I have wanted to pursue a Master’s Degree in Educational Technology for several years, but the timing has never been correct. I teach in Calcasieu Parish, which has a very aggressive technology program. Over the years I have taken CBT (Computer-based Training) from a variety of different instructors, with varying degrees of success. As a digital immigrant, I have been fascinated by new technology in classroom, but very intimidated by it at the same time. I have discovered that other digital immigrants share the same feelings of insecurity toward technology that I do. I want to be the technology leader that puts them at ease. Finally, I decided that if I waited for the timing to be perfect, I would never even start a program. An online program is best for me because of family situations, so I began researching programs throughout the country. There are so many! I quickly learned that many of them either did not offer the program I was interested in, were not accredited, or were very, very expensive. Last spring, Lamar University offered a partnership program to Calcasieu Parish School teachers, and it seemed as if the all the puzzle pieces were fitting into place. I applied for a sabbatical for the next school year so that I could immerse myself in my program. Everything was perfect. Welcome to graduate school.
Before I began my first course, I felt like I knew what to expect. I had taken online courses before, but nothing of this magnitude. I was prepared for a lot of reading and discussion boards; I was ready for lots of hands-on learning with 2.0 web tools. I wanted to find out about different theories of learning and instruction. I also expected to become immersed in new types of technology, things I had never heard of that I would be able to transfer to an elementary setting. I expected to begin learning ways to improve not only my teaching ability, but also to become a technology leader in my school. I feel as though I have achieved the outcomes in this course, although I know I still have a lot to learn. I have found simple procedures that will not only help me in my instruction, but can be utilized by the students themselves. I thought I would need a whole new bag of tricks: I had not expected to be able take tools already in my school toolkit and make them fit the needs of my students. I also had not expected my personal opinions and outlook to start transforming in such a short period of time.
Now that I have acquired some new skills, will they work in my school environment? Our school district has had a Blackboard system set up for several years, the same as most school systems do now. I had taken the required Blackboard courses, but to be honest, working within the system daily was not a priority with me. Through just this first course, I have to come appreciate what a valuable tool I have had at my disposal, and I have not taken advantage of it. When we set up our blogs and had to reflect upon the uses for them in the school setting, I realized I could have used this with my students a long time ago through my Blackboard website. What had seemed overwhelming to me only a year ago, now is a possibility that I can’t wait to use. I’m also excited about the use of a wiki with my co-workers; a CBT class that we took last year would have been much easier if we had used one. We wasted so much time with revolving e-mails. I’ve also appreciated learning some simple 2.0 tools: Wordles is a 2.0 tool that even my first graders can use.
I knew that according to the program outline I was supposed to be part of an online learning community, but I also knew that I was pretty much on my own, and I could handle that. As the first week started, I quickly became quite overwhelmed. I had difficulty with the systems and with the mechanics of what I was doing. (Why do we need all these different passwords and usernames for Lamar? What the heck is Tk20 anyway?) My professional writing skills were rusty, and APA style was all Greek to me. As I took the self-assessments I learned my suspicions about my technology skills were accurate: I was woefully inept. I didn’t even know what some of the terms meant. The second week was not much better. As the third week rolled around, however, with each completed assignment, I began to realize I really could do this. As we set up our blogs and wikis and learned about each other, I became excited at the tools I now had at my fingertips. When we posted our curricula vitae, and helped each other edit, all of a sudden it hit me that I really was becoming part of a community. I wasn’t alone after all.
As I become more immersed in this program, I realize my opinions are starting to undergo a sea change. I have always talked about using new technology in the classroom, but my usage was really only on a perfunctory level. I have used it myself for instruction, but interaction by students has been limited to a Promethean flipchart or traditional student computer use: drill and practice, entertainment, or assessment along the lines of Accelerated Reader or STAR testing. Now I have begun to view it as a viable means of problem solving for students, something I have not even considered before. In the past, when I have heard other teachers talk about using blogs in the classroom, I have thought, “That won’t work in first grade.” Now I know better. Through the research I have done, I have become much more aware of technology programs that have already been put into place in the school system and what the needs are. I am now much more knowledgeable about NETS for students and teachers and how my own school district is working to meet those goals. When I started this program I knew I was interested not only in technology integration in the elementary curriculum, but also in leadership skills. Although I am not interested in a principalship, acquiring the communication and leadership skills necessary for such a position can only make me a stronger, more accomplished teacher and professional. The research has made me much more appreciative of all of the roles my administrators currently fill. I have already learned so much in these areas in five weeks; I look forward to the next course as I continue my educational journey.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Fifth and final web conference in EDLD 5306
Tonight was our final web conference in EDLD 5306. We had a pretty good turnout, as everyone is very concerned about doing the best job possible on both the Internship Activities Chart and the Principals Competencies Chart. They're rather confusing, as is the list of things that must be posted on Tk20. I was surprised that a few of the people who've made it to every conference weren't there tonight, but since the time changed, perhaps not everyone could make it on a Tuesday. Anyway, we learned that Ms. Borel will probably only be our instructor for this class, so we said good-bye. She has been very helpful to us in this class. A week off, then on to the next adventure.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Fourth Web Conference
September 14, 2011
Tonight was our fourth web conference. I missed last week, so I don’t know what attendance was, but we only had about twelve people tonight. We discussed the assignments for the week, TK20, and there were a few questions about citations on the Technology/Leadership Summary we have to turn in this week: web pages and blogs are new territory for me as far as referencing goes. The majority of the discussion was about our Internship Plan. Our assignment next week will be to complete a rough draft of our Internship Plan, which will be our final exam for the course. The overall feeling seemed to be a bit of confusion, but hopefully when we sit down and synchronize the standards and domains with the charts and the activities it will come together for us! It’s hard to believe we only have one week left in our first course.
Tonight was our fourth web conference. I missed last week, so I don’t know what attendance was, but we only had about twelve people tonight. We discussed the assignments for the week, TK20, and there were a few questions about citations on the Technology/Leadership Summary we have to turn in this week: web pages and blogs are new territory for me as far as referencing goes. The majority of the discussion was about our Internship Plan. Our assignment next week will be to complete a rough draft of our Internship Plan, which will be our final exam for the course. The overall feeling seemed to be a bit of confusion, but hopefully when we sit down and synchronize the standards and domains with the charts and the activities it will come together for us! It’s hard to believe we only have one week left in our first course.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
National Education Technology Plan
The National Education Technology Plan (NETP) was formulated in 2010 with a bold intention: rather than mending the American education system, revolutionize it. With technology usage expanding into every aspect of our lives, our educational system needs to keep pace with the learners’ needs today and prepare them for the future. The plan has two major goals: 1) Raise the percentage of college graduates (associate or bachelor’s degrees) by 20% in ten years; and 2) All high school students graduate, thoroughly prepared for either a career or secondary education. Using a business model, the NETP has five key components:
· Learning Learning must be individualized, differentiated, and use the technologies that students will be using in the career world. The competencies that students need to use these technologies in their education will also allow them to be effective members of a global workforce.
· Assessment Technology-based assessments are necessary to judge students’ competencies not only in core subject areas, but also in the technology skill areas that are vital to their future employment.
· Teaching This component is identified as critical for the NETP to be successful. Educators will have to strengthen their skills and be fully on board with new technology in order for this dramatic change in education to occur. Teaching will no longer occur in isolation, but as a team activity. The “team” will not just be co-workers on a campus, but a global team of co-workers connected by technology.
· Infrastructure This component is the backbone of the NETP. It is composed of people, professional development and other learning resources, policies, action plans for growth, as well as the “nuts and bolts” of hardware, software, web accessibility, and management systems. The framework of this infrastructure will be an enormous undertaking.
· Productivity Increased productivity is a part of our everyday lives. By using the business model, education can make the dramatic changes it needs in order to have our 21st century learners master the competencies they will require to compete in a global world. This is going to require a sea change in thinking, and it must apply to all of the above components in order for the transformation of our education system to be successful.
Wow. Talk about a bold initiative. I’m ashamed to say I wasn’t familiar with the NETP before this class, and now that I have reviewed it, I have a lot of mixed emotions. First, pride that our education leaders at the top recognize where and how we need to change in order to prepare our students for all of their responsibilities in the 21st century. Isn’t that what our profession is about-preparing our charges to be independent, responsible adults? Second, I’m feeling skepticism. I’m skeptical because we have to change the mindset of a LOT of people in order for this transformation to occur anywhere but on paper. I have serious doubts that the enormous amount of money needed for this project to occur will be appropriated by people in Congress who can’t even agree on what should be taught in a science classroom, much less how it should be taught. Third, I’m feeling terrified. I’m just getting good at using my Promethean. It looks like I signed up for this program in the nick of time. Last, I’m feeling optimistic. I’m optimistic because the people who have to make this program work are teachers. I know some teachers don’t want to change (really no different than any other profession), but for the most part teachers are the most accommodating, hardworking, devoted individuals I know. How else would we keep going in the face of so many obstacles we deal with everyday? I don’t have to list them—you know what they are. Somehow, some way, teachers will make this plan work.
National Education Technology Plan (NETP). (2010). Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/technology/netp-2010
Marianne Wallace EDLD 5306/ET8038
District Technology Plan
The Calcasieu Parish Technology Plan is a seven year plan adopted on March 6, 2007. Calcasieu Parish receives a discount on telecommunications and Internet access known as “E-Rate.” E-Rate, the Schools and Libraries Program Universal Service Fund, is administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) under the direction of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This discount is available to most schools and libraries in the United States, provided certain criteria are met, one of which is a technology plan that meets their guidelines. Calcasieu Parish’s technology plan has four objectives: 1) Strengthen Leadership; 2) Improve Teacher Training; 3) Support E-Learning and Virtual Schools; and 4) Provide Improved Access and Technology Usage. These objectives are evaluated continually by a wide variety of data: state technology assessments taken every spring by students and educators, school and district technology assessments, classroom observations, budget system reports, student enrollment in E-Learning classes, and many other sources. All of these evaluations occur at least annually; some of these reports are generated bi-annually or even quarterly. The E-Rate Technology Component has monthly statements for the different parts of the telecommunications services and Internet access; these are evaluated on usage.
The School Board provides training at the Tech Center, a full time continuing learning center open to educators in Calcasieu Parish. Teachers are encouraged to sign up on-line for technology classes, free of charge, after school hours, and a wide range of courses are offered. Some of these are on-line training; many of them are face-to-face workshops. The School Board also has a four year rotation system for CBT, Computer Based Training, to provide teachers with training in technology-integrated instruction. At the conclusion of the training, each teacher receives a new computer, software, and depending upon funding available, perhaps a printer or a scanner. Different grade levels are assigned each year across the parish for CBT. In addition to full time staff at the Tech Center and in the Technology Department (CPSB’s “troubleshooters” and technology planners), each school also has at least one person to help with technology problems.
In examining the CPSB Technology plan, the data listed states that the current ratio of students per computer is 3.5 to 1. It also states that six schools in the district were behind in this ratio, having more than 5 to 1 ratio of computers to student. I have a little problem with this number. This makes it sound as if each classroom has all these computers, available to the students. In actuality, many of the computers counted are in computer labs or in the library. I know of only one class on my campus that has more than six computers (with a class of 35 students). That particular teacher has written numerous grants to get her computers, and did in fact get I-Pads for students to use in her room this year. (Yeah for grants!) The majority of teachers in our school have 2-3 working computers in their classroom. Until this year, I had one working computer in my classroom. Now I have three! Our school uses Title I funds, participates in 8-G grants, and various other means to get us as much new technology as possible. On my campus, we have a lovely computer lab, staffed by a fulltime teacher, but not all of the grade levels are allowed to attend. Grades 3-5 are scheduled for several time slots a week, and last year grades 1 and 2 were allotted 2 time slots weekly. Kindergarten and Pre-K were not given any computer lab time at all. This year first grade does not have computer lab time, either. (In fairness to the instructor, we have a very large school, with 5-6 sections of each grade. She has to have planning periods.) The library also has a computer lab, but there is no one to staff it. This lab is used by the older grades for projects, but the younger grades mainly use the lab for STAR testing or AR tests. Teachers are allowed to schedule time slots but if there is a problem, you are on your own, unless the tech person on staff can come help you out. Our tech person is extremely capable, but as she is also an administrator; she is already quite busy. (She’s also the one writes most of our grants!) To me, this is a huge weakness in our system; each school should have a full time tech person on staff who only handles tech problems. With our school system having a projected $2,000,000 short fall in the budget this year, I don’t foresee that happening any time soon.
Calcasieu Parish School System (CPSS) Technology Plan, (March 6, 2007). Retrieved from http://www.cpsb.org/system/policies/techplan.pdf
Marianne Wallace EDLD 5306/ET 8038
Calcasieu Parish School System (CPSS) Technology Plan, (March 6, 2007). Retrieved from http://www.cpsb.org/system/policies/techplan.pdf
Marianne Wallace EDLD 5306/ET 8038
Saturday, September 3, 2011
The Value of Technology Assessments
“You got to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.”
Why do teachers assess students? Is it just to put a number in the gradebook? Is it to make the parents happy, because they see a letter grade and can say, “Okay, my child must have learned something because he made an A”? Is it because, hey, it’s Friday, and that’s a Friday thing to do? Or is it to see what our students have absorbed and find out what I need to reteach? Any teacher can tell you the necessity of assessing core subject skills. I need to learn what skills they’re weak in so I can build those up and move onto bigger and better things, right? I also use assessments to find out where my weak areas are so I can improve them. Why is it any different to assess my students’ technology skills than it is to assess their reading or math skills? Why is it any different to assess my technology skills?
On the first day of school in our grade level we give our parents a brochure with “First Grade Expectations.” It’s our vision of where our students should be at the end of a successful first grade year. School systems must have a vision of their technology plan. “The foundation for successful technology implementation requires educators and policy makers to possess a viable vision for technology use, enact the vision, and link the vision to other important organizational endeavors.” (ISTE’s Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards, 2009, p.179). The vision tells the stakeholders where they should be at a given point in the future; technology assessments of educators and students tell them where they are now and how far they need to go. Using baseline data from assessments, an action plan can be developed to achieve the vision. As a result of assessment, professional development can be targeted to specific weaknesses, instead of wasting time and money on skills that either already mastered or skills that are too advanced for the learner without interim instruction. Such assessments need to be ongoing, as technology changes so quickly.
Of course, there are naysayers to all these assessments. First of all, don’t do the assessments if you’re not going to put your money where your mouth is. If you’re not going to take the data and use it to formulate a technology plan, and then fund the plan, then you’ve just wasted a lot of time and resources. All you have created is paperwork. Unfortunately, just like in any profession, there are teachers out there who just don’t want to learn “new tricks.” Hopefully, the right kind of support can inspire them to change their attitudes and propel them into the 21st century with their students.
Marianne Wallace EDLD 5306/ET8038 September 3, 2011
Second web conference
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
We had a lot more people in the web conference tonight. In fact, it might have actually been too many people. We still had some technical problems, as some people could not hear the professor, but could hear the others in the group. It was obviously very frustrating for them. Many people were typing questions, as it was difficult to get recognized by raising their hand, since we had so many classmates in the conference. Hopefully tech issues will be worked out as each week passes. I guess my mike works-didn’t get a chance to use it after all! For those of us that could hear, it was very valuable because a lot of course resources were explained. It’s a bit overwhelming!
Marianne Wallace EDLD 5306/ET8038
First web conference
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
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