EDLD 5366 Reflection

Upon completion of this digital graphics course, I have learned several new ways in which digital graphics can be incorporated effectively into education. I have also come to better understand the purpose for and methods in which to incorporate digital graphics into my lessons. Before this course, I was never inclined to do so. Although I have made numerous computer-based lessons, I was never aware of the design principles that should have gone into them. After learning about the principles of design and becoming more familiar with how to utilize them, I see what I have been doing wrong and that it is easy to correct my mistakes. I also feel more comfortable with the idea of including animation in my lessons. I think that my students would greatly enjoy a little animation in their learning, and would appreciate the fact that I made it myself!

As I progressed through this course, I valued the videos and assigned readings to gain greater understanding of each assignment. Although there was one instance where I placed too much importance on a reading assignment and attempted to use Gimp to create an animation. Needless to say, I spent a few days exasperatedly trying to figure that one out! But, as with all of my other courses, I greatly appreciated the opportunity to interact with my fellow students for help and guidance. The discussion board is a great tool in keeping our class connected, and reading my classmates’ input really gives me many viewpoints to consider.

In my upcoming courses, I hope to have opportunities to show the knowledge I have gained in this course. I would love to be presented with more assignments utilizing my new graphic design skills, such as designing forms and documents or creating lessons. I also hope to once again have the opportunity to work with a group of my fellow students. I continue to learn so much from them each time we have a group assignment and I truly enjoy collaborating with them. With the new skills that I have obtained, I hope to challenge myself with creating my own classroom website. I have attempted it before, because I felt that it would be a great tool in connecting my classroom with parents and other school stakeholders. I hope to use my new knowledge to successfully achieve this goal.

EDLD 5363 Week 5

Phew! This class has been a great, yet challenging, learning experience. Prior to this course, I had very little experience creating videos. Now I feel much more comfortable in filming, editing, and sharing videos for use in my classroom.

I will admit that I was a little lost last weekend before I attending the web conference on Sunday. Dr. Abernathy had some very helpful information for us and assured us that we were doing a great job so far. I was also glad to hear that our priority should be completing our project, so we should not worry about the discussion board and readings for week five.

I have also enjoyed working with my fellow classmates. I had the opportunity to work with three awesome ladies and I have learned a lot from them. It was great to have others to consult with and get opinions from while working on this project.

Although this class has been a challenge, I have learned a lot and was given the opportunity to collaborate with my wonderful classmates. I have enjoyed it and hope that more of our classes are set up this way.

EDLD 5363 Week 2

Wow! This week's assignment was a challenge! I don't have much experience with video editing software and it was difficult for me to learn to navigate through new programs. I had a lot of trouble with Adobe Premiere. I found that it was very complicated and that I did not have enough time to devote to learning it well enough to teach it. So, I chose to explore iMovie a little more. I had used it last week to create my photo story, but I learned that it is capable of much more when I explored it today.

I created a short tutorial of the basics of iMovie for my assignment. I hope that it provides enough information for even beginners, like myself, to use it to create and edit videos.

ELDL 5363 - Web Conference #1

I attended our first web conference on Tuesday night and I'm glad that I did! I had many questions about our first assignment and about this course overall. Many of my classmates asked the questions that I was wondering myself, so I got lots of information from Dr. Abernathy and my classmates, as well. Unfortunately, about 20 minutes into the conference, I was disconnected and could not log back in. I'm not sure what happened and was wondering if anyone else experienced this problem. Overall, I have enjoyed conferencing with my professors and classmates. They are always very informative and I feel very supported and encouraged after each one. I look forward to many more!

EDLD 5301: Course Reflection

I have enjoyed this course and learned so much about how to implement action research and use it to improve the quality of my work. Through the different aspects of this course, I have acquired many different viewpoints and ideas from my instructors and fellow students. I believe that each learning tool provided in this course has helped me to become a more proficient action researcher.
The most useful learning tool in this course, for me, has been the discussion board. I loved viewing my fellow cohorts’ experiences and ideas working with action research. It was very useful to me to be able to compare their opinions and practices with my own. I also enjoyed receiving feedback from them on my posts and greatly valued their advice and suggestions.
I also enjoyed the required readings provided for our course. The texts explained so much about our research plans and gave excellent examples, which made the information easy to read and understand. The readings were interesting, to the point, and always explained any questions that I may have had prior to my reading them. The text, Leading With Passion and Knowledge, provided in-depth information into creating my action research plan through “wonderings” and how to implement it. It also went on to provide information on how to use the information that I acquire through my plan and how to continue assessing myself. The text, Examining What We Do To Improve Our Schools, also helped by providing insight into why we do action research and what drives most administrators to participate in action research plans.
The weekly assignments really went hand-in-hand with our readings. Each question was linked to certain reading assignment, and the answer could always be found as indicated. The assignments improved my understanding of the readings by compelling me to look deeper into the information and think about how this information was useful to me.
My blog was an enjoyable, useful tool throughout this course. I received a piece of feedback to my posting that really made me anxious to complete my research plan and share it with my fellow students so that we can compare our findings. I have noticed that several of my cohorts have chosen a similar research topic and I am curious to see how our findings are alike or how they may differ.
The videos provided also answered many of the questions that I may have had about implementing my action research plan. I greatly enjoyed the video assignment of week two that allowed me to hear stories from real administrators, such as Principal Johnny Briseno of Angleton ISD. These administrators gave great testimonies of using action research in their jobs and how it affected them.
Each component of this course has provided very useful information about action research. I feel that I am well prepared to implement my action research plan because of each information source provided throughout the course.

Dana, N.F. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Harris, S., Edmonson, S., & Combs, J. (2009). Examining what we do to improve our schools: 9 steps from analysis to action. Larchmont, N.Y.: Eye on Education.

My Action Research Plan

Renee Suire Action Research Plan

5301 Week 2 Reflection

This past week was our first week back to school, so I've had some difficulty juggling my job work and grad school work.  I hope to begin managing my time a little better in the coming weeks.

I can't beleive that week two is already over!  This course is moving by so quickly and I am pleased about how much I've learned so far.  I been enjoying our reading assignments, but this week I enjoyed the videos much more.  I feel like listening to the administrators talk about their real experiences "stuck" so much more than the readings.  I hope there are more real videos to come!

I'm a little nervous about my action plan.  I haven't had much time to sit down with my advisor because she's been busy, too.  I hope to schedule a meeting with her this week to help me fill out the action plan template.  Now, I'm anxious to start week 3!

5301 Blogs and How They Might Benefit Educational Leaders

     Since our previous course, I have become much more aware of the use of blogs by fellow educators.  I have been glued to my computer exploring the fabulous resources that other teachers are making available through their blogs.  The more I research blogs, the more I see their potential as wonderful tools for all education practitioners, especially leaders.
     Leaders could use blogs to share information with his/her faculty, staff, or any other school stakeholders.  Blogs would also offer a wonderful reflection tool for leaders to keep record of their thoughts and experiences.  Blogs could also aide leaders in implementing staff development courses and collaborative activities.  
     I believe that blogs have a lot to offer our educational leaders to make their jobs a little easier.

5301 Action Research: What Is It and How Will I Use It?

     The more that I read about action research, the more interested I am in finding out more about it and utilizing it myself.  Action research is a form of research where the practitioner studies his/her own procedures and policies and looks for problems or ways of implementing them better.  The researcher uses steps which involve identifying a problem to be resolved or situation to be improved, forming strategies to make the improvement or solve the problem, applying the strategies and assessing their value, and then reflecting on the process and it's outcome to look for further areas of improvement.
    
     I see many opportunities for my own utilization of action research.  I feel that I would greatly benefit from an action research plan because I am still fairly new to the teaching profession and have many areas in which to improve.  I also see great potential for action research in the new school that I have recently transferred to.  The school has been awarded a school improvement grant and will be implementing many new programs and strategies from raising student achievement.  I would particularly like to research the implementation of technology into daily lessons by the entire faculty.  Each teacher has been provided with several technology tools and are expected to utilize them in their instruction.  I hope to study the use of these tools and the effect they will have on student achievement.

My Course EDLD 5306 Reflection

I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect as I entered this course.  I suspected that there would be information on Web 2.o tools.  I also expected to learn about the ethics and safety of using the Internet and I really enjoyed all of these topics.  However, I was not even aware that my state or district had a technology plan, but I’m glad that I am now aware and that I have learned so much about these plans.  Since I am still a classroom teacher, I was hoping to learn more about integrating technology into the classroom and glad when we studied articles and issues about doing so.  Overall, after completing this course I find myself much more aware of the issues that go along with integrating technology into education.  I understand how this knowledge will help me when I obtain a district-level position in technology.  I feel much more knowledgeable, confident, and sure of the job that I would like to do someday.

I feel that I will be able to use all of the information that I obtained through this course in my present job.  I am still a classroom teacher and I am anxious to use more Web 2.0 tools in my lessons.  I also plan to incorporate some Internet safety and correct use policies into my everyday classroom routines.  Also, I have volunteered to act as one of my campus’ technology leaders and I plan to deliver and employ the information that I’ve learned throughout this course.  I hope to make my fellow teachers aware of the policies and standards that we should be following when using technology and, overall, I hope to encourage them to use all of the wonderful resources that I have found throughout the years and that I have learned about in this course.  I believe that this course has strengthened my ideas of using technology as a classroom teacher and will greatly impact my new role as a campus technology leader.

I never really possessed any specific ideas of what I’d be learning in this first course.  Of course, by the time I am finished with my degree I expect to be expertly knowledgeable in all aspects of educational technology.  That being said, I feel that this course was a great starting off point for my end goal.  I feel like we covered a wide variety of educational technology topics and expect to go into each further as the degree plan progresses.  I did have some trouble at times within this course with the pace and my time management, but I see the progress that I’ve made with these issues since week one.  I am anxious to see what our future courses hold for us and to learn more about the topics we were introduced to in this first course.

Overall, I was able to successfully carry out all of the assignments given.  Although, they were not all carried out smoothly.  I found it very difficult to contact my site mentor, as she was on vacation these past few weeks.  The way our summer fell this year put her out of school when I needed feedback or signatures.  For my internship plan, I was forced to send the document to her via email and she made the necessary comments.  I was also a little discouraged at the beginning of each week by the workload and would have to space out my projects throughout the week.  This caused me to find myself in a rush during the weekend and prevented me from obtaining our district technology plan, since our technology coordinator could not be reached toward the end of the week.  But, I find that it all worked out in the end.  I learned how to better manage my time and what to expect out of my future courses.

Compared to my first college experience, I have become much more self-disciplined.  I am also more excited to learn and strive to know more about the information provided.  I believe that I have a much more mature attitude toward my courses and my career goals.  I also find that my attitude has changed toward technology integration in our schools.  I used to believe that technology was only a tool to strengthen my everyday lessons.  I now see that it has become a necessity to education and I will strive to encourage others to realize this.  I hope to help teachers with any hurdles and provide them with new strategies, ideas, and tools that I discover.  I also had a policy in my classroom that students had very limited access to the technology tools.  This course has taught me that my students should have more contact with these tools and I am excited to practice this in the upcoming year.

Transforming American Education?

Since technology has become such a big part of our daily lives, the U.S. Department of Education has drafted an education technology plan for the nation’s educational institutions to follow.  Calling education an “urgent priority,” the Department of Education has identified two goals for it:  Raising the proportion of college graduates, and closing the achievement gap.  To do so, the government has acknowledged four major areas where their efforts will have the greatest impact.  These areas call for states to:  adopt standards and assessments that prepare students for college and the workplace, build a data system that measures student growth and informs educators about how they can improve instruction, recruit and retain effective educators, and turn around their lowest achieving schools.

The Department of Education has called upon educational institutions to embrace learning powered by technology to succeed in these areas.  The goals set forth by the technology plan are in the areas of learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure, and productivity.   

With regard to the area of teaching, the plan states that teachers should become “connected teachers,” with 24/7 access to tools to help them improve student data.  Connected teaching offers teachers the opportunity to connect with, not only information, but people, too.  Teachers could set up virtual classrooms and online learning communities for their students.  Professional development for these teachers would consist of collaborative and continuous professional learning that would combine more effective courses and workshops with all of the conveniences and opportunities of online learning.

Although the National Education Technology Plan has many good qualities, I find that the plan is vague in how to implement some of these components.  I also noticed that there was not much talk of a national budget in regard to executing this plan.  

Overall, I think that this plan is a great starting point for states and school districts to being incorporating technology into their instructional facilities.

District Technology Plan

            The main goal of this district’s plan is that all Louisiana educators will benefit from technology-rich environments that support student achievement and produce life long learners able to succeed in an information society.  The district plans to achieve this goal by following four steps:  Strengthening leadership, improving teacher training, supporting e-learning and virtual schools, and encouraging improved access and technology use. 

            To achieve each of these steps, a current status update is given, followed by benchmarks to be completed by the year 2014.  Also, a list of evaluation strategies is given with a timelines for each.  Every strategy is to be evaluated annually, which will help to monitor progress toward each goal or allow for any changes to be made, if need be. 

In order to evaluate teachers’ knowledge and use of technology, they will be given school and district surveys annually.  Teachers are also to complete at professional development portfolio and provide records of participation in technology workshops.

            Technology leadership will be performed by administrators and school designees.  Administrators will attend trainings and become proficient in using different technologies daily.  Also, a designee will be assigned at each school to act as the technology leader.  Their job will be to monitor all technology equipment at the school and seek out opportunities for staff to experience new technology.  The district also employs a technology director.  His job is to serve all district personnel as a technology consultant, communicate technology policies, conduct training, and develop standards for purchasing technology. 

            In order to evaluate teachers’ knowledge and use of technology, they will be given school and district surveys annually.  Teachers are also to complete at professional development portfolio and provide records of participation in technology workshops.

            A budget for each goal is outlined that provides an amount for the district’s share and the source for each amount.  

Technology Pre-Assessments: Are They A Good Idea?

When writing a technology plan, assessing the prior knowledge of an educator and their students could be a help or a hindrance.  There are advantages and disadvantages to this idea.

I feel that it is important in any technology plan to first and foremost assess the knowledge and skills of the learners involved, whether it is an educator or a student in a classroom.  Once an instructor can gauge how much his/her pupils know, then they can identify where to begin their lessons.  If students don’t know how to turn on a computer, then the instructor must start with the basics.  If the learners are already using the technology on a daily basis and know a good deal about what they are doing, then this will save valuable time for the instructor and the students.  Another advantage of pre-assessing technology prior knowledge is that it shows strengths and weaknesses.  A learner may be highly skilled at searching the internet for information and creating digital reports and projects, but lack the skills to  locate and organize their work on the computer.  This student would need different training than a student who shows proficiency in utilizing their computer to create and organize, but has no experience navigating the internet.  A pre-assessment of technology skills would show where instruction would begin for each of these students.  It would also show that these pupils could benefit from working together, since one thrives where the other is weak.

Valuing technology knowledge and skills is not without its drawbacks.  Pre-assessment may be overwhelming or discouraging to some technology learners.  With so many elements within technology, beginners may become overwhelmed by all that there is to learn about it.  And because technology is growing and changing everyday, new concepts and components are always appearing.  Even experienced tech users may come across components that they are not familiar with and may become discouraged.  I was disappointed in myself when I was not familiar with all of the concepts in the self-assessments of week one.     

Overall, I feel that valuing knowledge of technology leaders and students is an asset to any technology plan.

E-Rate and What It Does for Our Schools

E-Rate Presentation

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My First Web Conference!

     Tonight I participated in my first "real" web conference.   We have tried to set up web conferences at our school several times, but the teacher we tried to connect with was never available at the scheduled times.  So, this was my first real conference.  I really enjoyed it and may join again tomorrow night.
     I have a better understanding of the program now that Ms. Daryl has explained it.  I'm so happy that my use of a SMART board is going to count as field based activities.  I use it all day, everyday, so it won't take long for me to add up those hours.  I also plan to take as much technology professional development as possible.  I really enjoy the classes that my district provides and I know that that information will eventually help with my course work.      
     Although this degree program will be a lot of hard work and dedication, I am determined to do my best and, most of all, finish what I've started.  I'm very excited to see what the next 17 and a half months have in store for me!