When I started EDLD 5306, I envisioned a course that would focus on SBEC and NETS standards. I also expected to learn more about copyright laws and techniques to engage the 21st Century learner. I am very pleased with the outcome of this course, because I now feel like I can assist my campus and district with understanding copyright laws. I also feel more equipped to address the needs of the 21st Century learner. I feel that many of my colleagues will benefit from activities that I learned throughout this course. The course also gave me insight on learning styles and personality traits. I would like to share the Keirsey Temperament Sorter with my campus. The Keirsey Temperament Sorter taught me that greater productivity occurs when I am aware of others' temperament. I think my campus could benefit from surveys and personality tests. Overall, the course was definitely aligned with what I had envisioned and it offered much more than what I originally predicted.
All of the topics discussed throughout this course were very relevant to the work that I do in my school. The course helped me increase my knowledge base and many of the topics covered the duties of a Technology Integration Mentor (TIM). I am the Technology Integration Mentor (TIM) for my campus. As a Technology Integration Mentor, I support, develop, facilitate, and use Web 2.0 technologies in order to provide mentoring and integration of technology on our campus. I also research, identify, model, and apply concepts and methods to integrate technology into Core Curriculum. TIMs discuss, evaluate, and integrate 21st Century teaching methods and technologies. We also assist students and teachers with technologies. Therefore, the topics evaluated in this course were definitely relevant to my work.
In this course, I expected to see more visuals or videos related to the implementation of a Technology Committee. Our school has never had a Technology Committee and I would like to have seen this topic addressed more in-depth. I think Technology Committees are a necessity for every campus. I have created a proposal for a campus-based technology committee. I suggested it includes the District Technology Department, Campus Administrators, Technology Integration Mentor (TIM), Campus Based Technician (CBT), Librarian and teachers from a variety of disciplines. I think the committee should meet regularly to discuss research-based decision-making, appropriate projects and goals. It should also implement projects to improve classroom & campus technology integration. In Who’s in control of the technology-integrated school, Price discussed the importance of technology planning. Price stated, “Principals will have to meet with techies to plan how technology will be organized” (Price, 2005). I think organization must be a focus for every infrastructure.
The EDLD 5306 course assignments were a bit overwhelming at first. The first week was very time consuming and had me fearing that I would not be able to manage work, home, kids, and graduate courses. After the first week, the course load became tolerable. The web conference was an interesting experience. It was ironic that we were learning about the 21st Century technology available, but the quality of the audio and bandwidth did not seem 21st Century. "In order to maintain a certain level of learning, educators must make lessons as relevant to the student's lives as possible" (Prensky, 2008). All the assignments were relevant and added value to my learning. I did not have any problems with the courseware. I did find it hard to answer some of the questions in the Progress Monitors, because some of the questions asked for percentages or numbers that I could not recall.
This course taught me about my learning style and personality traits. The Keirsey Temperament Sorter taught me to seek-out and to listen to Rationals, because they are people who can help me solve problems more effectively and efficiently. I also learned that Prensky's definition of "Digital Immigrants", describes the majority of my campus (Prensky, 2001). I want to help my colleagues become the "intellectual light" of their students' lives and I want my campus to walk away from "the darkness of the old-fashioned classroom” Prensky (2008). The Internship Plan allowed me to evaluate the needs of my campus. I am excited to have a guide that will help me improve my technology leadership skills. I learned numerous details of the Draft Plan. The Draft Plan gave me many ideas on how I can assist my campus with effective implementation of Technology Application TEKS. Overall, this course was very relevant and offered a range of knowledge on how to become a technology leader effectively.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants: Part 2. On the Horizon, 9(6), 1-9.
Prensky, M. (2008).Turning on the lights. Educational Leadership, 65(6), 40-45.
Price, B. (2005).Who’s in control of the technology-integrated school? Principal Leadership, 6(1), 51-56
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