New Point of View in Instructional TechnologyInstructional Leadership EDLD 5352 course has taken me into a world I knew existed but thought I was far from reaching. Little did I know that this course would focus so strongly on technology applications. I had envisioned a course where I would research on leadership skill and classroom instruction. As the course began I found myself in familiar territory but not very brave. As I read, I gathered more information that got my brain working 24/7. Reading other teachers experiences with technology encouraged me to want more for myself and my students. Eric Jones explains, in Strategies to put Instruction Ahead of Technology, how to get started on teachers first by providing for them useful training on technology based lessons. Jo Williamson and Traci Redish back up Jones' research in facilitating the necessary training for teachers who in turn will model and guide students through a diverse 21st century instruction. I understand my goals and vision related to technology but have the tools and training to plan and execute.
Students like to see information in short bursts and in and engaging fashion. On line programs such as Brain Pop and Helpprogram for Math are engaging and relevant to our students learning. It delivers instruction in short animations with lots of music and sounds. It gives real world examples for each area of learning. Webquests allow our students to "explore" a topic on their own with little preplanning by the teacher. It gives the feeling of ownership of their own learning back to the students.
The integration of technology professional development is never at an end. This is an ongoing process. We need to adapt to the new and change the old. Just as students are already skillful in the use of many technological devices/applications, we too, as educators need to be ready to guide them to better use them. Our administrators are our leaders, and with this in mind, they are our role models. The sue of technology such as power point presentation, e-chalk, blogs, movie makers, face book, webcams, math helpers, you tube, and wikis are the applications of today but are we ready for what is already here tomorrow? All involved in education should be trained and be able to model effectively the use of technology in order to guide and improve our student's performance.
There are many useful technology applications out there. In this course I learned about many that administrators and teachers may use. I wanted to use them all before I forgot how to incorporate them to my lessons. It wasn't possible. There is not enough time in a day to allow the browsing and handling of new websites. I was ecstatic about the blog creation and the slideshare. I have used this information as part of my instruction in my class. My students were eager to learn and were thrilled about the assignment. I didn't, however, have the opportunity to examine twitter or wiki. I believe these would be a great asset to both me and my students.
As any new beginning, I had trouble with the blog set up and the slide share. The directions on how to achieve this were helpful but they did leave out a few items that would have saved a lot of time. However, I learned through my mistakes and with the help of a very close friend I was able to problem solve. Time is an enemy of work. I have the will to pursue and research but work related and home responsibilities lessen the opportunity of exploring.
I know now that I have the capability to lead others in uncharted waters. I see administrators in a whole new, brighter light. I don't have a campus under my wing but I have my team and my students. The research and training acquired during this course has enabled me to reach out in cyber space and use what is available to me. FREE is a lovely word especially when it is useful to teacher's instruction and 100% learner based. I used a free site to implement my 7th grade mid-term for both Technology Education and Career Investigation courses.
The assignment for the mid-term was to follow the directions that guide in the creation of a blog. The second part to the assignment was to reflect on the work and projects done in class in the last 6 weeks. The third part of the assignment was to give their personal opinion about their experience in their learning. I was pleasantly surprised to read many students' responses. Many students went over and beyond and started getting creative with their blog's presentation and comments. They took upon themselves to get their peer's URL to check on eachothers work. They felt empowered in their learning. They weren't the quiet bored students filling out a standardized test or assignment that many a time is seen in classrooms, they had motivation and hunger to create the best blog.
My deepest concern is that my student's safety from cyber predators and cyber porn is vulnerable. Linda C. Joseph explains it best in her Keeping Safe in Cyberspace article when she expresses the importance of technology use communication. It is our duty and our student's parent's responsibility to train our children to be aware of the dangers in cyberspace and to take advantage of the many amenities that our Internet offers.
Opening the line of communication via Internet broadens the feedback needed to improve our mission and goals. It is through a Blog communication that the phrase "two heads are better than one" leads the way to a better academic tomorrow.
