homepage.

District technology plans must meet the E-rate, No Child Left Behind, and Texas State Long Range Technology Plan guidelines. To ensure that Frisco ISD meets these guidelines, the Frisco ISD technology plan has 4 specific goals. The first goal targets effective technology staff development by assuring that every campus is assigned a Technology Integration Facilitator. These individuals must be certified teachers and are responsible for conducting on-going technology staff development. The ongoing staff development opportunities may include campus specific workshops, summer technology integration classes, job-embedded training, online training modules, and video streaming seminars.

The second and third goals target utilizing technology to enhance instruction, administrative tasks, and ultimately student achievement. Frisco ISD has introduced BYOD, or Bring Your Own Device, this year. For the first time students are allowed to bring their own ipad, itouch, iphone, laptop, e-readers, or other approved devices to school as educational tools. Teachers are encouraged to create activities where these devices can be integrated into the curriculum.

The fourth goal targets the technology infrastructure and ensures that the most current technologies are being utilized. School campuses must meet a district-wide minimum standard for technology hardware and software. Every campus is provided high-level voice and data services as well as a high bandwidth capability. Annual inventories are conducted to ensure that these goals are being maintained.

Emerging technologies are constantly researched for possible use within the district. Our technology staff attends state and national conferences and discusses best practices with other school districts. Programs are often piloted for feasibility and success before they are implemented on a larger scale.

Budgeting for current and future technologies is difficult in today’s uncertain circumstances. Funding comes from a combination of state technology allotments, property taxes, and bond funds. Alternative funding sources such as grants and federal programs are secured as needed. All available revenue sources are utilized to fund the technology program.

E-rate and Frisco ISD Technology Plan

E rate and tech plan

View more presentations from Leanne Rose Crane.

Week 2: Technology Assessments

The use of campus and teacher surveys to assess the technological literacy of educators is a vital tool to determine where growth has occurred and is still needed.  In reviewing our campus results, it was insightful to see where the individual scores changed from year to year based on the participants input.  It would be interesting to also view the staff demographics for each year assessed and see how many of the participants were first time teachers vs. teachers with more than 5 years experience along with age groupings of the participants.  Younger teachers, just out of college, often have stronger technology backgrounds.  Being able to view these additional staff demographics would provide an extra layer of clarity in analyzing the trends.  Understanding these annual trends show campus strengths and weaknesses and aid with future planning for staff development, budgeting, and continued alignment with campus, district and state goals.

To continue with technological growth, campus and district leaders must keep pace with the development of technology and visibly support its use on campus.

As a dyslexia therapist, I am very limited with the use of technology with my students due to the fidelity of the curriculum I teach and the manner in which it must be delivered.  However, I strongly advocate for the regular use of technology for my students in the classroom.  If my students have access to an itouch or iphone, I help them locate apps they can be used to facilitate spelling, speech to text, and math computation.  I encourage my students to use calculators for computation.  After getting my teachers and/or campus leaders to understand the need for these tools, my students are usually allowed to use these tools.  However, there is often little to no instruction provided for the student in how the tools can be used to simplify the student’s work.  It is simply assumed that the student will know how to use the tool within the context of their learning.  This is frustrating but illustrates how technology integration is breaking down at a very fundamental level.  These tools are there to help our kids.  However, instruction must be modeled and include opportunities for use so that the student associates technology as a tool for learning and not just a random app or cool gadget.

It is difficult to change  “old school” ideas that view technology as a luxury, an extravagance, or even a distraction for learning.  There are still many teachers in the classroom that do not integrate technology into their instruction as they could because they believe that they “turned out fine” without the use of technology so their students will also “be fine” learning without the use of integrated technology.   This is frustrating.  Only through continued technological assessments, strong leadership, staff development, and state TEK requirements will this change.

Blogs and the 21st Learner

Blogs are online running dialogs for dispersing information both collegially or casually.  They have an incredible educational value as they allow learners to reach out, share information, and trade ideas.  The 21^st century learner can view ideas, review previous learning as needed, view embedded video clips, post responses, synthesize information and create new products which are immediately shared with others to view and provide feedback.  This transaction of sharing ideas and trading information has created a global community of learners who are able to communicate with each other from a distance.  No longer are people limited to voice-to-voice conversations, time constraints like school day hours or staff meetings from 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm, or singular mediums like books or classroom teachers to facilitate learning.  This virtual learning, or learning without walls, has taken literacy to a new level.  The ability to share ideas with people in your classroom, school, or across large geographic areas like cities, states, or continents allows us to connect and learn from people in new and previously unreachable ways. Learning becomes much more immediate, engaging, and ever-changing.


Blogging in education brings with it some notable controversy and concerns due to the unfiltered access to information from multiple sources on the internet.  How do students identify excellent sources of data on the internet amidst all the options available?  In years past, the books, which housed the information that students learned from, was filtered by publishers, school curriculum specialists, teachers, or other experts in the field.  Teachers and librarians can educate students in how to locate an excellent library resource with ease and few complications.  Parents can take their child to the library and know with reasonable certainty that if their child was researching the American Revolution, that the books their child found were worthy resources. Now, however, with unlimited information available on the internet, students must filter the information retrieved on their own.  A simple Google search on the American Revolution, using only the words, “American Revolution” yielded 968,000 results in .07 seconds.  Information is definitely available to students.   So how do today’s students filter those results into something that is manageable and worthy of their time? Today’s students need to be taught how to search for and identify quality internet sources.  This means classroom teachers must be educated in how to teach these strategies so that students can become the facilitators of their own learning.


Blogging provides a time efficient way to communicate with key players and stakeholders and receive feedback.  It allows individuals to view information housed in one location.  It creates a one-stop-shopping kind of information repository.  Why do so many people love to shop at Target or Walmart?  It is because one can walk into a single store and find nearly everything needed in one trip.  Blogging allows for the same thing with information and learning.  On a school campus, grade level blogs can provide tools, tips, video clips, tutorial information, upcoming events, and educational links and resources for parents to check out.  Principals can use blogs to not only disperse information but also gather feedback on procedures or campus wide events.  In past years, I have facilitated book studies via blogs.  It was an excellent way to participate in a book study without being tied to additional meetings at specific times during the week. As a dyslexia therapist, I have a blog for my parents which houses links to published and peer reviewed research, notable dyslexia associations, authors for parents and children to read, and tools and tips for working with students with dyslexia.  I no longer need to email out this information individually.  I simply send parents the link to the blog and they can “shop” on my blog as they need this information. Blogs allow us to work smarter, not harder as information is posted, reviewed, referenced, and utilized without the need for face-to face meetings.  

Plugged in - Concepts of Technology

After completing my first week of Concepts of Technology, I am feeling a little overwhelmed.  There is so much that I do not know and want so desperately to learn.  I wish I could be "plugged in" and "updated" as easily as my apps can.  Our kids are born in a different time....literally.  It is a time abuzz with electronics, gadgets, and a digital language that is vastly different from our own language.  How do  we keep up when we, the adults, are already behind?  How do we teach our kids to use technology in an ethical and safe way when they can access technology in ways that we can only aspire too?  I am inspired by my own boys and their ability to pick up a new phone and immediately, intuitively connect with it.  I'm awed by their ability to play a game and easily understand the controls and objectives.  I'm amazed at what they can do in their robotics class or their multimedia class.  Their generation is wired for a wireless world.  As overwhelming as it can be, I do look forward to learning all that I can in this class.