Jason Rabinowitz
EDLD 5352 EA1166
Instructional Leadership – The Technology Link
Reflections
Coming into this class, I was excited about the possibility of learning new and exciting ways to integrate technology into the classroom. I was excited to share the knowledge that I was going to gain with the staff that I work with, and I was ready to jump in with both feet. I was especially excited about the readings that we were going to do, and the outcomes from that research.
Now that the class has finished, I am even more excited. I am excited to begin the process of educating the staff at VHS on Vision 2020 and the Long Range Plan for Texas, Cyber Ethics and Safety, and the implications and possibilities of a tech savvy campus. I am excited to spear head some trainings that will take the small strides that we are taking and "amping them up" to meet the goals of the STaR charts.
I had always considered myself technologically proficient, but after assimilating the knowledge from this class, I realize that, along with my staff, we have a long way to go in order to meet our potential, both to ourselves and our students. We need to focus on student instruction and technology integration into that instruction, and we will ultimately meet all the goals of Vision 2020 and the STaR chart.
This was a very relevant class in which to participate. All of my expectations were met, and as I progressed through the class, it was clear that there were going to be outcomes that were to be met that I hadn't even thought of prior to these last 5 weeks. The ideas and suggestions about blogs, RSS feeds, streaming technology, and wireless campuses are all very relevant to my situation at VHS. The implications of a technology based campus are far reaching, and ultimately, will create students who have receive a 21st century education, thus preparing them for the world of working in a tech savvy society.
Using the knowledge gained about technology integration with digital immigrants will be especially relevant to our campus. Many of our teachers are not familiar with the current technology, so it will be up to the administration to design and implement trainings to familiarize the staff with the technology needed to meet the STaR chart requirements as well as the Long Range Plan for Texas. Those trainings coupled with proper funding will ensure our place in the tech savvy world of education.
I'm not sure that, at the conclusion of this class, there were any of my preconceived outcomes that were not met or exceeded by the resources available to us in this class. The only regret I would have is to not have another 5 weeks to explore and learn more about technology integration, and the state and national standards for technology in the classroom. It's now up to me, my fellow students, and my fellow staff members to take the knowledge gleaned from this class and run with it to explore the infinite possibilities of technology integration.
The course assignments were, at times, difficult. The biggest hurdle to completion, in some cases, was the lack of my personal knowledge of how to begin a given project. For instance, in the creation of an action plan, having never created one from scratch put me at a huge disadvantage versus someone who had the ability to draw from previous experience. I was "shooting from the hip" so to speak, and, thankfully, did well. Other issues I had were in the knowledge of the actual technology used for some assignments. For example, posting a Power Point on my blog took a long time, mainly due to the amount of research I had to do into how to actually post it. The creation of the presentation itself was the easy part of that assignment. In the beginning, the creation of this blog should have posed a problem; however, my wife actually had used this exact blogger before, and was able to help me with the initial set-up and subsequent edits.
All of the assignments, I felt, were relevant, poignant, and easy to manage in the allotted time, and I would enjoy the opportunity to create some of these technology based assignments for the future classes in this program.
I mentioned above that I had always considered myself tech savvy. After this class, I realize that, while I am proficient in a number of programs and the ways to operate them, as well as copyrights relevant to my subject matter, I was grossly under-educated in terms of technology as it relates to the classroom and my students. I also had no prior knowledge of many of the suggested resources at teacher’s fingers (RSS feeds, podcasts, streaming video, etc.).
I was especially interested in the information on cyber ethics and cyber safety. I am aware of the dangers and traps that exist; however, I was unaware of the necessity of teaching those to my students. I guess, in my mind, I was under the impression that if a student grows up with technology, those dangers would be discovered, learned, and dealt with as I learned when a stove was hot not to touch it. The reality is that these dangers are so new and so serious that, if one were to fall for a trap, there would be very little they could do to not get hurt. It is truly up to the teachers that are in the technology classroom every day to teach the students the correct way to deal with those problems, and how to avoid them altogether.
The blog was an especially interesting tool. I mentioned above that my wife helped me with the initial set up of my blog and also helped along the way with edits and formatting. She had set up a blog for our family nearly 3 years ago to help us stay current with our family as we experienced the birth of our first child. The applications for a classroom teacher using blogs are varied and extensive. The blog can be a major source of communication, a source of student work publication, a source of active collaboration, not only with classmates in the school, but the world. The students have an outlet for their own work and their own creativity, and the blog allows them to showcase themselves in a worldwide market.
While blogs and blogging can be an incredible tool, the dangers that lurk just below the surface are very real and very dangerous. From the relatively benign, such as inappropriate content and use, to the serious, such as predatory stalking and access, those dangers must be addressed and measures put in place to combat them each step of the way. Teachers must use good judgment when posting information (especially student information) on a blog. They must be able to use and follow the district’s and school’s acceptable use policy, and they should encourage the students to follow suit. The principal should also monitor the blog to ensure that everything is appropriate, and step in when needed. In the event that there is a serious issue, the system should be in place to deal with that issue swiftly. Security is paramount and should be maintained at all times by district personnel.
From an administrators stand point, the blog will allow teacher collaboration as well. Staff meetings can be accomplished through email and blogging. Surveys and questionnaires can be published and accessed by all staff and faculty, thus creating a true collaborative environment. Parents can access the faculty blog to see what is going on “behind the scenes” and give input where appropriate. The 21st century learner, as well as the 21st century administrator, can use blogging to bridge the communication gap between staff, students and parents.
To wrap it all up, this was one of the most interesting classes I have taken during the course of this degree. I hope to use this knowledge soon in my career, and I am excited to use many of the suggestions and ideas posed in the readings and videos in my own classroom, my own campus, and my own district.
