Reflections of EDLD 5352

When I first started EDLD 5352, I envisioned a course that would guide future administrators toward an understanding of an expectation of combined technology in the education. I was expecting to learn about acceptable use policies and maybe some new technology to implement as a teacher and as an administrator. I also expected to learn about the infrastructure of technology within a district. The overall expectation of the course was met, due to what could be expected from a five week course. I thoroughly enjoyed the discussions and readings dealing with student, teacher and stakeholder responsibility. The weekly readings were broad and reflected many different points of view. A few authors I did not agree with while some were directly inline with my administrative philosophy. Though the class did teach about blogging and posting to the web, I would have loved to see more introduction to web postings. As a younger adult who’s district does have teacher and campus web pages, It would be nice to see more exposure to this format. That said I understand that time is limited many topics need to be addressed within a short five weeks.
The campus that I currently work at is the most restrictive environment in Humble ISD. At the Behavior Training Center, we have to limit the use of internet and technology with our students based on their behavioral issues. While some student may be oppositional defiant and attempt to do anything that breaks the rules, others become physically aggressive and will flip desk or bookshelves which can easily break an Item like a smart board or projector that is hooked up to a classroom computer. Implementing strategies like having a students post assignments on a blog have to be under tight scrutiny if implemented at all. Confidentiality and public communication are things that we must assess before implementing these strategies.
The course assignments were well planned and established validity to the course. The readings allowed me to reflect upon my own administrative and educational philosophies and how they pertain to technology. Though the readings were plentiful in quantity and length, they created great discussion and debate among the students. The written portion of the assignments assisted in my ability to analyze a campus and its current and future technology needs. Rating my program against other campuses and the state in the STaR Chart was simple and enlightening. I enjoyed being able to implement one of the concepts by posting my assignments to a blog. I was able to post most of my assignments properly. I did have a little trouble on the week 4 action plan assignment. I placed my assignment in a table format and tried to copy and paste it to the blog site. Unfortunately the blog did not accept the table format and my information was out of order in my blog posting.
EDLD 5352 allowed me to develop and refine my technology philosophy and how it pertains to my campus and educational philosophy. Through the readings, I was exposed to many different ideas about educational technology and integration into instruction. M. Presnky is one author from the weekly readings I found myself often in conflict, while defining my own position on technology and education. Presnky implies that what holds education from fully utilizing the complete potential of technology is the reliance on traditional instruction. His postings establish a direction of integration of technology only to transition out the old traditional standards and steadily increase technology standards. I began to develop my belief that students must be expected to establish a foundation of education with both, traditional and technological standards. Teachers and stakeholders must help instill the ethics of using technology while giving the students only responsibilities and privileges they are mature enough to handle.
EDLD 5352 allowed the students to post all assignments to a blog site that allowed other members to comment on the posting. Blogging to the internet is a great means of providing 24/7 communication about common topics and ideas. This is a very useful for the 21st century learner, but it does come with some concerns and reservations that must be addressed before attempting to incorporate into instruction. First any posting to the internet are available to the public. This can invite predators who surf the internet for young children or information an targets. In order to address this concern, teacher and educators must develop a blog within a framework such as a district website where an administrator has ability to monitor content and security levels. Also through a district framework, staff members can communicate directly with stakeholders and parents with 24/7 communication. Educators have the ability to post expectations, class assignments, concerns and receive and reply to feed back from students and stakeholders. Administrators would be able to monitor communication between staff, students and stakeholders, as well as ad opinion, instant feed back on closs projects. Direct communication through a district blog site would create an ideal medium between stakeholders and educators.

an action plan gone haywire.

I tried to insert a table format but apparently it didn't work.

Humble ISD Behavior Training Center
Campus Improvement Goal: The Behavior Training Center will continue to gather, analyze and evaluate data from a variety of sources for informed campus decision making focusing on integrating technology, instructional leadership, professional development and organizational leadership.

Related to: Integrated Technology
Process Steps:
• Gather and assess information from STaRs, AEIS and ESC Works to identify areas of needed improvement.
• Develop and implement effective instruction within a learner centered environments and effective integrated technology.
• Provide staff and stakeholders with opportunities to participate in professional learning experiences .
Objective:
Action Plan:
What are we going to do? Who will be responsible, and who will be involved? What resources will we need? When will this activity begin? When will it end? How will we know we have completed the activity? Last Updated

Objective: Administrators and staff will gather and assess information from various data sources to identify areas of needed improvement.

Action Plan:
What are we going to do? Who will be responsible, and who will be involved? What resources will we need? When will this activity begin? When will it end? How will we know we have completed the activity? Last Updated
Anaylyze STaR Chart to Identify areas of growth for integrated technology Administrator
PBIS committee
Classroom Teacher PLC Time.
Campus Star Chart Data. Statewide campus star chart data January 2010 Ongoing Documented achievement of STaR Chart target tech in all domains 012/13/2009
Analyze AEIS Data to identify area of growth needed for instruciton Administrator
PBIS committee
Classroom Teacher PLC Time.
Campus Star Chart Data. Statewide campus January 2010 Ongoing 100% of the staff increase student performance through implemented educational technology 012/13/2009
Analyze E/School Swiss Data to identify area target behaviors and locations Administrator
PBIS committee
Classroom Teacher PLC Time.
Campus Star Chart Data. Statewide campus January 2010 Ongoing 100% of the staff decrease negative student behavior through positive behavior reinforcement 012/13/2009
Objective: Teachers will develop and implement effective instruction within a learner centered environments and effective integrated technology.
.
Action Plan:
What are we going to do? Who will be responsible, and who will be involved? What resources will we need? When will this activity begin? When will it end? How will we know we have completed the activity? Last Updated
Teachers will plan and implement instruction utilizing technology available to the campus and classroom Administrator Teacher
Campus IT personnel PLC time
STaR Chart campus Data
Lesson plans
Access to campus software and technology
Communication with It January 2010 Ongoing 100% of the staff increase student performance through implemented educational technology 012/13/2009

Objective: the campus will provide staff and stakeholders with opportunities to participate in professional learning experiences though 24/7 access to communication.

What are we going to do? Who will be responsible, and who will be involved? What resources will we need? When will this activity begin? When will it end? How will we know we have completed the activity? Last Updated
Provide information of district and regional opportunities for technology development on campus website Administrator
Professional growth committee
Teachers
IT Access to campus website
Access to ESC Works and Region 4 Professional development
January 2010 Ongoing Monitor professional growth through ESC Works and PDAS reports 012/13/2009