Reflections on Instructional Leadership: The Technology Link

Upon first realizing that this course was not just based on Leadership but linked to technology I was very excited about learning about new advances in technology uses in the classroom and in the school. Being a technology enthusiasts I immediately began to think of ways technology could be used to help run the day to day operations of a school and how far technology has advanced in the last ten years. My personal expectations for the course were probably somewhat unrealistic being that I wanted to know more about devices such as iphones, touchpad computers and digital boards rather than procedures and safety issues although I am aware that as an instructional leader I am responsible for all aspects of technology integration, even those that may seem mundane. I also had to take into account the different levels of other students in this course whose interest in technology may not be on devices but with policy. My desired outcomes are based on the fact that I struggled when choosing rather to pursue my masters degree in administration or technology. Although I craved more information on new hardware and software integration the course has renewed my interest in researching technology in the school and classroom and broadened my perspective of technology to include people and planning at the core of the integration process rather than machines.

     In my daily work at school I have begun to look at ways we use technology, making a mental inventory of what teachers are using and how they are using it and comparing it to what students are using. I have begun to include students in discussions about technology and how they use it at school and at home. I have asked them what tools they would like to see incorporated into their learning environments and how these tools would help them achieve learning goals set by the school and state. I have discussed internet safety, copyright laws and peer to peer sharing with them. Before this course my thinking was limited to what technology could do for me as an individual and teacher and now my thinking has broadened to students, teachers, parents and faculty including custodians and cafeteria workers. My new perspective has caused me to wonder if an electronic broom (Roomba) would make time for custodians to do other things while the floors are being cleaned electronically. I have investigated how communication can be improved with a better web site informing parents of homework, classwork and grades. 

     This course was the perfect springboard for my own personal growth and where it fell short in highlighting the newest areas of digital integration in education, it caused me to seek out these new areas and ideas from subtle prompting found in the readings and discussions.  For instance, handheld computing devices were mentioned but not enough insight was given on how they could be used in schools which caused me to seek out sites that reported on ipods and iphones in education which is a big topic in itself but still in it’s infancy. I also wanted to know about the possibilities of replacing textbooks with electronic reading devices or other personal computing devices which caused me to investigate the potential for students, teachers, and parents working together to create a digital curriculum in the summer that would be used in the fall and spring. In this search I discovered one of the Top Inventions for 2009, a laptop initiative that personalized each student’s learning styles and matched it with their interests and needs. 

     In completing each assignment for this course I ran into few problems except for my initial problems with posting a powerpoint to my blog. I had never done this before and the resources provided by the professors were adequate, however, because I prefer Apple’s Keynote software over Windows’ PowerPoint I struggled to get the file to upload  and convert to a readable file successfully. This minor setback caused me to export the file as a quicktime movie file which could then be imported directly into the blog. 

This act of problem solving is part of the skill set we want students to gain when working on projects and yet sometimes we take away their ability to discover new knowledge by giving them too much information. This incident is an example of real world problem solving techniques that can be duplicated in the classroom to teach thinking skills while embedded in other subject matter. 

     I have learned in this course that no tool can guarantee success nor replace the skill of a master teacher, however just as robotic assembly lines have changed the mass production of goods, tools created by or with master teachers can advance the learning process for the differentiated masses of students in today’s learning arenas. In order to be a part of this revolution administrators must not yield to complacency by accepting any one system as a panacea for their school’s problems. Technology is moving at such a rapid rate of speed that our beliefs about technology must be flexible or our methods and tools will become outdated. It is the responsibility of a leader to see where the trends of today are heading and how they can be used to serve the needs of tomorrows organizations. 

     Blogging is the 21st century town crier, the personal newspaper, a digital bulletin and  the electronic chalkboard. It puts the power of disseminating information into the hands of the masses. However, with so many voices crying out, has the voice of reason been drowned out? One adage on the subject states that “Never before have so many people with so little to say said so much to so few”. (anonymous) The latter was my former belief about blogging until I realized that I followed some forms of blogs on subject matter that I was interested in not realizing that they were blogs. When reading my classmates blogs and posting responses, it became apparent of the usefulness for such a tool to collaborate and share information with a selected group of individuals.

Blogging as the 21st century crier could inform parents and students of upcoming events and remind them of deadlines and due dates. Blogging as a personal newspaper could inform parents of what is taking place in the classrooms  while the digital bulletin can highlight students and feature their work. Blogging as an electronic chalkboard can be used to give homework directions, problems and list online resources for help on a variety of subjects. Because blogs are dated and stored online this information is always available and can act as a digital journal for the life of students and teachers, however the most important aspect of providing such a tremendous amount of information is to not divulge information that could jeopardize relations between students, parents and the district such as erroneous information or descriptive information that could give a predator insight to a students life. Because of the threats that do exist it is feasible to maintain several blogs with various levels of exposures, pending on the audiences. When blogs are used correctly they are powerful tools for disseminating information and even gathering comments from individuals. Like all digital tools, their successful implementation depends largely on their underlying framework which consist of policies, rules and procedures.

Technology Action Plan

Planning and Staff Development

Our largest deficit for technology needs is the lack of leadership and a written plan that addresses where the campus is, where we want to go, how to get there and how long it will take. Our first priority would be to acknowledge the need for technology planning by viewing and discussing the Long Range Plan for Technology. Before discussing the LRPT the staff should listen to a panel of former students discuss how they now use technology on their college campuses and inform the staff of how well or unprepared they were for the technological advances of college life. The students should show and explain how they use their phones, laptops and personal devices for learning, communicating and staying informed. The students should also make suggestions for enhancing the use of technology on our campus by discussing what they are motivated to do when technology is involved. The tech team will visit students and record their interviews on campus when feasible or even meet over the web with video conferencing. Each grade level will be responsible for reporting on a section of the LRPT using a video, audio or PowerPoint production including how and where our campus fits into the LRPT.

Our school will also meet together to complete the StaR chart for our campus. The tech team will meet to find an app that grade levels will use with ipod touches to complete a survey which will be tallied school wide and presented at meeting. We will discuss the advantages of using a device to complete a survey rather than the traditional method. We will also discuss how it can be used in the classroom. We will then review the compiled information for our campus StaR chart and teams will discuss ways we can improve our use of technology and how it will effect the learning environment of our school. Teachers will be given the assignment to complete the teacher’s StaR chart and share what areas they will begin to address immediately and submit a request for training in that area.

All teachers will receive PowerPoint training, ipod touch training, and audio/visual component training in a series of classes offered by the tech team during their planning periods for teams, after school for larger groups and can schedule one-on-one training before school. All training done by tech team will be followed by a survey so that the trainers can improve their training abilities. They will be responsible for documenting areas of weakness as highlighted on surveys and explain how they are working to improve in these areas.

ASSESSMENTS

In order to ensure the success of our technology integration plans it is necessary to establish a timeline with checkpoints for measuring the efficacy of the plan so that changes can be implemented if the need arises to redirect our efforts in order to reach our goal. As evidenced in the report on technology for our campus it is vital that our leadership acts to complete a plan which they can and will support by providing the tools needed for the plans implementation and the ongoing assistance with verification that the plan is being incorporated as outlined by all involved.The executive committee of the school will include time in their weekly meetings to discuss the progress or lack of progress and address these issues with the staff as needed. The school’s technician will have to document how time spent is related to the support of the plan and make certain to allocate his time on those items which are the highest priority for the most students to gain the greatest benefits through their use of technology. The tech team will be responsible for the majority of the in house training and for providing information concerning outside training as well. These individuals will also take the necessary steps to become Master Technology Teachers with the necessary assistance provided by administration. The tech team will be responsible for documenting all training by teams and individuals using data bases on mobile devices so that they can track the progress of all teachers on campus similar to an IEP for students. The tech team will highlight training dates, tips, resources and acknowledgments for teachers who have attended training sessions and teachers who are using technology in new ways in their classrooms in a monthly digital newsletter.  Teachers will also be able to contribute to the newsletter by sharing their ideas, their progress and stories about their students’ use of technology. At the end of each nine week period administration will allow time for a general meeting in which the administration and tech team give a report of our progress and each team will have a representative present a way they are using technology in the classroom and/or examples of technology assisted student work.                                                                                          

At the end of the school year we will re-examine the campus and teacher StaR charts and acknowledge our progress. We will also begin to re-work our technology plan for next school year including a wish list of hardware and software and staff training. 

Technology for Pre-K

The world is rapidly changing with the advancements of 1000110101's. It seems that everyday we are becoming more and more digital. Imagine the world for a Pre-k student who has always known digital this and digital that. For them it is not a changing world but the only world they know. Digital mediums will be their primary and perhaps only source for entertainment, communication and even learning. With this in mind it is important for pre-k students to be given the tools that are relevant to 21st century learning without limiting them because of our own technological limitations. They should be embedded in digital learning, given the access to digital learning devices and not just crayons and paper. Their learning should be built on a spiraling curriculum that builds and overlaps on prior knowledge. They should learn with digital tools while learning about digital tools. It is time that the crayons become electric.

STaR Chart

Teaching and Learning according to the Texas STaR Chart

The vision of the Teaching and Learning portion of the Long-Range plan for Technology, 2006-2020 is that technology will become the great equalizer for the growing diversity represented in the classrooms of Texas public schools. Technology can motivate students and enhance the learning process by providing students and teachers with the tools necessary to bring teaching and learning into the 21st century. The goal is to eliminate the great digital divide by providing students with the instruments and infrastructure to support modern and postmodern learning in an environment that is available and accessible from anywhere and at anytime. Learning will become more individualized and personal. Post modern learning will bring the world to the classroom and expand the classroom beyond the confines of the school building. Today most, if not all schools have Internet access, however many are limited by shared bandwidth and computers. To make learning personal each student needs his own personal device and each campus needs the infrastructure to support wireless high speed connections. Textbooks are becoming outdated as personal learning devices can make them available in a digital format using audio and video components rather than just pictures. Students will be able to highlight notes, record lectures, capture video and collaborate online at anytime with others on classroom projects while also exploring their own interest and documenting their findings. Some of these things are occurring on campuses now including my own campus with the use of ipods, however we must be careful not to put the cart before the horse by buying tech devices with no plan nor purpose of how to integrate them into the learning arena.

Campus Wizardry

I am a geek, which means I crave, lust after, jones for all things technological. I am also a teacher which means I am an overworked, underpaid glutton for punishment serving a client base of 5-12 year olds. When working with teachers who are primarily, for the most part, non-geek it is easy to become jaded after 14 years of solving technological mysteries of unplugged printers, re-starting computers, audio-visual connections and wireless passwords. It is rare that a teacher presents new information or shares some marveled new device but more common for them to present new ways that they have broken something. When I share new gadgets or information it is simply touted as "fancy" and for the most part ignored. When I show the students how I can control the computer with a wii remote they are amazed and beg for the chance to use it. When I give a demonstration of midi controllers using an ewi 4000s they can't wait to go home and ask their mothers for one. The staff refers to this midi wind device as an electric clarinet. When interacting with and observing students and teachers appreciation for and use of technology it is clear that most teachers would be graded on a sharp learning curve while students who marvel at technology are limited in their access and use of digital tools. After compiling data from a recent tech survey I was surprised to find out how many teachers wanted to integrate audio and visual components into their lessons and wanted training with powerpoint. Our campus does not yet provide consistent training for incorporating technology in the classroom and it is done on a personal level by myself and others with higher level abilities. When reviewing my own shortcomings I have forgotten how to manually manipulate spreadsheets because I have become so dependent on templates.(Which are a great time saver) However when looking at the level of technology integration on our campus I believe that my biggest weakness has been not being more influential in helping teachers become more tech savvy. Although I am capable of functioning in the digital domain with few shortcomings I have neglected my duties as a good teacher who motivates and excites the students preparing them to seek out learning on their own. Geeks love to brandish their technological wands of wizardry as tools of power and amazement while good teachers love to watch students discover their own wands of amazement through the power of learning. If we are to lead others into the digital domain there should be a roadmap for students and teachers to follow with honest assessments of where everyone is and how to move us to where we want to be. My part in this transformation is to relinquish my wand, come from behind the curtain and empower teachers with their own brand of "magic".